2026 PHILIPPE FOUCHARD AWARD
For the “2026 Philippe Fouchard Prize,” dissertations defended between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2026, that have not yet been published will be considered. Candidates are invited to submit three copies of their dissertation manuscript no later than July 31, 2026.
The next “Philippe Fouchard Prize” will be awarded at the 2026 annual conference of the French Arbitration Committee.
Manuscripts should be sent to:
French Arbitration Committee
"Philippe Fouchard Prize"
31 Rue La Boétie
75008 Paris
Phone: +33 (0)1 55 06 16 44
Email: secretariat@cfa-arbitrage.com
The rules for the award can be viewed online on the CFA website: www.cfa-arbitrage.com
Jérôme ORTSCHEIDT
President
French Arbitration Committee
2025 PHILIPPE FOUCHARD AWARD
For the “2025 Philippe Fouchard Prize,” dissertations defended between January1, 2023, and December 31, 2024, that have not yet been published will be considered. Candidates are invited to submit three copies of their dissertation manuscript no later than July 20, 2025.
The next “Philippe Fouchard Prize” will be awarded at the 2025 annual conference of the French Arbitration Committee.
Manuscripts should be sent to:
French Arbitration Committee
"Philippe Fouchard Prize"
31 Rue La Boétie
75008 Paris
Phone: +33 (0)1 55 06 16 44
Email: secretariat@cfa-arbitrage.com
The rules for the award can be viewed online on the CFA website: www.cfa-arbitrage.com
Philippe PINSOLLE
President
French Arbitration Committee
2023 PHILIPPE FOUCHARD AWARD
The 2023 Philippe Fouchard Thesis Prize was awarded to Mr. Matthieu MOREAU-CUCCHI for his doctoral dissertation on “The Civil Liability of the Arbitrator,” supervised by Professor Christophe Seraglini at the University of Paris Saclay, Jean-Monnet Faculty of Law (Sceaux).
The jury, chaired by Mr. Daniel Cohen, Professor at the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas, was composed of Mr. Dominique Hascher, Justice of the Court of Cassation; Mr. Jacques Pellerin, Attorney at the Paris Bar; Jean-Baptiste Racine, professor at Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University; and François-Xavier Train, professor at Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense University.
The award was presented to him on December 1, 2023, during the CFA’s annual conference on the theme “The Legitimacy of Arbitration,” held at the Cercle de l’Union Interalliée, 33 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris.
2021 PHILIPPE FOUCHARD AWARD
The jury, chaired by Mr. Daniel Cohen, Professor at Panthéon-Assas Paris 2 University, was composed of Messrs. Dominique Hascher, Counselor at the Court of Cassation; Jacques Pellerin, Attorney at the Paris Bar; Jean-Baptiste Racine, Professor at Panthéon-Assas University II (Paris 2), and François-Xavier Train, Professor at Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense University.
The award was presented to him on November 26, 2021, during the symposium “Arbitration in France Ten Years After the Reform,” organized by the French Arbitration Committee at the Maison de la Chimie, 28 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris.
2019 PHILIPPE FOUCHARD AWARD
The 2019 Philippe Fouchard Thesis Prize was awarded to Ms. Léonor JANDARD for her doctoral dissertation on “The Relationship Between the Arbitrator and the Parties—A Critical Analysis of the Arbitrator’s Contract,” supervised by Professor François-Xavier Train and defended on November 5, 2018, at the University of Paris Nanterre.
The jury, chaired by Mr. Daniel Cohen, professor at Panthéon-Assas Paris II University, was composed of Mr. Dominique Hascher, Justice of the Court of Cassation; Mr. Jacques Pellerin, attorney at the Paris Bar; and Mr. Jean-Baptiste Racine, professor at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis.
The award was presented to him on November 29, 2019, during the symposium “Evidence in Arbitration,” organized by the French Arbitration Committee at the Maison de la Chimie, 28 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris.
2017 Philippe Fouchard Thesis Award
The 2017 Philippe Fouchard Thesis Prize was awarded to Mr. Basile ZAJDELA for his doctoral dissertation on “Res Judicata before the International Commercial Arbitrator,” supervised by Professor Pierre Mayer and defended on December 4, 2015, at Panthéon-Sorbonne University Paris I.
The jury, chaired by Mr. Daniel Cohen, Professor at Panthéon-Assas University Paris II, was composed of Messrs. Dominique Hascher, Justice of the Court of Cassation; Jacques Pellerin, Attorney at the Paris Bar; Jean-Baptiste Racine, professor at the University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis; and François-Xavier Train, professor at the University of Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense.
The award was presented to him on November 17, 2017, during the symposium “Reflections on Remedies in Arbitration Law,” organized by the French Arbitration Committee at the Maison de la Chimie, 28 Rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris.
2017 Philippe Fouchard Thesis Award
At its meeting on December 10, 2009, the Executive Committee of the French Arbitration Committee decided to establish an annual thesis award to recognize high-quality scholarly work in the field of arbitration (in the broad sense) and alternative dispute resolution.
Mr. David Fouchard, when approached for this purpose, graciously agreed that the Committee’s dissertation award should bear the name of his father, Philippe Fouchard.
The Executive Committee of the French Arbitration Committee, meeting in Paris on January 21, 2010, adopted the following resolution.
An annual CFA dissertation prize is hereby established, entitled the “Philippe Fouchard Dissertation Prize of the French Arbitration Committee.”
This prize recognizes a dissertation whose subject matter focuses on arbitration and alternative dispute resolution.
It is awarded according to the University’s current criteria for excellence.
Rules and Regulations
- The award is presented every two years. It is presented to the winner at the first public event held by the CFA following its announcement.
- However, if the jury determines that the proposed research does not meet the required standards of scientific quality, it has the discretion not to award the prize for the two-year period in question.
- If several works deemed to be of equal quality deserve to be recognized, the jury may divide the prize.
- The prize is worth 5,000 euros. It is intended to fund the publication of the dissertation selected by the jury.
- In exceptional cases, the jury may decide to award the prize to a dissertation that has already been published.
- In addition to the Philippe Fouchard Thesis Award from the French Arbitration Committee, the jury may, based on the quality of the work submitted to it, decide to honor a thesis with a special mention from the jury.
- In such a case, no funds are generally awarded to the applicant.
- For the purpose of awarding the prize, dissertations written in French are considered, regardless of the authors’ nationality or the location of the defense. The topic of the dissertation must pertain to arbitration law, the law of alternative dispute resolution, or a subject related to the Committee’s mission.
- The application package must include the following documents:
- A detailed resume, including, in particular, the candidate's contact information and, if applicable, a list of their publications;
- Three hard copies of the dissertation;
- A 2- to 6-page abstract;
- The thesis defense report;
- Applications must be received by the CFA secretariat by the deadline set each year by the Committee’s Executive Board. The complete application package must be mailed no later than that date; the postmark will serve as proof of the date of mailing.
- The Committee’s Executive Board appoints the members of the thesis award jury for a six-year term. The members of the jury determine the selection of the rapporteurs as well as the procedures for their meetings and deliberations. A member of the jury must recuse themselves from serving as the rapporteur for a thesis they have supervised (nor may they take part in the deliberations regarding the decision to award the prize or, if applicable, the special mention).
- The award recipient must, first, include the following statement in the publication: “Philippe Fouchard Thesis Award from the French Arbitration Committee.” Second, the recipient must donate six copies of the published thesis to the French Arbitration Committee’s library.
