Interviewed by: Paco Manolo Camargo Alcalde
Comercialista - Professor Born, first of all, I would like to thank you very much for your kindness in granting us this interview. We would firstly like to start by asking you a few questions about yourself. In your early life, how did you become interested in studying law and how did international commercial arbitration come into the forefront of your life?
Gary Born - I didn't actually consider becoming a lawyer until I was finished with my US undergraduate studies. As a student I was interested in history and religion and it was only relatively late in my studies that it occurred to me that law would be an interesting, worthwhile possibility. In the 1980s I taught international dispute resolution for a year and fell in love with the subject, putting my classroom and scholarly work together with practical experiences.
My first arbitration was Greenpeace v. Republic of France (also known as the "Rainbow Warrior" case). The "Rainbow Warrior" was a protest vessel belonging to Greenpeace (an environmental advocacy group), which had been scheduled to sail to Mururoa Atoll, in French Polynesia, to protest French nuclear testing. However, that voyage was prevented by the actions of the French Directorate General of External Security ("DGSE") agents, resulting in the vessel's sinking (and the death of one Greenpeace member). France eventually acknowledged responsibility for sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, and offered to pay reparations to both France and Greenpeace. However, the parties in the dispute were unable to reach an agreement on reparations, so they concluded an arbitration agreement, submitting disputes about reparations and treatment of the DGSE agents to the Secretary General of the United Nations for resolution. This experience decisively strengthened my interest in international arbitration.
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Originally published by Revista Comercialista
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