Ms Charis Tan > Peter & Kim > Singapore, Singapore > Lawyer Profile

Ms Charis Tan

Position

Charis specialises in international commercial and investment treaty arbitration and public international law.

She is admitted in three jurisdictions (Singapore, England & Wales and New York), and she advises States, State-owned companies and leading companies in a wide range of complex disputes and public international law issues, including in high profile State-to-State disputes before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). She has also been appointed as a World Trade Organisation (WTO) Panellist hearing a trade dispute between the European Union and the United States.

Charis’ experience includes investment and commercial arbitrations under the rules of major arbitration institutions, including ICSID, ICC, SIAC and SCC, as well as ad hoc proceedings under UNCITRAL Rules. Charis is appointed as Counsel and she also sits as an Arbitrator.

She advises National Oil Companies (NOCs) and International Oil Companies (IOCs) in both contentious and non-contentious upstream oil and gas matters. A unique area of her specialisation is where the practice of oil and gas crosses into the public international law sphere, such as where oil blocks straddle disputed boundaries.

Charis has been recommended by Who’s Who Legal, Asia Pacific Legal 500 and GAR. An initiative she spearheaded for the training of Government officials was also awarded the Asia Pacific FT Innovative Lawyers award.

She is currently a member of the Core Committee of the ICC’s Singapore Arbitration Group, on the editorial board for the ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin, and on the Council of the International Law Association (ILA) Singapore branch. She also serves on the Singapore Law Society’s committee for Public and International Law. Previously, Charis was an ICC YAF representative and events coordinator with Young ICCA; she was also an adjunct tutor at the National University of Singapore between 2008 and 2015.

Charis is a co-editor an author of Investment Protection in Southeast Asia, A Country-by-Country Guide on Arbitration Laws and Bilateral Investment Treaties (Brill, 2017).

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Arbitration
• Public International Law
• Private International Law
• Investment Law

INDUSTRY SECTORS

• Oil & Gas
• Energy & Resources
• Joint Ventures

REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Appointed on a WTO Panel to determine a trade dispute between the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) relating to anti-dumping and countervailing duties;
• Acting for an Eastern European State in a high-profile commercial arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules arising out of the construction of a trans-border highway, a project worth €1.4 billion;
• Acting for a South Asian State in an ad hoc UNCITRAL commercial arbitration between an investor and a State in relation to a concession over an airport, in a claim worth more than US$1 billion;
• Representing an Indonesian oil company in an ICC arbitration for failure to supply gas under a significant contract, resulting in a claim for more than US$500 million;
• Appointed as a Sole Arbitrator in a SIAC arbitration under the expedited procedure, relating to an exclusive distributorship agreement concerning video games between South Korean and Hong Kong parties;
• Lead Counsel in an ICC arbitration in a claim brought by a Vietnam-based French investor against an investment company based in Vietnam;
• Lead Counsel in a SIAC arbitration between a Chinese company and Singapore-based private equity fund relating to investments in the food sector;
• Acting for a Chinese State-owned entity in a SCC arbitration concerning a consultancy agreement against a Middle Eastern management company in relation to a petrochemical project worth US$750 million;
• On the Counsel team for Peru in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) case of Peru v. Chile relating to maritime delimitation;
• On the Counsel team for Colombia in two ICJ cases brought by Nicaragua relating to delimitation of the outer continental shelf and alleged violations of sovereign rights and maritime spaces;
• Represented a Middle Eastern State in three inter-related ICSID arbitrations relating to investments in ports and customs systems; and
• Acting as Counsel for an Eastern European State in an ICSID arbitration involving a longstanding investment in a motorway in Europe.

RANKING

• Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2022
• Who’s Who Legal (WWL) Southeast Asia, 2021 to 2022
• Who’s Who Legal (WWL) Future Leaders in Arbitration, 2017 to 2023; “Most Highly Regarded” (2023)
• Asia Pacific FT Innovative Lawyers Award, 2017
• Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2016

QUOTES

WWL (Southeast Asia, 2021) says:

Charis Tan is a “formidable arbitration counsel”, according to sources who laud her “very deep technical international arbitration expertise” and “great familiarity with the rules and personas involved”.

Global Arbitration Review quotes a client as saying that Charis was “simply outstanding”.

Who’s Who Legal names Charis as a “Future Leader” in arbitration (2022):

“Charis combines deep technical expertise together with a profound understanding of the client’s commercial goal”

“She is a practical and effective lawyer”

“She distils complex legal concepts in a highly palatable manner”

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific (2022) highlighted Peter & Kim in Singapore as a “firm to watch”, stating:

“Peter & Kim‘s Singapore international arbitration practice was set up by Charis Tan… in April 2020. Tan is tri-qualified in Singapore, England & Wales and New York and has particular experience in international arbitration and public international law and advises States in investment treaty disputes.”

In 2023, Chambers and Partners ranked Peter & Kim Singapore in Band 1 among highly regarded firms for arbitration.

Who’s Who Legal (2023) named Charis among the “Most Highly Regarded” partners in Asia Pacific:

“An amazing practitioner”

Career

• Partner, Peter & Kim, Singapore (2020 to Present)
• Director, DWF LLP, Singapore (2017 to 2019)
• Of Counsel, Senior Associate and Associate, Eversheds Sutherland, Singapore and Paris (2009 to 2017)
• Associate and Pupil, Michael Hwang Chambers, Singapore (2007 to 2009)

Languages

English, Mandarin

Memberships

• WTO Panellist, World Trade Organization
• Chair, ICC Singapore Arbitration Group
• Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Reserve Panel of Arbitrators
• Council member, International Law Association (ILA), Singapore branch
• Committee member, Public and International Law Committee, Singapore Law Society
• Editorial Board, ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin
• Board member, Strata Titles Board
• ICC Commission Member

Education

• Bachelor of Laws (Honours), National University of Singapore (2007)