- CAJAC
- SADC Alliance
- BRICS
Duration: 4 days
Registration deadline 27 April
The Arbitration Act
Gain a thorough understanding of the Arbitration Act and its legal framework. This module explores the statutory provisions that govern arbitration in South Africa, focusing on the rights, obligations, and enforceability of arbitral proceedings and awards.
Arbitration Agreements
Learn how to draft, interpret, and assess arbitration agreements. This session covers essential elements, common pitfalls, and the legal implications of arbitration clauses in commercial contracts, ensuring parties are bound to a valid and enforceable dispute resolution process.
The Arbitration Procedure from Commencement to Award
Follow the full arbitration process from the filing of a notice to the delivery of a final award. This module provides a practical overview of each stage — including preliminary meetings, pleadings, evidence, hearings, and award — with emphasis on procedural fairness, efficiency, and best practices.
The Duties of the Arbitrator
Understand the critical responsibilities of an arbitrator in managing the process with impartiality and integrity. This session highlights key duties such as disclosure, independence, case management, and decision- making, with reference to ethical and professional standards.
Judge Margie Victor is a distinguished legal practitioner and jurist with a career spanning over four decades, marked by a strong commitment to justice, transformation, and alternative dispute resolution.
Her professional journey began as a qualified social worker, before she transitioned into law, first as an attorney and then as an advocate at the Johannesburg Bar. Over 25 years of advocacy, her practice encompassed environmental law, commercial litigation, and family law.
Judge Victor was the first woman elected to the Johannesburg Bar Council, where she championed gender and racial transformation in the legal profession. In 2008, she was appointed as a Judge of the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court of South Africa (Johannesburg). Her judicial career included serving on the Competition Appeal Court, where she acted as Judge President, and as an Acting Justice of both the Supreme Court of Appeal (2016) and the Constitutional Court (2019-2021). She was instrumental in the landmark Sylvia Mahlangu v Minister of Labour judgment, which extended workplace injury insurance to domestic workers, integrating constitutional jurisprudence with intersectional considerations of race, gender, and social origin.
Through formal mentorship programmes and training workshops, she has mentored countless aspiring judges, legal practitioners, and students locally and internationally. Judge Victor has also served on the Board of the Institute of African Women Lawyers, promoting gender equality across the continent.
After retiring from the judiciary, she continued her dedication to dispute resolution as the Ombud for the Long- and Short-Term Insurance industry. Her enduring passion for Alternative Dispute Resolution makes her an invaluable presenter in the AFSA ADR Programme, where she brings her wealth of experience in mediation, arbitration, and judicial excellence.
Adv Michael Kuper is a Senior Advocate at the Johannesburg Bar and one of South Africa’s most prominent arbitration specialists. His practice is focused on complex arbitration matters, including corporate, shareholder, partnership, and broader commercial and investment disputes. He is a recognised authority in both domestic and international arbitration.
A seasoned leader in the legal profession, Michael has served three terms as Chairman of the Johannesburg Bar and held the position of Vice-Chairman of
the General Council of the Bar. He has also acted as a Judge of the High Court on several occasions, bringing judicial insight to his extensive arbitration and mediation work.
Michael’s arbitration career spans decades and crosses borders. He has acted as counsel, arbitrator, or mediator in numerous domestic, regional (SADC), and
international proceedings. His regional engagements have included cross-border disputes across Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Internationally, he has appeared, or presided, in arbitrations seated in the United Kingdom, France, Nigeria, and the United States of America.
He has been appointed to panels by prestigious institutions, including the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). He acted as lead counsel for South Africa before the Permanent Court of Arbitration and has served as Country Rapporteur for South Africa.
Michael also holds panel appointments with multiple international arbitration centres, including:
• Hainan Arbitration Commission
• Shanghai International Arbitration Centre
• Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration
• Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA)
• China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centre (CAJAC)
• BIAC International Arbitration Centre)
He has held an appointment of Research Fellow of the Institute for Belt and Road Initiative and Research Fellow of the Institute of BRICS Leading Studies, East China University of Political Science and Law. He is a member of the Executive Council of ICDPASO.
He currently serves as Chairman of both AFSA and CAJAC Johannesburg, continuing to shape arbitration practice and policy across Africa and globally.
As a presenter in the AFSA ADR Programme, Michael brings unparalleled insight, international perspective, and thought leadership, allowing participants to learn from one of the foremost figures in the African arbitration landscape.
Practising Advocate and Member of the Legal Practice Council, General Council of the Bar of South Africa and Johannesburg Society of Advocates
Practising Advocate and Member of the Law Society of Lesotho
Commercial Panel Arbitrator – Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA)
Fellow – Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa) (Arbitrator Mediator Adjudicator)
Fellow – Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) Chairperson Chartered Institute of Arbitrators South Africa Chapter
Fellow – Prime Dispute (UK)
Member – African Arbitration Association
Mediator – Society of Mediators (London) and Association of Arbitrators (Southern Africa)
Member of the Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators – Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission
Shanghai International Arbitration Centre
Member – Mauritius International Arbitration Centre Practitioners’ Group
Member – Arbitrators Association of Lesotho
Arbitrator and Adjudicator – Russian Arbitration Center at the Russian Institute of Modern Arbitration
Member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre Panel of Arbitrators
Committee Member of the Society of Construction Law Africa and Member of the Society of Construction Law International
Member of the KFCRI International Panel of Arbitrators (India)
General Member – Bali International Arbitration and Mediation Center
