Date of Award

2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.)

First Advisor

Professor Vikramaditya S. Khanna

Second Advisor

Professor Julian D. Mortenson

Third Advisor

Professor Nicholas C. Howson

Abstract

This dissertation examines how emerging judicial and dispute resolution architectures can sustain cross-border commerce, investment, and enforcement in the post-Soviet space and beyond, at a time of institutional fragility, geopolitical tension, and rapid digitalization. Drawing on the experience of Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine, and key global hubs, it argues that institutional innovation in courts, arbitration, and enforcement mechanisms is central to rebuilding credible governance frameworks for international business. It does so through three interconnected studies that together explore the evolution of modern adjudication: first, through the transplantation of a common law judiciary model within a civil law state; second, through the destabilizing impact of international sanctions on arbitration and enforcement frameworks; and third, through the emerging transformation of judicial reasoning in the age of digital technologies and algorithmic systems.

Chapter 1 situates the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) Court within the broader proliferation of international commercial courts and offshore financial centers, and analyzes its potential to reshape corporate governance and capital markets across the former Soviet republics. It shows how an autonomous common law regime, staffed by foreign judges and supported by specialized regulatory and arbitral institutions, can fill the longstanding enforcement gap that undermined post-Soviet corporate and securities reforms. It explores the theoretical foundations of legal transplants and assesses whether the adoption of common law judicial techniques can generate functional independence and predictability in emerging markets. By comparing the AIFC to earlier experiments such as the DIFC and other regional hubs, the chapter contends that common-law based international commercial courts can both complement and, in certain domains, partially substitute weak domestic judiciaries, creating new pathways for investor protection and regional legal integration. The AIFC serves as a case study in how states strategically deploy judicial reform as an instrument of economic policy and international positioning.

Chapter 2 turns to international arbitration and asks how this system functions when subjected to intense political pressure from sanctions and countersanctions. Focusing on Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan, it examines how courts have used doctrines of non-arbitrability and public policy to refuse recognition or enforcement of otherwise valid foreign awards, and how Russia’s countersanctions legislation attempts to redirect disputes from arbitral tribunals to domestic courts. This chapter argues that sanctions regimes are accelerating a fragmentation of the transnational arbitration order. Courts are increasingly invoking expanded interpretations of public policy and non-arbitrability to justify refusal of enforcement. Against this background, the chapter evaluates whether neutral fora such as the AIFC Court and the AIFC International Arbitration Centre can offer a credible alternative for sanctioned and non-sanctioned parties alike, mitigating enforcement risk while remaining aligned with the New York Convention and related regional instruments.

Chapter 3 explores how blockchain-based technologies could transform the recognition and enforcement of court judgments, with particular attention to foreign judgments and digital evidence. It maps the interaction between existing private international law frameworks, including the 2019 Hague Judgments Convention and U.S. recognition statutes, and emerging practices in China, Dubai, and Estonia, where courts already experiment with judicial blockchains and smart-court initiatives. These developments promise efficiency and accessibility, yet they also raise fundamental questions about transparency, due process, accountability, and the human dimension of judging. This chapter argues that technological transformation, just as profoundly as sanctions regimes and legal transplantation, tests the normative foundations of judicial legitimacy. The challenge is not merely technological adoption but the preservation of constitutional and procedural guarantees in increasingly automated environments.

Sustainable development of regional and global markets depends not only on substantive legal reforms, but on the creation of trustworthy institutional channels––courts, arbitral tribunals, and technical infrastructures, through which commercial rights can be vindicated across borders. Through the integration of the AIFC’s common law court system, the evolving sanctions-driven arbitration landscape, and blockchain-based recognition projects within a single analytical framework, the project seeks to illuminate how states and private actors can reengineer dispute resolution architectures to reconcile sovereignty, investor protection, and technological innovation in an era of geopolitical fragmentation and digital change. The future of dispute resolution will depend on whether courts and arbitral systems can remain principled while adapting to sanctions regimes, digital innovation, and the strategic redesign of legal institutions.

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