ICCA is delighted to open its 26th biennial Congress in Hong Kong today. The Congress, taking place from 5 to 8 May 2024, consists of today’s opening ceremony, followed by three full days of engaging sessions for participants and speakers. For over 60 years, ICCA has been bringing the international arbitration community together to discuss…
The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of the following position with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor for South Asia. Experience and knowledge in international arbitration in, and related to, India is required, and broader expertise in international arbitration is a plus. The Assistant Editor reports directly to the coordinating Associate Editor and…
Since March 15, 2024, the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) offers a one-of-its kind solution to make third-party notices work also in arbitration: The Supplementary Rules for Third-Party Notices (DIS-TPNR). The DIS-TPNR are the work product of a DIS working group which was established in 2021. The authors of this post have had a leading role…
On 24 April 2024, the European Parliament voted for the EU to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). Three days earlier, Ecuador had voted to keep the country’s constitutional ban on investor-state arbitration. These events mark the last chapters in the increasingly turbulent tale of investment treaties and investor-state arbitration. Over the past few…
In Carmichael Rail Network Pty Ltd v BBC Chartering Carriers GmbH & Co KG [2024] HCA 4 (“Carmichael v BBC”), the High Court of Australia (“High Court”) upheld a stay of proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia (“Federal Court”) in favour of a London Maritime Arbitrators Association (“LMAA”) arbitration seated in London. This unanimous…
The Institute of Transnational Arbitration (ITA), in collaboration with the ITA Board of Reporters, is happy to inform you that the latest ITA Arbitration Report was published: a free email subscription service available at KluwerArbitration.com delivering timely reports on awards, cases, legislation and current developments from over 60 countries and 12 institutions. To get your free subscription to the ITA…
The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of the following position with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor for East and Central Asia. Experience and knowledge in international arbitration in, and related to, Korea is required, and broader expertise in the regions is a plus. The Assistant Editor reports directly to the coordinating Associate…
In a recent judgment dated 14 March 2024, European Commission v UK Case C-516/22, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the UK failed to comply with its obligations under EU law (the “CJEU Judgment”). A casual reader may wonder how this could be. After all, the UK officially left the…
On April 9, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (“Court” or “ECtHR”) delivered its highly anticipated ruling in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland (“KlimaSeniorinnen”), holding that Switzerland had breached the European Convention on Human Rights (“Convention” or “ECHR”) by taking inadequate action on climate change. Two other climate-related cases that were decided the…
On 28 December 2023, the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (the “Court”) delivered a consolidated judgment in Gabriele Volpi v. Delanson Services Limited & 2 others and Delanson Services Limited v. Matteo Volpi and 2 others (“Judgment”), resolving a longstanding trust dispute between Italian-Nigerian billionaire, Gabriele Volpi (“Gabriele”) and his son, Matteo…
2023 saw India take focused steps to strengthen and fortify its stand as a champion of arbitration, promoting a hands-off judicial approach in favor of arbitral autonomy. The year started with the Indian Supreme Court’s first step in NTPC Limited vs SPML Infra Limited, where the Supreme Court categorically held that a tribunal is the…
This article discusses the approach taken by the High Court of Fiji (“Court”) on the oft written about topic of whether failure to adhere to a multi-tiered dispute resolution clause is an issue of jurisdiction or admissibility. As previously reported, last year, in Housing Authority v Top Symphony [2023] FJHC 301 (“Top Symphony”), the Court…
Introduction This article explores the latest development of the People’s Republic of China’s jurisprudence regarding asymmetrical arbitration agreements. (Cambodia) Fiber Optic Communication Network Co., Ltd. v. China Development Bank (2022) Jing 74 Min Te No. 4 (“Fiber Optic v. CDB”), a recent case adjudicated by the Beijing Financial Court in October 2022 and made public…
The second front can open in the United States (“U.S.”) for over 50 investment arbitration claims against the Kingdom of Spain (“Spain”) that are worth hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars combined. The ongoing disputes spotlighted the continuing controversy between the decisions of the European Union’s (“EU”) highest court and international investment tribunals. The cases…
There has been a requirement in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) for witnesses to take an oath when giving their testimony in arbitration proceedings. Awards that relied on testimonies of witnesses who had not taken an oath were subject to nullification. There is currently uncertainty over whether witnesses are still required to take an oath…
Under article 14, §1 of the Brazilian Arbitration Act (“BAA”), arbitrators bear the duty to disclose “any circumstances likely to give rise to justifiable doubt as to their impartiality and independence”. Because the concept of “justifiable doubt” is subjective, Brazilian jurisprudence often features incohesive and contradictory understandings of the scope and effects of such duty vis-à-vis…
Following the recommendations of the Law Commission of the UK (here, here and here), the English Arbitration Act 1996 (EAA) is presently undergoing a substantial reform phase after nearly 27 years. The Arbitration Bill is now before the House of Lords. As appears from the Arbitration Bill and the Commission’s recommendations, the English arbitration law…
As citizens of more than 190 countries unite to commemorate Earth Day on 22 April, the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations (“CGA”) continues to progress its mission to guide the international arbitration community towards more sustainable practices. This year marks a milestone for the CGA as it celebrates the fifth anniversary of the Green Pledge. In…
The Bahrain Court of Cassation (“COC”) in Case No. 53 of 2021 clarified the uncertainty surrounding the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. The COC in this case established an expedited enforcement process of arbitral awards in Bahrain and confirmed that a decision of the Bahrain Court of First Instance (“CFI”) granting the enforcement of an…
We are delighted to present the first issue of the ninth volume of the European Investment Law and Arbitration Review (EILA Rev). Regular readers will notice four significant changes: First, there is a new cover; second, there is a new publisher – we are delighted to work with Kluwer on this and the fact that…
Supply Chain Due Diligence (“SCDD”) laws, such as the German Lieferkettensorgfaltsgesetz, the recently approved EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, or the U.S. Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (“UFLPA”), represent a pivotal step toward fostering ethical supply chains, underscoring the shared responsibility of states and corporations in combating human rights violations. As an advocate for…
Latvia’s status as the arbitration unicorn remains undisputed after nearly ten years since adopting the country’s first Arbitration Law (“Latvian Arbitration Law”). In February 2024, the overly liberal Latvian regime resulted in 57 arbitral institutions. This record-high number, however, is considerably less than the 214 arbitral institutions in Latvia in 2013. Although advertised by the…
In September 2021, the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) issued Decree No. 34 of 2021 (“Decree 34”) by which the DIFC Arbitration Institution, the administering body of the DIFC-LCIA arbitration centre (“DIFC-LCIA”) was abolished with immediate effect, and all its obligations, rights, and resources were assigned to the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (“DIAC”). Decree 34 also…
For decades, modern international investment law and arbitration have provided both the procedural mechanisms and substantive grounds for States to advance counterclaims in such proceedings. Coupled with the increased inclusion of provisions on the State’s right to regulate and provisions concerning the substantive areas of environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) in the latest generation of…
