Domestic Courts

Appeal, Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, International arbitration, Latin America, Section 1782 Discovery, South America

(Astigarraga Davis)/ /Leave a comment

On June 25th, 2012 the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which covers all federal appeals emanating from the states of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, decided that a private commercial arbitration tribunal in Ecuador used by the parties to resolve a commercial dispute is a ‘tribunal’ for purposes of the collection of…

Arbitration Awards, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Investment Arbitration

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White Industries Australia Limited v. Republic of India (White v. India) is the latest in a growing line of cases where international investors have successfully resorted to investment treaty arbitration to recover sums owed under international commercial arbitral awards where there have been extensive delays enforcing those awards in domestic courts. However, the potential scope…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, International arbitration, Other Issues, Suggestions to improve transparency and access to usable data, Transparency in investment arbitrations

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment
White & Case

The views of lawyers involved in international commercial and investment arbitration are being sought for a new international arbitration survey from Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL). Conducted by QMUL’s School of International Arbitration and sponsored by White & Case LLP, the 2012 survey aims to examine whether a “harmonised international arbitration procedure is emerging,…

Domestic Courts, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(Legaleidescope)/ /1 Comment

It appears that the Supreme Court of Pakistan is gradually paying attention to developments in International Arbitration and to the negative remarks the Court received in the past for its hostility towards international arbitration proceedings. Without any stretch, the Supreme Court of Pakistan is widely quoted around the world as the case in point for…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Eastern Europe, Enforcement, English Law, European Law, New York Convention, Pro arbitration

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment
White & Case

Following the path of the hotly debated West Tankers decision, in African Fertilizers v BD Shipsnavo, the English Commercial Court held that a declaratory award is enforceable, allowing judgment to be entered on the same terms as the arbitral award. Such an order enables a party to obtain the material benefit of the award and…

BIT, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, ICSID Convention

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

and Sandrine Giroud, Lalive In a decision issued on 23 November 2011, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court gave some welcome guidance on the rules of immunity applicable to the enforcement of ICSID awards in Switzerland (Decision 5A_681/2011 dated 23 November 2011 – The published decision is redacted but mentions the date of the ICSID award…

Domestic Courts, International arbitration

(Conway & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Is the international litigation gaining strength over international arbitration? Is it true that in-house counsel would rather fight it out in the courts of the country versus dealing with arbitrators who take too long, expensive attorneys in the international arbitration arena and the threat that the country involved will find a way to not recognize…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitral seat, Domestic Courts, EU Regulation 44/ 2001, European Union, Jurisdiction, Lis Pendens, New York Convention, Parallel Proceedings

(Loyola University Chicago School of Law)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

One purpose for anti-suit injunctions is to stop parallel proceedings, that is, to stop parties from pursuing litigation or arbitration involving the same parties and the same claims in two different jurisdictions simultaneously. To stop parallel proceedings in arbitration, a party will go to the court at the seat of the arbitration and will ask…

Domestic Courts, ICSID Convention, Investment, Investment Arbitration

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

In August 2011, the tribunal in Abaclat and others v Argentina decided (by a majority) that it had jurisdiction over claims brought by approximately 60,000 Italian investors, and that the claims were admissible.1)Argentina has in the meantime requested the disqualification of the two arbitrators responsible for the decision and the proceedings are currently suspended. The…

Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Legal Practice

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

In a decision dated 14 June 2011 and published on 7 July 2011, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court dismissed an appeal to set aside an arbitral award holding that the right to the appointment of an expert by the tribunal is not violated where the respective request was not made in a timely manner and…

Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, North America

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

On March 22, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held in Bechtel do Brasil Construções Ltda. v. UEG Araucária Ltda., 638 F.3d 150, that the question whether a claim subject to arbitration was time-barred was for the arbitrator, not the district court, to decide, notwithstanding a New York state law that…

Appeal, Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Dispute resolution clause, Domestic Courts, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, English Law, ICC Arbitration, Nationality requirement in arbitration clauses, Supreme Court

