AEES Executive Certificate in Arbitration and dispute resolution

The capabilities the assessment attests if you pass.

• Choose a resolution path
• Hold an evidence file
• Decide to settle
• Decide what you want
• Judge an imperfect deal rather than a war
• Make the decision hold once it is issued

This is the European Commission’s classification of skills, competences, qualifications and occupations. This certificate is linked to it through the skills below. Each link opens the official record.

• manage contract disputes http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/f79e4715-5776-485c-ab7d-631c9b8d70ad
• conflict management http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/afd49651-9119-4327-91fc-844a6dda1254
• moderate in negotiations http://data.europa.eu/esco/skill/59a8086b-59b3-4e88-9341-21d7fb693b89

1. Module 1, Path: Choosing Negotiation, Mediation, Arbitration or Court The fastest way to lose a dispute is to pick the wrong path. The right forum and process can reduce cost, protect relationships, and preserve business value. The wrong one can drain time and cash without moving the needle. This module helps you decide when to negotiate, when to mediate, when to arbitrate, and when to go to court. It is built for working professionals who need practical choices, not theory. You will learn a simple, repeatable method that fits around how businesses actually operate. You start by clarifying what you want, what you can prove, and where the other side’s assets are. Then you balance speed, enforceability, budget, confidentiality, and relationship. The result is a clear path with triggers that tell you when to change course if new facts appear.
2. Module 2, Clause: Read what the contract already requires Most disputes start with a document, not with an argument. Before you plan a strategy, you must know what the parties already agreed to do if a dispute arises. This module trains you to read the contract’s dispute resolution clause and the related provisions that shape jurisdiction, arbitration, notices, timelines, evidence, and enforcement. You will convert legal text into an actionable path and a calendar you can follow on day one of a dispute. The clause can be short or very detailed. Either way, it usually decides where you can file, whether arbitration or court litigation is required, which rules and seat apply, how arbitrators are appointed, which language to use, and which preconditions must be satisfied. Missing a step can delay you for months or make you lose rights through time bars or waiver. Reading the clause well is a performance skill. You will practice it with a method and a checklist.
3. Module 3: File - Build the Evidence File that Carries Your Case Arbitration and settlement turn on facts that can be shown, not feelings. This module shows how to hold a clean, usable file that tracks the dispute from claim to evidence to outcome. You will move from a narrative to a proof plan, decide what to keep, how to organize it, and how to use it to frame production requests, prepare witnesses, and negotiate from strength. International practice gives you tested guardrails. Arbitral tribunals expect parties to focus on relevant and material evidence, protect confidentiality, and avoid volume for its own sake. You will learn to design your file to meet that standard. The file is not a warehouse. It is a tool to answer the questions that decide the case and to help you judge a settlement proposal against a realistic alternative.
4. Module 4: Strategy Strategy is choice. In arbitration and dispute resolution, you choose what to pursue, what to concede, and when to stop. This module helps you turn a dispute from a moving target into a managed business project. You will define outcomes, price uncertainty, and map the path that serves your interests at acceptable cost and risk. The same file can lead to a fast settlement, a measured arbitration, or a prolonged fight. The difference is not only the merits of the case. It is the clarity of objectives, the quality of your evidence plan, and how you weigh time, money, relationships, and enforcement. Strategy gives you a transparent way to decide what you want and at what price.
5. Module 5: Settlement Settlement is the deliberate choice to prefer an imperfect but controlled outcome over a protracted contest with uncertain results. In practice, most disputes end by agreement. Effective settlement is not capitulation, it is a structured business decision that balances legal risk, cash, time, and strategic relationships. This module gives you a practical method to decide when and how to settle, and to turn that decision into a durable agreement. You will learn to quantify risk using simple decision trees and expected values, to define your negotiation space by mapping BATNA and reservation points, and to engineer offers that combine money with practical non-monetary terms. You will also learn where mediation fits, how to prepare briefs and select a mediator, and how to use procedural tools such as consent awards to enhance enforceability.
6. Module 6/6, Enforcement This module addresses what happens after an arbitral tribunal issues its award or the parties sign a binding settlement. A decision is only as useful as its enforceability. Your task is to transform the paper outcome into actual performance or payment. That requires understanding the legal framework at the seat of arbitration, the law where assets are located, and the tools available to convert a decision into recoveries. You will work with a blend of instruments. The New York Convention governs recognition and enforcement of most foreign arbitral awards. National arbitration statutes set procedures and time limits. Courts control interim relief, asset freezes, disclosure orders, and third-party processes. In investment arbitration, the ICSID Convention creates a distinct, self-contained enforcement path. Across all of this, practical asset strategy is often the difference between success and a hollow victory.