Can a dispute ever be truly over? As parallel proceedings proliferate across jurisdictions, res judicata and lis pendens, topic of our first panel, reveal a central paradox of international arbitration: a system built to deliver finality, yet lacking a single set of rules for determining when finality has been achieved. The panel will examine when a prior award precludes further claims or binds a subsequent arbitral tribunal, how arbitral tribunals should respond to parallel proceedings, and which law governs those determinations. It will also confront a more fundamental question: would an autonomous standard bring much-needed consistency and predictability—or erode the flexibility that makes arbitration distinctive? 

The second panel will focus on Expert evidence, and whether it can determine the outcome of a case—and also determine how long the case will last. Across the Lusophone world, approaches differ as to who appoints the expert, when technical evidence is introduced and how far arbitration should replicate practices inherited from domestic litigation. Drawing on perspectives from Brazil and Portugal, and placing them in dialogue with evolving international arbitration practice, this panel will confront a question at the heart of expert evidence: who should control it, and can a party-appointed expert ever be truly independent? It will also examine how early procedural planning, common methodologies, joint reports and expert conferencing can make technical evidence more focused and efficient—without compromising reliability, due process or the quality of the decision.