Yes, apart from the announcement of the winners at the GAR Awards in Paris, to which the members of the eight finalist teams will be invited*.
*maximum two places per team. Please note that the awards ceremony is black tie -dark suits permitted as an alternative.

The hackathon started a year ago, in January 2026. We reasoned that, although artificial intelligence clearly has the potential to transform the practice of law, and is maybe already starting to, all the same, international arbitration is something of a self-contained niche – an attractive one, but still a niche.

It seemed unlikely that any of the bigger providers would target it with tailor-made products. That broadly appears to remain true.

Therefore, if the international arbitration community is to benefit from the power of AI, good ideas will have to emerge from within. We believe such efforts are already underway, or are even quite advanced.

To find out, we decided to create this hackathon.

You are free to address any aspect of international arbitration – the competition welcomes a broad range of ideas.  All innovative ideas that improve arbitration are welcome.

Teams and individuals who took part in the inaugural GAR-LCIA Hackathon are welcome to enter again. You may build on a concept you submitted in 2026, provided you say so in your Submission Form and explain what is new. However, you will want to bear in mind the importance paced on innovation and novelty in the judging criteria. The judges will assess what has been added since. More generally this year, they do want to be ‘wowed’, and it may be harder to do that if you roll out essentially the same idea again.

You are free to address any aspect of international arbitration – the competition welcomes a broad range of ideas.  All innovative ideas that improve arbitration are welcome.

Teams and/or individuals who have participated in the inaugural GAR-LCIA Hackathon are welcome to participate again, but should ensure that their solution is new, and not merely a further developed version of the previous submission. 

The submission format is set out in the Official Submission Form. This asks for a description of your concept along with a link to a recorded demonstration in time for the end of round one. By the time of the final, however, the judges expect to experience a live, on-screen demonstration. 

Teams are of course welcome to go further and provide a link to a live prototype, such as a hosted web app or a code repository with instructions for running it. Please note: judges must be able to open the prototype without assistance, so you should include any test credentials required in your Submission Form. While not required, a working prototype is highly encouraged this edition – and will likely score higher on ‘execution’. If the judges cannot access a prototype, execution will be scored on the video alone.

Unless a team comprises exclusively students, it is a professional team.

It’s possible that teams independently come up with similar concepts, especially if tackling well-known pain points. There is no disqualification for similar ideas; each will be judged on its own merits. In that scenario, the judges will look for distinguishing features and more impactful or better thought-out execution.

As mentioned above (“Is there a specific focus…?”), teams and individuals who took part in the inaugural GAR-LCIA Hackathon are welcome to enter again. You may build on a concept you submitted in 2026, provided you say so in your Submission Form and explain what is new. However, you will want to bear in mind the importance paced on innovation and novelty in the judging criteria. The judges will assess what has been added since. More generally this year, they do want to be ‘wowed’, and it may be harder to do that if you roll out essentially the same idea again.

Yes, teams can leverage existing public resources, open-source software, APIs, and research. There’s no restriction on using third-party tools to build or demonstrate your solution, as long as you have the legal right to use them. Just be transparent about what you’re using.

For example, if your idea requires an AI tool or a database, you can absolutely use or reference it – the focus is on how you apply it to arbitration. The only limitation is you shouldn’t present someone else’s product or past work as if it were your original idea.

‘Originality/novelty’ is part of the judging criteria – but it’s only 30 per cent. And what an idea lacks in originality it could make up for in, say, impact. We’d encourage you therefore not to second guess yourself. If it feels like something that could work, and make life better, consider entering.

One reason for this competition is to see what’s happening or could happen in the 'real world'. And it, by definition, tends towards the mundane. Making that more bearable is… kind of the point.

You might be surprised. Something that seems self-evident to you, could yet be eye-opening to others.

You do. All participants and teams retain 100% of their intellectual property. As a condition of entry, you grant the organizers (GAR, LCIA, Three Crowns, Liftlab) a non-exclusive license to showcase and promote your work for educational and promotional purposes.

No. A submission must be original to the team and not previously submitted by the team or a member to another hackathon or competition - or otherwise in existence (eg available for sale). The one exception is a concept that the team, or one of its members, submitted to the inaugural GAR-LCIA Hackathon, in 2026, which may be developed further (see “Is there a specific focus …?”).

We charge this nominal fee for professional teams (student teams are free) for two primary reasons.

1. To solidify the commitment of those entering, ensuring our judges' and reviewers' time is spent on serious submissions

2. To support travel for student finalists attending the GAR Awards in Paris

The hackathon takes place in private – nobody apart from the judges and GAR team see the submissions, or attend the live presentations while the competition is on.

We have noticed however there is a great appetite among GAR’s readers to hear more about the ideas that were submitted. So, last year we wrote this piece – What ideas emerged at the GAR-LCIA Hackathon. We will most likely do the same again. If you would do not wish GAR to mention you or your concept at all please say when you submit. As a rule, GAR refers to teams by the team’s name in its reports, rather than naming individual members, so unless you have disclosed your involvement in a team publicly somewhere, it is unlikely you personally will be identifiable.

We also appreciate that some smaller organizations may lack multi-disciplinary capabilities. If you are in that position and interested in applying as a multi-organization team, please contact hackathon@globalarbitrationreview.com to request an exception to the same-organization rule.

Yes.

Judges won't be releasing scores publicly, but finalists can trust that they earned their spot via the judging rubric.

Not at all.  No-code AI tools are increasingly sophisticated.

Yes!  Solutions based on foundation models, which are constantly evolving and improving, can form the basis of a competitive submission.

They will be judged according to the same criteria as other solutions.

Unfortunately, to help create a level playing field across organizations, teams will be capped at five members.

Yes! We'd love to see it.

Please do not include any confidential case details or proprietary business secrets in your materials – this competition is public, and judges/audience should be free to discuss the ideas.

Yes, provided they are not part of the liftlabs programme.

On this point more generally, judges may elect to recuse themselves in the event of a potential perceived conflict of interest.

Yes in the professional competition. Please tell us on your Entry Form if your organization sells legal technology, and identify in your Submission Form any existing product your solution builds on. 

That said, the solution you submit to the Hackathon must itself be new (see “Can we submit something that already exists?”) .

The vendor showcase is an opportunity for tech companies to promote their products that are relevant to international arbitration. We will be releasing more details very soon, and updating this page.

We may or may not include one this year depending on demand. 

If you’re interested in taking part please email hackathon@globalarbitrationreview.com using subject line “GAR-LCIA Hackathon 2027 Vendor Showcase enquiry”.