The Changing Landscape of International Arbitration: Immunity, Anti-Suit/Arbitration Injunctions, Applicable Law and Conflicts

Presenters: Ylli Dautaj, Cem Kalelioğlu and Doğan Ali Gültutan

Discussants: Tietie “Frank” Zhang and Katherine Reece Thomas

The International Law and Affairs Group is delighted to welcome Dr Ylli Dautaj, Associate Professor at Durham Law School, and Cem Kalelioğlu, Partner at Pinsent Masons London, to discuss recent developments in international arbitration, with a particular focus on immunity, anti-suit/arbitration injunctions, the law applicable to arbitration, and the disclosure of conflicts by arbitrators.

We will also welcome Dr Doğan Ali Gültutan of The City Law School, and Dr Tietie “Frank” Zhang and Katherine Reece Thomas, also of The City Law School.

Please join us for what promises to be an insightful and engaging discussion on these important and evolving issues in international arbitration.

About the pannellists

Katherine Reece Thomas

Katherine Reece Thomas is an Associate Professor at The City Law School, City St. George’s, University of London. She is a qualified solicitor and a member of the New York State Bar, with experience practising in London, Paris, and New York. She also taught at the University of Cambridge.

Her research focuses on public international law and company law, with particular expertise in state immunity. She is the author of a recent monograph on the Commercial Activity Exception to State Immunity and has published widely on the relationship between international and domestic law. She is also co-author of The Law and Practice of Shareholders’ Agreements and previously served as Programme Director for the LLM at City. She contributes actively to academic and professional debates.

Dr Tietie Zhang

Dr Tietie “Frank” Zhang joined The City Law School as a Senior Lecturer in Law in June 2022. Prior to that, he held the post of Lecturer in Corporate and Commercial Law at the University of Sheffield School of Law since January 2016.

Dr Zhang’s main research areas include international commercial arbitration, international trade law, and the Chinese legal system. He teaches on both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Dr Zhang received his law degrees from both China and the US. Before joining academia, he worked in a leading Chinese law firm in Beijing, practicing in the field of international commercial dispute resolution.

Dr Ylli Dautaj

Dr Ylli Dautaj is Associate Professor in Commercial Law and Commercial Arbitration at Durham Law School. He previously taught at various institutions in UK, India, Sweden, and US, including as an adjunct and visiting associate professor at Penn State Dickinson Law, US, and lecturer at Jindal Global Law School, India. He is a frequent guest lecturer at various legal institutions world-wide, including as part of the international adjunct faculty of Uppsala University’s master programme in investment treaty arbitration.

Ylli graduated with a PhD from University of Edinburgh (UK) as a stipendiary scholar of the Scottish Graduate School for Arts & Humanities. He wrote his dissertation on sovereign immunity in the context of enforcing arbitral awards against sovereign States.

Ylli has stood for clients as lead counsel in litigation and arbitration matters, domestic and international, commercial and investment. He represents individuals, private enterprises, State-owned enterprises, and States in various disputes. Ylli has represented clients in and with investor-State arbitration matters, shareholders’ and JV-disputes, jurisdictional objections (investment and commercial arbitration), post-award proceedings (set-aside and enforcement/execution), energy or energy-related disputes (e.g., regarding transit, investor protection, and other contract related matters), etc. Ylli also writes expert opinions and sits as arbitrator.

Cem Kalelioğlu

Cem Kalelioğlu is a Partner in the International Arbitration Practice and the Investor–State Dispute Settlement team at Pinsent Masons.

Qualified to practice in England & Wales, Ireland, and Istanbul, he also holds rights of audience before the Astana International Financial Centre Court. Cem has developed a broad practice advising and representing clients in investor-state disputes under multiple bilateral investment treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty, as well as in commercial arbitrations governed by various national laws. He has particular experience in arbitrations involving European clients operating across the Middle East, CIS, Europe, Africa, and Türkiye.

Cem has extensive experience in matters involving the CIS, Africa, and Eurasia, and regularly acts for clients from, and operating within, these regions. Fluent in Turkish, French, and English, he is a highly sought-after counsel in these markets, valued for his deep understanding of local legal frameworks alongside international arbitration and public international law.

Cem has authored a number of publications, including book chapters, and teaches international and investment arbitration at several universities, including Durham University, Trinity College Dublin, and Istanbul Bilgi University.

Dr Doğan Ali Gültutan

Dr Doğan Ali Gültutan is a Senior Lecturer at The City Law School. Doğan's research interests revolve around contract law, international (commercial and investment) law and dispute resolution, and has published extensively on those subjects. Doğan is also a Senior Fellow at the Higher Education Academy.

Doğan is also a practising solicitor, currently partner (and solicitor-advocate) at a London boutique firm, having previously worked for a US global law firm's London office for over 8 years, with a further 5 years in its Istanbul office. He is admitted in both England & Wales and Turkey, in the former as a solicitor-advocate and (non-practising) barrister, and in the latter as an attorney-at-law (currently non-practising).

Doğan was awarded two scholarships by The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn (the Sir Thomas More Bursary and the Hardwicke Entrance Scholarship) in connection with the Bar course (then BPTC). Doğan has also been recognised as a “key lawyer” in the field of international arbitration in the Legal 500 UK 2023 and 2024 rankings, and has also been listed in “Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the United Kingdom” for commercial dispute resolution for three consecutive years (2023, 2024, and 2025).

Doğan has extensive knowledge and experience in international commercial arbitration. He also serves as an arbitrator and has been admitted to the panels of arbitrators of respected arbitral institutions such as the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), and the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA).