Markel is Deputy Registrar at Dubai International Arbitration Centre. He is qualified in Spain and has broad experience in international arbitration.
Prior to joining the Centre, Markel served as Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, where he worked for almost seven years.
At the PCA, Markel supported tribunals in various treaty-based investor-State arbitrations, as well as in contract-based disputes involving States, State-related entities, intergovernmental organisations and/or private parties. These disputes concerned several economic sectors, such as oil and gas, mining, finance and infrastructure, and spanned regions like Latin America, Europe and the Middle East. Markel has extensive experience with the procedural issues arising in the composition of arbitral tribunals and contributed to the exercise of the PCA Secretary-General’s role as appointing and designating authority, primarily in connection with the appointment and challenge of arbitrators.
Before the PCA, Markel interned at the Spanish Supreme Court and leading Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American firm, Cuatrecasas. He holds a dual LLB and BBA from Universidad Carlos III Madrid and a LLM in legal practice from Universidad Internacional Rioja.
Markel is an active member of the arbitral community and regularly participates in events and speaking engagements.
He speaks English, Spanish, Basque and German.
