Cristian Boruzi

Cristian Boruzi

Position: Senior Arbitration Consultant
Practice Areas

  • Commercial arbitration
  • Investment arbitration
  • Emergency arbitration
  • Proceedings to set aside and enforce arbitral awards before the French courts

Languages: French, English, Romanian, Spanish, Serbian
Email:  c.boruzi@vp.legal
Phone: +33 (0)1 86 70 89 32

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Presentation

Cristian Boruzi has joined the firm to reinforce our international arbitration practice. He acts in commercial and investment arbitrations across the energy, construction and infrastructure, corporate and sports sectors, with a particular focus on cases involving States, State entities and parties from Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Cristian Boruzi is involved in numerous arbitration proceedings, including Ad hoc arbitrations and arbitrations governed by the most significant arbitration rules (ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, PCA, LCIA, Swiss Arbitration Center, CAS, CCJA). He is regularly involved in proceedings to set aside and enforce arbitral awards before the French courts. Cristian Boruzi is also appointed secretary to arbitral tribunals presided by leading arbitrators.

Cristian Boruzi has over six years of experience in international arbitration and gained significant experience while working in several renowned international arbitration law firms (King & Spalding, Bird & Bird, Teynier Pic), being involved in numerous high-profile disputes. He interned at the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC, where he worked closely with the then Secretary General and the Eastern European team. Cristian also interned in the dispute resolution department of Orano, a French leading company in the field of energy and nuclear fuel.

Before joining VP Legal, Cristian Boruzi acted as legal counsel for both the Diplomatic Unit and the Comparative Law Office of the Delegation for European and International Affairs (DAEI) of the French Ministry of Justice. Cristian also acted as General counsel of a startup company specialized in aviation claims.

Alongside this, Cristian Boruzi is also conducting a Ph.D thesis in international arbitration at the University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I) on the topic of emergency arbitration. As part of his research, he consulted more than 100 emergency arbitration cases (commercial and investment) from leading institutions, including the ICC, SCC and CEPANI.

Cristian Boruzi also gained experience in international arbitration as a competitor in both the Willem C. Vis Moot and Vis East Moot, in Vienna and Hong Kong. He regularly trains teams for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court and serves as an arbitrator in pre-moots and in the Vis Moot.

Cristian Boruzi has been appointed member of the Mediation Standing Committee of the Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (HCAA) in 2023. He also cooperates with multiple international arbitration groups (Young ITA, Young ICCA and others) through various diversity initiatives and mentoring programs.

Cristian Boruzi is a Romanian citizen and works in English, French and Romanian. He also has a good knowledge of Spanish and Serbian.

