Arbitrator Profile
Arbitrator Practice
Peter Rižnik is an international arbitrator in independent practice, based in Vienna, Austria. He is a Slovenian national and a non‑practising solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.
He has over 15 years of experience in international commercial and investment arbitration and acts as arbitrator, counsel and tribunal secretary in proceedings under a variety of institutional and ad hoc rules, including the ICC, SCC, VIAC, UNCITRAL, FAI and Ljubljana Arbitration Centre Rules. His arbitral track record spans proceedings seated across Europe, including Vienna, Paris, Stockholm, Geneva, London, Munich, Ljubljana and Bucharest.
His practice focuses on complex commercial disputes, with particular emphasis on energy supply, construction and infrastructure projects, industrial equipment and international sales, as well as disputes in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors. He is frequently appointed in cases involving parties from Central, Eastern and South‑Eastern Europe and in disputes governed by a broad range of civil law and common law systems, the CISG and FIDIC contracts.
Nationality and Neutrality
Peter Rižnik is a Slovenian national, based in Vienna, Austria.
He is frequently appointed in disputes involving parties from jurisdictions other than his nationality, including cases with parties from across Europe and beyond. His background is often considered suitable in proceedings where linguistic familiarity and regional understanding are an asset, without shared nationality.
Other experience
In addition to arbitrator appointments, Peter Rižnik has extensive prior experience as counsel and tribunal secretary in a wide range of high‑value commercial and investment arbitrations, including disputes involving States and state‑owned entities.
He has also served as assistant to a Vice‑President of the LCIA in decisions on arbitrator appointments and challenges, and was closely involved in the development and revision of the Ljubljana Arbitration Centre (LAC) Rules and related institutional instruments.
This experience provides him with a practical understanding of institutional appointment practices, independence standards and procedural expectations.
Institutional Roles and Functions
Peter Rižnik is a Court Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and a Board Member of the Arbitration Association of Central and Eastern Europe (ArbCEE). He is further a lecturer at the University of Maribor in his home country Slovenia. He regularly contributes to arbitration‑related working groups and is involved in rule‑making and policy discussions relating to international arbitration and arbitral institutions.
Languages
Peter Rižnik works in multiple languages and is frequently appointed in multilingual proceedings. His working languages include:
Slovenian (native)
English (fluent)
German (fluent)
Croatian / Serbian / Bosnian / Montenegrin (fluent)
Romanian (working proficiency)
Danish (can read and understand case materials)
French (can read and understand case materials)
He also has basic understanding of other Slavic languages, including Czech, Polish, Slovak, Ukrainian and Russian.