Ciarb thanks outgoing Course Director Professor Dr Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab C.Arb FCIArb and welcomes incoming Course Director Dr Crina Baltag FCIArb.

Professor Dr Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab C.Arb FCIArb has confirmed he will step down as Course Director of Ciarb’s prestigious Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration. After this September’s in-person Diploma in Oxford, Mohamed will focus on his upcoming 2025 Ciarb Presidency.

Mohamed commented, “It was indeed a great privilege to have served as the Director of the Ciarb’s flagship Diploma Course for six years. The Ciarb has long been known for its world-class Diploma Course with stellar past directors and faculty. I am particularly proud that the Diploma Course has grown from strength to strength during those six years, and was able to adapt and embrace global changes. For the first time in the Ciarb’s history we offered the Diploma Course online due to the Covid-19 pandemic and that was a great success, to the extent that this is now normalised where we offer virtual and in-person editions on an annual basis. The content was also adapted to account for global changes in the international arbitration landscape, where new and specialised lectures on topical and intricate issues are offered, with some sector-specific focus on construction, energy, investment, banking and finance and technology, etc. 

During those six years, we also managed to introduce new bright faces as tutors and faculty, who are top class practitioners drawn from across the globe, and this enriched the Diploma Course experience and guaranteed our collective success. Being guided by the values of diversity and global inclusion while ensuring top quality and rich content, facilitated the choice of our outstanding faculty and tutors. I wholeheartedly thank the Ciarb for their trust and confidence and the tutors and faculty, throughout all editions of the Diploma Course, for their brilliance, commitment, dedication and belief in the need to ethically and professionally train erudite fresh new faces in the world of international arbitration.

I sincerely congratulate Dr. Crina Baltag on taking helm as the new Director of the Ciarb Diploma Course. She is an outstanding member of the faculty, who is truly valued and respected. I have no doubt that, together with our superb tutors, she will take the Diploma Course to new heights and to more success. Dr. Baltag is no doubt a significant asset and will unquestionably join the hall of fame for all leading and successful directors of the Diploma Course. 

In 2025, I intend to focus, as President of the Ciarb, on global inclusion, capacity building and thought leadership to ensure global representation in our international arbitration community. This will enable our venerated field to continue to rejuvenate and to adapt to new changes.”

Course Director since 2019, Mohamed has been instrumental in evolving the Global Diploma into one of the most sought-after international arbitration qualifications. Over 190 candidates have undertaken the Diploma under Mohamed’s watch. Read some of their feedback further down.

The 2024 Global Diploma candidates with Professor Dr Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab C.Arb FCIArb and other Ciarb members

Ciarb is delighted to welcome Dr Crina Baltag FCIArb as the new Course Director of the Global Diploma. Crina practices as an arbitrator and is a qualified attorney-at-law with over twenty years’ experience in international commercial and investment arbitration, international dispute resolution, private and public international law. She is Professor Assoc. in International Arbitration Law and the Academic Director of the LL.M in International Commercial Arbitration Law at Stockholm University. Crina is widely recognised as a leading international dispute resolution academic and is frequently invited to speak on topical issues in international arbitration and dispute resolution. Crina has been part of faculty for Ciarb’s Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration in previous years.

Crina commented, “It is a tremendous honour to be appointed as the Course Director of the Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Being part of the Diploma and working closely with Professor Dr Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab in the past years, I am looking forward to ensuring that the success of the Diploma is enhanced, by further strengthening the value of networking opportunities provided by the Diploma, and by consolidating the ties of the alumni with Ciarb. Prof. Abdel Wahab’s leadership is unparallelled, and this is an additional reason why I am truly privileged to walk into his footsteps. His leadership is something we all, in the arbitration community, should aspire to. I look forward to working closely with Prof. Abdel Wahab in his capacity as the President of Ciarb, with Ciarb CEO Catherine Dixon, and with the entire – truly excellent – team of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, including Margherita Blandini, Isabel Phillips, Adil Yilmaz, Andrea Khan, Nika Kurent, Catriona Gallagher, Millie Patel, Mercy McBrayer and others.”

