On 26 April 2018, the Singapore High Court (“Court”), in China Machine New Energy Corp v Jaguar Energy Guatemala LLC and another [2018] – SGHC 101, has upheld an ICC award of a truly international nature. The case raised intriguing procedural questions in international arbitration: The impact of an “attorney-eyes-only order” (“AEO Order”), handling allegations…
After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the new local “authorities” have taken a number of privately and state-owned assets in the peninsula. Ukrainian companies have commenced at least eight investment arbitrations against the Russian Federation under the Russia-Ukraine BIT (the “BIT”), seeking compensation for the lost property in Crimea.1) NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine et…
Some rules, although made to protect the integrity of an arbitration procedure, open up opportunities for bad faith actors to utilize “legislative” shortcomings. Too often these actors engage in guerilla tactics. Soft law has developed to remedy these grievances. For example, the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (IBA Guidelines) seek to…
Independence and impartiality of arbitrators are the hallmarks of arbitration. The amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (“Act”) in 2015, which adopted the international best practices from the International Bar Association Guidelines on Conflict of Interest (“IBA Guidelines”), aimed to bolster not only the neutrality of arbitrators, but also the perception of neutrality….
2018 HKIAC Rules Come into Force 1 November 2018 marked 5 years from the date on which the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules came into force. 1 November 2018 was also the day on which the new 2018 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (“2018 Rules“) came into force. The 2018 Rules showcased the latest thinking in…
Yesterday, participants at this year’s Hong Kong Arbitration Week came together to attend the centrepiece ADR in Asia conference. The conference, titled “The Vision in Revision,” featured a veritable smorgasbord of speeches, panels and mocks and was held again at the Four Seasons Hotel. Welcome Address and Keynote Speech The conference was kicked off with…
Hogan Lovells hosted an event yesterday, 30 October 2018, at its Hong Kong office, as part of the Hong Kong Arbitration Week, titled “Making Arbitration Fit for the Future”. The event was graced by the presence of Bernard Hanotiau as the keynote speaker, followed by speeches from HKIAC’s Sarah Grimmer and Hogan Lovells’ James Kwan,…
The week-long series of events for Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2018 kicked off with a seminar hosted by Latham & Watkins entitled “Ensuring Efficiency in International Arbitration Proceedings: Tips for Asian Users”. The seminar consisted of two roundtable discussions with practitioners and professionals in the field of international arbitration. The first roundtable featured Mr. Bernard…
Introduction: The Pro-State Orientation of the USMCA Chapter 14 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) presents a model of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) that fundamentally realigns the balance between investors and states in favor of the latter. This realignment consists in the USMCA’s structure and specific provisions. Structurally, the USMCA eliminates ISDS between Canadian investors…
In the recently published award in Georg Gavrilovic and Gavrilovic d.o.o. v. Republic of Croatia (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/39)1) Georg Gavrilovic and Gavrilovic d.o.o. v. Republic of Croatia (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/39), Award, dated 26 July 2018. the tribunal considered whether the notion of attribution extends to the non-wrongful conduct of various State or State-linked…
Uruguay’s long journey to approve an international commercial arbitration law has finally come to an end. Act Nº 19.636 (the “Arbitration Act”) was passed at the beginning of July, almost fourteen years after the Executive first sent a draft bill to Congress to regulate arbitration. The Arbitration Act largely incorporates the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law…
Is there such a thing as an arbitral precedent? Is it binding to judicial courts? The answer to these questions will depend on the clarification of another set of broader issues relating to the existence of precedents themselves and their inevitable role in shaping today’s possible conceptions of the law. We will analyse these matters…
Deep sea mining regulation is an extremely young field of international law. Recently, there have been some important evolutions in the debate around the contractual and environmental rules that will organize the exploitation of mineral resources in the areas of the seabed beyond the continental shelf – hereafter referred to as “the Area”. Nevertheless, few…
Party-appointed arbitrators have recently been the subject of much debate in the arbitration community. There are those who see the ability to ‘choose’ an arbitrator as one of the fundamental pillars of arbitration. For others, it is a time- and cost-consuming exercise leading to potential conflicts and an increased likelihood of arbitrator challenges, both of…
The lower house of the Indian Parliament recently passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2018 (“Bill”) to amend the arbitration law. If also passed by the upper house of Parliament, and upon receiving the President’s assent, this will become a law. It will then come into force when the Government so notifies. The Law…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the ASA Bulletin (3.2018) is now available and includes the following articles and cases: ARTICLES Luka GROSELJ, Stay of arbitration proceedings – Some examples from arbitral practice This article outlines a number of situations, illustrated by practical and (thus far) unpublished cases, in…
Party Appointed Arbitrators and the Drive for Diversity Over the last 8 years, BCLP’s International Arbitration Group has conducted a number of surveys on issues affecting the arbitration process. In 2017 the survey focused on the issue of diversity [Diversity on Arbitral Tribunals: Are we getting there?] and in 2018 on the issue of party…
Are litigation, arbitration and mediation competitive, collaborative or cooperative? Is litigation becoming an “alternative” to “alternative dispute resolution”, especially keeping arbitration on top of its game? Are mixed processes or combined regimes becoming the preference? These questions were part of the timely and timeless theme for this year’s Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation…
In August 2017, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) launched a rules revision process to consider amendments to the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (“2013 Rules”), having regard to the latest trends in international arbitration, feedback from users and HKIAC’s past case management experience. The 2013 Rules have been widely regarded as one of…
In its decision 6 Ob 195/17w dated 17 January 2018, the Austrian Supreme Court decided that the form requirements for an arbitration agreement also apply to the authorisation to an agent to enter into an arbitration agreement (or a contract containing an arbitration agreement). I. Stopping the movement towards a liberalisation of form requirements Austria…
On 2 May 2018, the maiden edition of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Arbitration in Africa Survey was launched at the SOAS Arbitration in Africa Research Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. The survey, conducted using an online questionnaire, focused on perspectives of African arbitration practitioners in domestic and international arbitration. The insufficiency of…
Nora is an associate in the Paris office of Latham & Watkins and a member of the firm’s International Arbitration Practice. Her work focuses on international investment arbitration, international commercial arbitration, and public international law. She acts for clients across a broad spectrum of sectors, including investment, oil and gas, energy, construction, pharmaceutical, and automotive….
The authors write this contribution strictly in their own name. Most arbitration laws require parties to identify in their arbitration agreement the “defined legal relationship” for which they wish to submit disputes to arbitration. Nonetheless, this requirement has given rise to little case law in practice. In a judgment of 29 August 2018 (“Judgment”), however,…
Brazil has been notoriously reluctant to enter into treaties with other States that provide for the protection of investors and investments, viewing them as detrimental to the host State and its national investors. Brazil has no bilateral investment treaties in force, a limited number of its own treaties, named Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreements (CFIAs),…
