Malcolm Holmes QC is a Chartered Arbitrator at Eleven Wentworth Chambers in Sydney and an arbitrator member of chambers at 20 Essex Street, London and at Maxwell Chambers in Singapore.

After initially commencing an engineering degree at the University of NSW, he transferred to law, and obtained degrees in Arts and Law from Sydney University, NSW, Australia, and then a Bachelor of Civil Law from Oxford University, UK. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1991. He is an experienced arbitrator, senior counsel and academic exclusively involved in international and domestic arbitration. He has acted as an arbitrator in a wide range of disputes. He is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Queensland in International Commercial Arbitration and a Professorial Visiting Fellow to the University of NSW in International Commercial Arbitration.

International Arbitration:
Current appointments include acting as the chair of the arbitral tribunal in a construction arbitration being conducted under the ICC Arbitration Rules 2 relating to the construction of underwater gas pipelines to an offshore LNG plant, and acting as sole arbitrator in an arbitration arising out of the partial destruction of a power plant in Fiji.

Recent appointments include acting as a sole arbitrator in a maritime arbitration seated in Hong Kong, acting as the sole arbitrator in a commercial arbitration concerning a major land development dispute involving a claim of US$150,000,000 seated in Malaysia under an ad hoc arbitration agreement and as the sole arbitrator in two construction arbitrations appointed by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), between Singaporean and Japanese parties, one arbitration was conducted under the 2010 SIAC Rules, and the other under the 2007 SIAC Rules. Other recent appointments include acting as a party appointed arbitrator in an international commercial arbitration seated in Hawaii arising out of a dispute over the ownership of a business located in Ireland conducted under the LCIA Arbitration Rules.

Maritime Arbitration:
He has acted as counsel and as arbitrator in the area of maritime law and maritime arbitration since the 1980s. His first involvement was as counsel on behalf of the Master of a sailing vessel in a Court of Marine Inquiry concerning a fatality arising out of a collision between a sailing vessel and the Manly Ferry on Sydney Harbour. He has been a member of the Maritime Law Association of Australia and New Zealand (MLAANZ) since 1982. In the 1980s he visited the offices of COSCO in Beijing with a delegation from MLAANZ where he gave presentations on collisions at sea and the Collision Regulations. 3

Subsequently he appeared in a range of maritime cases as junior and later senior counsel, instructed by the maritime law firms of Ebsworths & Ebsworths in Sydney and Sparke Helmore in Newcastle. Recent cases include the litigation arising out of the collision between a ferry and a motor cruiser on Sydney Harbor in which six passengers died.

Additionally, he has acted as sole arbitrator, party appointed arbitrator and chair in several maritime arbitrations mainly involving charter party disputes and ship construction in Australia and Hong Kong. He is also a supporting member of the LMAA and was a presenter at ICMA, XIX, in Hong Kong in 2015.

CAS:
In addition he has since 1995 acted as arbitrator in a broad variety of disputes in Japan, North America, England, Europe and Australia conducted under the rules of the Court of Arbitration for Sport based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

International Arbitration Panels:
He is a member of the panel of international arbitrators maintained by the International Centre for Dispute Resolution of the AAA (ICDR), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), the Australian Centre for International Arbitration (ACICA), the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), the Japanese Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB), the Badan Arbitrase Nasional 4 Indonesia (BANI), the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators (MIArb), Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC). He is an Associate Member of the Perth Centre for Energy and Resources Arbitration (PCERA).Back