Recent experience

  • ICSID case under the Energy Charter Treaty between multiple European Claimants and a Eastern European country in relation to a renewable energy project arising from the adoption by the host State of legal reforms that affected the renewable energy sector;
  • ICSID case under the Energy Charter Treaty between multiple European Claimants and a Western European country in relation to a renewable energy project arising out of the breach of the host State’s undertakings;
  • Investor-state case administered by the PCA under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, invoked together with a BIT, between multiple North American investors and a South Asian country in relation to the development, construction and operation of a thermal power plant;
  • Investor-state case between multiple European and West-African investors and a West-African state brought before the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Court of Justice in relation to the construction and operation of a gas terminal;
  • Proceedings to set aside an arbitral award before the Paris Court of Appeal in connection with an ICC investor-state case between a Middle Eastern construction company and a North African country in relation to a construction project and compensation for damages resulting from the breach of the BIT;
  • Proceedings to set aside an arbitral award before the Paris Court of Appeal in connection with an investor-state case administered by the PCA under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules between a European party and a North African country in relation to a mining concession and compensation for damages resulting from the breach of the BIT;
  • ICC arbitration case between a multinational telecommunications company and a producer of electronic units for 5G technology in relation to the brutal termination of established commercial relations;
  • ICC arbitration case between multiple French parties and a Western African State in relation to unpaid additional works on a bridge construction project;
  • ICC arbitration case between a number of European and West African companies in relation to the breach of a contractual relationship comprising a distribution agreement and a production license agreement in the agri-food sector;
  • ICC arbitration case between a Western European company and a Middle Eastern company in relation to the termination of a construction project due to defective works;
  • ICC arbitration case between an oil company and an insurance company, both based in the Middle East, arising out of the wrongful execution of an insurance policy;
  • ICC arbitration case between a Northern European company and a Western European company in relation to the purported breach of an SPA;
  • ICC arbitration case between a French company and a and a North African company in relation to a breach of contract over a construction project executed on an oil site;
  • ICC arbitration case between a French company and a South-West African company arising from the failure to comply with contractual obligations under a mine purchase agreement;
  • Ad hoc arbitration case between two parties arising from the termination of a joint venture agreement for the construction of a casino in Southeast Asia;
  • ICC arbitration case between a European company and a North African company in relation to the payment for additional works required during the construction of a railway line;
  • ICC Arbitration case between a French multinational specialized in the railway sector and a North African company arising from the failure to pay for services rendered to secure the public contract for the project;
  • CAS arbitration case related to a dispute related to the breach of a sports employment contract of a European football coach against a Middle Eastern football club;
  • Settlement of a dispute related to the breach of a sports contract between a European basketball player and a French basketball club;
  • Enforcement proceedings for an ICC award before the national courts of the seat in relation to a construction project between a North African and a Middle Eastern party;
  • Proceedings to set aside an arbitral award before the Paris Court of Appeal in connection with an Ah hoc arbitration case between a Canadian company and multiple French individuals in relation to a sales contract of a company involved in the production of medical equipment;
  • FIDIC dispute adjudication proceedings between two West-African parties in relation to claims raised under the FIDIC Yellow Book in connection with a project to build and upgrade the regional electricity distribution network.
  • Mediation proceedings under the ICC rules between two European companies in relation to the violation of an SPA in the aerospace sector;
  • Mediation proceedings under the CMAP rules between multiple French companies in relation to multiple contracts covering the healthcare sector;
  • Mediation proceedings under the ICC rules between a Central African bank and an East African bank in the context of the renegotiation of a SPA;
  • Mediation proceedings under the CMAP rules between a French nuclear group and an IT company arising from the failure to comply with contractual obligations under a long-term IT contract.

Education

  • University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), Ph.D, Emergency arbitration (in progress)
  • University of Montpellier 1, Diploma (D.U.), Domestic and international arbitration (with honors)
  • University Toulouse Capitole 1, Master of laws (M2), International Business Law (high honors)
  • University of Montreal, Diploma, Canadian and Quebec Business Law (highest honors)
  • University Jean Moulin (Lyon 3), Master of laws (M1), Business Law
  • University Jean Moulin (Lyon 3), Master of laws (M1), International Law

Activities and Conferences

  • Member of the Mediation Standing Committee of The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (HCAA), 2023 – to date;
  • Facilitator, Young ITA Mentoring Program, 2022 – present;
  • Academic Coordinator of the Cornell Summer School organized by Cornell University in Paris (2019);
  • Coordinator of the 1st ICC International Court of Arbitration Users’ Dinner in Romania (2017);
  • Coordinator of the 17th ODR Conference “Equal Access to Information & Justice – Online Dispute Resolution” organized by the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris (2017) ;
  • Coordinator of the Global Pound Conference (GPC) hosted in Paris (2015-2017);
  • Academic coordinator of the ELSA Delegations to the UNCITRAL Working Groups (2013-2015).

    Cristian Boruzi regularly grades papers for the Paris Bar exam at University of Panthéon-Sorbonne.

Engagements

  • The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (HCAA)
  • Institute for Transnational Arbitration (Young ITA)
  • Young Romanian Arbitration Practitioners (YRAP)
  • International Council for Commercial Arbitration (Young ICCA)
  • ICC YAAF
  • YIAG LCIA
  • The French Arbitration Club (Le Club de l’arbitrage)
  • Romanian Speaking Lawyers Association (AAJR)
  • ELSA Alumni