Few people can pride themselves with a career as rich and impactful as that of the Honorable L. Yves Fortier, PC CC, OQ, KC, Ad. E., LLD and no summary will do it justice. Counsel, negotiator, arbitrator, diplomat, thought leader – these are just some of the hats Mr. Fortier has worn over the years….

An arbitrator’s authority to rely on a law that was not pleaded by the parties has been the subject of extensive discussions in the literature. Anecdotal evidence suggests that civil law jurisdictions broadly tend to adopt a more liberal approach to recognizing such authority in international arbitration, while common law jurisdictions, on the other hand,…

As set out in our last blog post on evidentiary issues in international arbitrations, the treatment of evidence within the field of international arbitration is oftentimes inconsistent and even unpredictable from one arbitral tribunal to another, a divide which becomes even more pronounced when considering the different approaches that may be adopted due to a…

Generally, the choice of substantive law applicable to a particular contract will affect the outcome of a case.  It is common, however, for the evidentiary and interpretive rules to also have important implications for a case’s outcome.  Arbitral rules leave such matters to a tribunal’s discretion that can be exercised in different ways.  For instance,…

Much has been written about the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Enka v Chubb [2020] UKSC 38 (“Enka”) including on the blog. Those familiar with the judgment will know the Supreme Court decision was split 3 – 2 and the majority upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision but on different grounds. These divisions may give…

Three recent decisions of the Courts of Appeal in Singapore and England (BNA v BNB and another [2019] SGCA 84 (“BNA v BNB”); Kabab-JI S.A.L v Kout Food Group [2020] EWCA Civ 6 (“Kabab v Kout”); and Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi A.S. v OOO “Insurance Company Chubb” and others [2020] EWCA Civ 574 (“Enka v…

It is often said that flexibility is a cornerstone of international arbitration and that the tribunal (typically in consultation with the parties) is the master of how the proceedings are to be conducted. Yet, it remains unsettled whether certain specific rules of procedure or evidence must be complied with in arbitration – sometimes, at the…

This post presents an overview of online arbitration (e-arbitration’) as part of online dispute resolution (‘ODR’) techniques from both theoretical and practical perspectives.1)For a more detailed analysis of these issues see: Ihab Amro, Online Arbitration in Theory and in Practice: A Comparative Study of Cross-Border Commercial Transactions in Common Law and Civil Law Countries, Cambridge…