The split between CIETAC headquarters in Beijing and its two former Shanghai and Shenzhen sub-commissions following the adoption of CIETAC’s 2012 Arbitration Rules has remained in the spotlight. The feud escalated with the assertion of independence by the two sub-commissions and the revocation by headquarters of their authorisation to administer cases. To add to the…

During the last few years, a series of court decisions in India have strengthened the pro-arbitration stance in the Indian judiciary. In BALCO (2012), the Supreme Court of India limited the supervisory jurisdiction of the Indian courts regarding arbitrations seated outside India. Since BALCO, further decisions of the Supreme Court and High Courts of India…

In April 2014, Tiulei Hagalil and Klal Teufa, two Israeli companies providing tourism and flight services, commenced an action against Royal Jordanian Airlines and two other respondents in the Israeli District Court for monetary and declaratory relief (Tiulei Hagalil Transport (1987) Ltd. and others v. Royal Jordanian Airlines and others, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa District Court, 56420-03-14, 15…

In an article published recently in The New York Times, entitled ‘Cities compete to be the arena for global legal disputes’, Elizabeth Olson discusses a phenomenon that has been labeled ‘the Battle of the Seats’. This concept refers to the competition between different cities to be considered as ‘arbitration hubs’. Cities all over the world…

The Law Commission of India under the chairmanship of Justice AP Shah had constituted an expert committee to work on the 246th Report on “Amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996” which was recently submitted to the Government of India. In this piece, Ashutosh Ray, who was a part of the expert committee, covers…

A few days ago, this blog published an outsider’s perspective on the decision of the Supreme Court of India (SCI) in Reliance v Union of India (Reliance v Union of India, Civ App No. 5675 of 2014 (Supreme Court of India)) which has been applauded by international practitioners around the world since it curbed the…

In his President’s Message (ASA Bulletin, Vol. 32, no. 2, 2014), Elliott Geisinger proposes a real challenge to the arbitration community. In a simple but rather persuasive rhetorical style, Geisinger places in confrontation Me. Paul Philibert Confus, Avocat à la Cour and Sir Reginald Muddle, QC, giving life to a debate that seems to be…

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) is given effect in England and Wales through sections 100 to 103 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “1996 Act”). As is well known, the beneficiary of an award promulgated by an arbitral tribunal in a state-party to the New…

The Indian arbitration regime has seen a sea change in the last couple of years. Before the decision of the Indian Supreme Court (“SC”) in BALCO v. Kaiser Aluminium [Civ. App. No. 7019 of 2005] in 2012, the Indian judiciary was considered highly interventionist in its approach to arbitration. The reason for this was a…

By Daniella Strik and Marc Krestin, Linklaters LLP The legislative proposal to modernise Dutch arbitration law has been unanimously adopted by the Senate of the Dutch Parliament today. For an informal English translation of the new law, please see here. A comparison between the new law and the 1986 Dutch arbitration law can also be…

By Manuel Castelo Branco and Raquel Galvão Silva The proposal prepared by the Committee for the modification of the Brazilian Arbitration Law was finally revealed and approved with some adjustments on 11 December 2013 by the Constitution, Justice and Citizenship Commission of the Federal Senate (the “Proposal”). The Proposal comes 17 years after the publication…

Under the direction of the Swiss Arbitration Association (“ASA”), a recent questionnaire asked 82 of the world’s most prestigious arbitral institutions, among other questions, whether they had insurance for professional liability claims. There are very few empirical studies in this area, but the survey indicated that only few institutions made an effort to answer; and…

and Nikki O’Sullivan, Senior Associate at Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP In a recent decision of the English Commercial Court, Flaux J restated the general principle that the focus of an enquiry under Section 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (“the Act”) is to ascertain whether due process has been observed in the making of an…

Introduction On 01 January 2014, a government bill (ErläutRV 2322 BlgNR 23. GP) introducing changes to the Austrian Arbitration Law will come into force (SchiedsRÄG 2013). Mainly Sec. 615 and 616 of the Austrian Code of Civil Procedure (ACCP), which regulate the procedural levels for challenging an arbitration award in front of an Austrian state…

The Supreme Court of India handed down a judgment earlier this month that restates Indian position on the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in line with the international standards. In the case of Shri Lal Mahal Ltd. v. Progetto Grano Spa, a three judge bench of the apex court held that review of a foreign…

and Humberto Sáenz-Marinero, Sáenz & Asociados A few weeks ago, we read a post on Kluwer Arbitration Blog about El Salvador by Ricardo Cevallos. The title was “El Salvador becomes an anti-arbitration jurisdiction?” According to the post, El Salvador is becoming an anti-arbitration jurisdiction. We respectfully disagree with the author’s conclusion. It is true that,…

On 16 May 2013, Belgium’s House of Representatives adopted the bill no. 53-2743 that is meant to replace the Sixth Part of the Belgian Code of Civil Procedure (Code judiciaire/Gerechtelijk Wetboek) and thoroughly modernize the Belgian arbitration law. The travaux préparatoires leading to this new law may be consulted here (in French and Dutch). The…

Investing Across Borders, a World Bank Group’s initiative, compares the regulation for foreign direct investment around the world. Among different indicators, it publishes considerations concerning arbitration of commercial disputes from different jurisdictions. However, the prospective investor must read with caution this Summary, at least regarding arbitration in Brazil. Here is the Summary regarding arbitration in…

and Amgad T Husein, Dentons (Managing Partner, Saudi Arabia) 1. Overview Since the enactment of Saudi Arabia’s new Arbitration Law in July 2012, more foreign investors have opted for arbitration in Saudi Arabia rather than in foreign forums. By simplifying dispute resolution and streamlining the enforcement of arbitral awards, the Arbitration Law has sought to…

At the beginning of April, the Brazilian Senate established a Committee for the modification of the Brazilian Arbitration Law – Law no. 9.307 of September 1996. The president of the Committee, Luís Felipe Salomão, believes that the new amendments will strengthen arbitration, as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Salomão suggests that the goal of these…

A legislative proposal to modernize Dutch arbitration law has been submitted to Dutch parliament on 16 April 2013. For an informal English translation of a comparison between the legislative proposal with the current Dutch arbitration law, see here. It is anticipated that the Second Chamber of Dutch Parliament will submit a report on the proposal…

The recent Portuguese Voluntary Arbitration Law, which has been in force since 14 March 2012, (English version available here), was received with great enthusiasm amongst the legal community, which claimed for a new arbitration law that could bring to Portugal a regulatory framework closer to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The goal…

On 27 September 2012, the Swiss Parliament adopted a motion that had been introduced earlier this year tasking the Government to prepare a report on the Swiss Arbitration Law (chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA)).  The objective of the report is to further enhance the attractiveness of Switzerland as a…

On 6 September 2012, the Indian Supreme Court delivered its much-awaited judgment in Bharat Aluminium Co v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services (‘BALCO’). For the reasons discussed in detail below, the 190-page long BALCO decision is likely to go down in the annals of arbitration reports as the watershed decision that heralded a new dawn for…