Bio

Dr. Faadhil Adams
Senior Lecturer | PCA Representative in South Africa | International Arbitration Expert

Dr. Faadhil Adams is Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Representative in South Africa. A former Legal Counsel at the PCA in The Hague, Faadhil specialises in international arbitration, private international law, and cross-border commercial transactions. His expertise lies in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), commercial arbitration, and non-state law in contracts.

Education

• PhD (LLD) in Private International Law, University of Johannesburg (2023)
• LLM (cum laude) in International Commercial Transactions, University of Johannesburg (2013)
• LLB, BA (Law), University of Johannesburg (2012, 2010)
• Columbia Law School (2021): International Arbitration & Global Law Seminar

Key Expertise, Research Interests & Teaching

• International & Commercial Arbitration
• Private International Law
• Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
• Corporate Law

Professional Experience

• PCA Representative in South Africa (2021 – Present) – Expanding PCA’s presence through stakeholder engagement and arbitration initiatives.
• Senior Lecturer, University of Cape Town (2021 – Present) – Teaching LLB and LLM courses in Commercial Arbitration, Corporate Law, and International Commercial Transactions.
• Legal Counsel, Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague (2024) – Assisted in arbitration cases involving states and state-owned entities.
• Stellenbosch University (2021 – 2023) – Senior  Lecturer in International Commercial Arbitration.
• University of Johannesburg (2014 – 2018) – Lecturer in Business Enterprises Law.

Publications 

Dr. Adams has published extensively on arbitration, private international law, and corporate law, including:

• Adams F Mandatory Rules and Public Policy as Limitations on the Applicable Law in International Arbitration Obiter (forthcoming 2025)
• Adams F A Consideration of the Positive Law Application of Non-State Rules of Law PELJ (forthcoming 2025)
• Adams F “A critique of the lex mercatoria as the governing law of a contract” TSAR (2024) 292.
• Czepelak (Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration) and Adams “The contribution of the Permanent Court of Arbitration to the development of international law: claims commissions, mixed arbitrations & conciliation” (2024) Polish Review of International and European Law 9 -26.
• Co-editor of the UCT Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Unit (ADRU) Collected Paper Series (2024)
• Adams F “Party autonomy in South African private international law: a comparison with article 2 of the Hague Principles on Choice of Law in International Commercial Contracts”, Neels (ed) Commercial Private International Law in Southern Africa – Comparative and International Perspectives. Essays in Honour of Prof Christopher Forsyth. Eleven International Publishers, The Hague. (2023).
• Adams F The UCP as a Choice of Non-State Law in International Commercial Contracts. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal (2022) 1.
• Adams F Choice of Islamic law in the context of the wider lex mercatoria: an express choice of non-State law TSAR (2021) 59.
• Adams and Kruger “Private International Law and Choice of Law Clauses” in Hutchison and Myburgh (Eds.) International Commercial Contracts: Autonomy and regulation in a Dynamic System of Lex Mercatoria (2020) 110 publisher Edward Elgar.
• Adams F The Semi-Autonomy of the Arbitral Legal Order Asian International Arbitration Journal Vol 16 2 (2020) 139.
• Van der Linde and Adams “Company and Corporate Insolvency Law Update” in Hugo and Du Toit (eds.) Annual Banking Law Update 145-171 (2017) publisher Juta.
• Adams and Van der Linde “Towards free movement of companies – the European position as a model for SADC”, in Hugo (ed.) “Transnational impacts on Law: Perspectives from South Africa and Germany” 21 (2016) publisher NOMOS, Germany.
• Adams “Contrasting the Application of the Mandatory Rules of a Third Country in South Africa, Turkey and the European Union” International Journal of Law and Politics Vol 2, Issue 1, (2016)

Current Work

Dr. Adams is based in South Africa, representing the PCA and lecturing at UCT. He remains actively involved in international arbitration research and advocacy.

Connect with Dr Adams

For professional engagements, research collaborations, or arbitration consultancy, contact Faadhil.adams@uct.ac.za.