(White & Case LLP)/ /2 Comments
White & Case

One of the key issues that now awaits the decision of the U.K. Supreme Court in Jivraj v. Hashwani is whether there is a contract between the parties and the arbitrators, such that the arbitrators may be considered “employees” of the parties (and thereby subject to the law prohibiting discrimination by employers)? If there is…

Domestic Courts, New York Convention

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
WilmerHale

To paraphrase Professor Henkin’s classic aphorism about international law – most parties respect most international arbitration agreements most of the time. And likewise, the international arbitral process works smoothly for most parties most of the time. Still, pathological cases arise in international arbitration, as in other contexts. Unfortunately, those aberrations command disproportionate attention, sometimes obscuring…

Arbitration clause, Arbitrators, Disclosure, Domestic Courts, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Jurisdiction, LCIA Arbitration, Provisional measures, Russia

(Enyo Law LLP)/ /2 Comments
Herbert Smith Freehills

While Russia is a signatory to the New York Convention, there is a perception amongst some practitioners and arbitration users that Russia is not an arbitration friendly jurisdiction. This viewpoint is, no doubt, due to a perceived scepticism of the Russian courts and is the driving force behind many foreign investors doing business in Russia…

Arbitration Agreements, Asia-Pacific, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, National Arbitration Laws

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White & Case

In two recent decisions, the Singapore High Court reaffirmed its stance on minimal intervention in arbitration proceedings. The two decisions were made against different sets of circumstances but the Court nonetheless abided by its policy of minimal intervention. This posting examines the two recent decisions, in particular, the approach taken by the High Court. In…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration clause, Arbitration Proceedings, Brazil, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, South America

(TozziniFreire Advogados)/ /Leave a comment

International arbitration often involves parties, arbitrators, and counsel from both Common Law and Civil Law traditions, which sometimes creates misinterpretations about how evidence production will occur. The recent São Paulo court opinion determining that an ICC arbitral tribunal should widen the scope of the expert evidence it was considering in a dispute regarding the construction…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, ICC Arbitration, National Arbitration Laws, Partial award, Set aside an international arbitral award

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /2 Comments

Amongst the many issues raised by the now famous Tecnimont case, which we analyzed in our 19 May 2009 blog , was the relevance in setting aside proceedings of institutional rules relating to challenges. The ICC partial award had been quashed by a 12 February 2009 judgment of the Court of Appeal of Paris, because…

Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Russia

(White & Case LLP)/ /2 Comments
White & Case

The clearest indication of a shift in the approach of the Russian arbitrazh (commercial) courts* came in April 2010, when the Presidium of Russia’s Supreme Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court issued a precedential decision, holding that interim relief measures may be ordered by Russian arbitrazh courts in aid of foreign arbitration. The ruling has resolved an ongoing…

Domestic Courts, North America, South America

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /1 Comment

The ongoing saga regarding Chevron’s legal travails in Ecuador took an interesting twist this week. As I reported earlier, Chevron has secured key outtakes of the movie Crude that appeared to show alarming collusion between the plaintiff lawyers and the Court-appointed expert. According to pleadings filed yesterday pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1782, the outtakes include…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Disclosure, Domestic Courts, United States

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

As is well known, Section 1782(a) provides that a “the district court of the district in which a person resides or is found may order him to give his testimony or statement or to produce a document or other thing for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal”. The applicability of 28…

Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Jurisdiction, Legal Practice

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

In a decision dated 8 December 2009, published on 13 June 2010 (case 4A_446/2009, published as 136 III 107), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held that persons acting as board of directors of a company that subsequently became insolvent cannot rely on an arbitration clause contained in the articles of association of that insolvent company…

Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Jurisdiction, Legal Practice

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

In two decisions both dated 11 January 2010, published on 16 April 2010 (cases 4A_256/2009 and 4A_258/2009), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court dismissed two appeals regarding the irregular constitution of an arbitral tribunal by stating that the complainant failed to sufficiently substantiate his allegations. Background In 2006, two ICC arbitrations were initiated. They had the…