Europe
Career
Dr. Cosmin Vasile is managing partner of Zamfirescu Racoți Vasile & Partners and head of the firm’s Arbitration Practice Group. He has extensive experience of more than 23 years in handling cross-border disputes and boasts already an outstanding track-record of around 100 international arbitration proceedings as counsel and arbitrator conducted under various laws and sets of arbitration rules, including ICC, LCIA, CAM, SCC, VIAC, UNCITRAL, ICSID and CICA.
Cosmin has successfully coordinated an impressive number of significant and mission critical disputes for his clients, often in the glare of media attention. Winning groundbreaking awards for his clients in Romania has brought him international recognition and a well-deserved place among the best arbitration practitioners worldwide, being held in esteem for his work as a counsel. As one of the leading experts in construction, capital markets, privatization and energy arbitrations in Romania, Cosmin is called upon to provide legal counsel to both government institutions and private companies.
Cosmin is one of the top Romanian lawyers with significant experience in investment arbitration, having advised both on high-profile ICSID and ad-hoc investor-state arbitrations. He helps clients in a variety of industries including energy, infrastructure and financial services and is valued for his in-depth knowledge of procedural rules, investment arbitration case law, public international law, and investment treaty interpretation.
Cosmin has acted in cases concerning a wide range of commercial contracts in various industry sectors. Cosmin regularly sits as arbitrator in domestic and international proceedings. In addition to his appointment to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, he is a CIETAC and CICA arbitrator and acts as a member of several arbitration institutions including the SCC Arbitrators’ Council, the IBA Arbitration (Co-Chair of the Insolvency and International Arbitration Working Group) Committee, and The Institute for Transnational Arbitration. Since 2015 he is a member of the Court College of The Court of International Commercial Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania.
In court, Cosmin has an impressive record, being popular among major domestic and international corporations for advice in high-profile commercial, administrative-contentious, public procurement and capital markets disputes. During the last years, he has focused on cross-border litigations, international private law matters and a wide range of commercial disputes in various industry sectors, such as construction, energy, privatization, M&A. Cosmin also acts for a significant client roster in intellectual property matters, being a highly regarded IP litigator in both patent and trademarks.
Cosmin was the ICC YAF Regional Representative for the Europe and Russia chapter for the 2017–2019 mandate. From this position, he was responsible for the promotion and development of the dynamic global network of young arbitration talent.
He regularly speaks and publishes on topics related to arbitration and is a member of the Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Committees of the International Bar Association (IBA). He holds a doctorate degree from the University of Bucharest and defended his doctoral thesis on the topic “The Applicable Law in the Ad Hoc Commercial Arbitration” (2011). Cosmin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London (FCIArb) since 2012 and holds a diploma in International Arbitration from this institute. He has been awarded the Certificate of the ICC Advanced Arbitration Academy for Central and Eastern Europe and the Certificate of the International Academy for Arbitration Law (Paris).
Practice Areas
• Dispute resolution, Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Private International Law
• Intellectual Property
• Administrative Law & Public Procurement
• Commercial Law
• Investment arbitration
Professional Memberships
National Association of Romanian Bars
International Bar Association (Co-Chair of the Insolvency and International Arbitration Working Group)
The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London (Member, Fellow)
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) (Arbitrator and Conciliator)
The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (Co-Chair of the European Task Force)
Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, SCC Arbitrators’ Council (Member of the Council)
Young International Arbitration Group, Court of International Arbitration, London
China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) (Arbitrator)
The Court of International Commercial Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (Member of the Court College, Arbitrator)
ICC Young Arbitrators Forum
International Council for Commercial Arbitration
International Arbitration Institute (IAI Paris)
Dispute Resolution International Board, IBA
The Alternative Banking Dispute Resolution Centre (Conciliator)
Publications
• "The Supreme Court of Justice Held That Non-Governmental Organisations of Public Interest Can Organise Institutional Arbitration ‘Only If Authorised By The Lawmaker’", author, published in the Romanian Arbitration Journal issue no. 2 (2024), volume 67, page 34;
• “Appeal Decision in the Interest of the Law by which the High Court Determined Who Can Organize Institutionalized Arbitration - Explanations, Legal Effects and a Question Mark”, author, published on 21 November 2024 on www.juridice.ro (the main online legal publication in Romania);
• “Scope of Art. 621 C.P.C. A Special Hypothesis: Under What Conditions Does the Parties' Willingness to Choose Institutionalized Arbitration Produce Effects in Favor of ad hoc Arbitration”, author, published on 09 September 2024 on www.juridice.ro (the main online legal publication in Romania);
• “ICCA International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration”, National Report Romania, ISBN 9789065449672, co-author, ICCA & Kluwer Law International 2020, 2021
• “Practitioner’s Guidelines to the Rules of Arbitration of the Court of International Commercial Arbitration Attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania”, co-editor, Wolters Kluwer 2020
• “Construction Arbitration in Central and Eastern Europe: Contemporary Issues”, co-editor, Wolters Kluwer 2019
• “Challenge for Clarification of the Scope, Meaning and Application of an Arbitral Award”, Co-authored with C. Cojocaru, published on 19 February 2016 on www.juridice.ro (the main online legal publication in Romania), published also in the Romanian Arbitration Journal;
• “Admissibility of the Appeal against the Decisions to Reject the Action for Setting Aside an Arbitral Award”, co-authored with Professor Viorel Mihai Ciobanu, published on 22 January 2016 on www.juridice.ro (the main online legal publication in Romania), republished on 12 February 2016 on www.universuljuridic.ro (the online legal publication of the publishing house Universul Juridic);
• “Absolute Nullity of the Arbitral Convention Concluded without Notary Public Authentication. An Extravagance of the NCPC”, co-authored with Violeta Saranciuc, published on 11 November 2013 on www.juridice.ro (the main online legal publication in Romania) and in the Romanian Arbitration Journal issue no. 4 (2014), volume 32, page 1;
• "Arbitration in Romania", co-authored with V. Saranciuc published on 21 October 2015 on www.lexology.com, Lexology Navigator;
• "Considerations on the Possibility to Enforce a Binding but not Final DAB Decision, through an Interim or Partial Arbitral Award, Analysed from the Perspective of the Romanian Law", co-authored with Professor Viorel Mihai Ciobanu, published in the Romanian Arbitration Journal issue no. 3 (2014), volume 31, page 1;
• “A Survey regarding the Approach of the Romanian Courts to the Notion of Public Policy in the Context of Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and in Proceedings for Setting Aside Arbitral Awards”, co-authored with Violeta Saranciuc, published on 1 April 2016 on www.juridice.ro (the main online legal publication in Romania);
• "New Arbitration Rules of the Bucharest Court of International Commercial Arbitration," co-authored with V. Saranciuc, published in December 2014 in the Practical Law Multi-Jurisdictional Guide 2014/2015;
• “The Law Approving the Termination of the intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties: Premises, Status Quo and Perspectives”, Universul Juridic Magazine no. 3/2017, co-authored with Violeta Saranciuc;
• “Eyes on Romania as it Enacts a Law Approving the Termination of all Intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties”, Young ICCA Blog, co-authored with Violeta Saranciuc.