Catherine Dixon MCIArb, CEO of Ciarb, said, “On behalf of everyone at Ciarb, I thank Mohamed for his dedication to and expert leadership of the Global Diploma. I look forward to working with him in the run up to and throughout his Ciarb Presidency. I am delighted to welcome Crina as the new Course Director. Her experience as a practising arbitrator and a leading academic is impressive and I am excited for future candidates of the Diploma who will benefit from her expertise and insights.”

Candidate feedback on the Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration:

“The course director, Dr. Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab, and the rest of the distinguished faculty, demonstrated an impressive breadth and depth of experience. All in all, a fantastic experience!” Julia E Sullivan FCIArb, Independent Arbitrator, Law Office of Julia E Sullivan

“The Oxford Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration is hands-down the best arbitration training I have attended." Nwamara Inegbenoise MCIArb, Principal ADR Consultant, Noise & Blue

“… thank you to the awe-inspiring Course Director and remarkable faculty members and thank you to my diverse and engaging colleagues. This has been a truly unforgettable experience. Onwards and upwards from here!” Sudhar Thillainathan MCIArb, Advocate, Solicitor and Arbitrator, Steven Thiru & Sudhar Partnership

Professor Dr Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab C.Arb FCIArb is recognised as a world leader in dispute resolution and is an international arbitrator and arbitration practitioner with considerable expertise and experience in international investment and international commercial arbitration, Islamic Shari’a, construction, energy, telecommunications, finance and online dispute resolution. 

He is Founding Partner & Head of International Arbitration, Construction and Energy, Zulficar & Partners, Egypt; Professor of International Arbitration, Private International Law and English Contract Law, Cairo University. Mohamed is also a Member of the ICCA Governing Board; Chair of the ICC Governing Body for Dispute Resolution Services; Dean of the Africa Arbitration Academy; Member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law; Member of the Scientific Board of the African Society for International Law; Member of the LACIAC Court of Arbitration; Member of the ITA Academic Council; and Member of the Court, PCA. WWL: Arbitration & Global Elite Thought Leaders (2023) says “‘He is an amazing practitioner and one of the hardest working people’ ‘His sharp mind never ceases to amaze’ ‘He is one of a kind!’”. Chambers and Partners (2023)-Africa-wide says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is someone who is very brilliant and technically capable. He is very smart on the law, but also emotionally intelligent as well”. Legal 500 (2023) – Dispute Resolution: Arbitration says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab: Highly respected, very experienced arbitrator, exhibiting highest standard of integrity and ethics”‘ and “knowledgeable in several system of laws: common law, civil law and sharia law”. Legal 500 (2024) says: “Mohamed Abdel Wahab is very highly regarded by peers in the international arbitration community. He knows arbitration inside and out. He is smart, experienced, has great communication skills. His professionalism, integrity, moral values and work ethics are exceptional”. GAR (2024) says: “A well-known partner at a GAR 30 firm who has recently sat on a tribunal with Abdel Wahab says: “His views, opinions and advice are always spot-on. He is a highly respected practitioner and arbitrator in the arbitration community and always exhibits utmost professionalism and outstanding ethics.”

Dr Crina Baltag FCIArb practices as an arbitrator, is a qualified attorney-at-law and a member of the Romanian and Bucharest Bar. She has over twenty years’ experience in international commercial and investment arbitration, international dispute resolution, private and public law. She is frequently engaged as expert in international dispute resolution reform and also advises States in the implementation of modern arbitration, mediation and commercial litigation legislation.

Crina is widely recognised as a leading international dispute resolution academic and is frequently invited to speak on topical issues in international arbitration and dispute resolution. She is Professor Assoc. in International Arbitration Law and the Academic Director of the LL.M in International Commercial Arbitration Law at Stockholm University. She was also Senior Visiting Fellow at the Institute for European and Comparative Law, University of Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall College. Crina has been part of faculty for Ciarb’s Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration in previous years and is a member of Ciarb’s Education and Training Reform Advistory Group.

She is managing editor of Kluwer Arbitration Blog and member of editorial boards of prestigious journals in the field. Crina is the Chair of the Academic Council, member of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) of the Center for American and International Law, and member of the Board of the SCC Arbitration Institute. Since 2018, Crina is a delegate observer to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

For more information about Ciarb's Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration, aka the Oxford Diploma, please email education@ciarb.org