On 1 November 2023, the English High Court (“EWHC”) delivered its decision in Hulley Enterprises Limited v. Russian Federation. The EWHC dismissed the jurisdictional challenge raised by the Russian Federation (“RF”), which contested the enforcement of arbitral awards in favour of the former majority shareholders of OAO Yukos Oil Company (“Yukos”). Despite the RF asserting…
The UK Supreme Court (“UKSC”) in Tui UK Ltd v. Griffiths [2023] UKSC 48 recently considered the question whether a party must challenge a witness and expert evidence in cross-examination if it wants to have that evidence discredited or disregarded. The Supreme Court affirmed the rule in Browne v Dunn that a party must “put”…
The UK Supreme Court (‘UKSC’) addressed the meaning of ‘matter’ in Article II(3) of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (‘NYC’) in its judgment of 20 September 2023 in Republic of Mozambique v Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL (Holding) [2023] UKSC 32 (‘Mozambique v Privinvest’). This post examines the…
The English Commercial Court’s September 4, 2020 decision in P&ID v. Nigeria (P&ID) agreed to halt enforcement due to a prima facie case of fraud. This decision introduced a novel perspective to the legal discourse of extension of time to challenge an arbitral award. In particular, the court determined to extend the time to challenge an…
On 6 September 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales issued its final report and draft Bill proposing amendments to the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). In this post we focus on the Law Commission’s recommendations regarding jurisdictional challenges in respect of English-seated arbitrations and in particular how its two recommendations (assuming that they…
The Honourable Wayne Martin AC KC is an arbitrator, mediator, and former Chief Justice of Western Australia (2006-2018). As Chief Justice, Mr Martin was a notable pioneer, particularly for his creation of the Supreme Court of Western Australia’s Arbitration List. Prior to becoming Chief Justice, Mr Martin was a senior member of the Western Australian…
The UK Law Commission recently proposed drastic reform to section 67 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 that deals with the challenge of an award on the ground of lack of substantive jurisdiction in an English seated arbitration. The Law Commission’s First Consultation Paper published in September 2022 initially recommended the challenge under section 67…
Securing a favourable arbitral award is not trivial. It involves a lot of work, a wait of, potentially, several years and the expense of the arbitral process. After all this, when a favourable award has, hopefully, been obtained, the last thing any client wants is to enter into yet another fight to enforce the award….
Third-Party Funding (“TPF”) has emerged as a parallel industrial complex in the modern dispute resolution landscape. Parties routinely enter into Arbitration/ Litigation Funding Agreements (“LFA”) with third parties, based on both conditional fees and damages-based remuneration models, seeking financial services in relation to advocacy, litigation, or claims management. The increasing popularity of the industry can…
The recent case of Payward Inc v Chechetkin [2023] EWHC 1780 (Comm) represents a rare example of English courts refusing to enforce an arbitral award on public policy grounds. The award in question was rendered against Mr Chechetkin, a UK-domiciled lawyer who suffered significant losses trading on the Claimant’s cryptocurrency platform. The English Commercial Court…
Indian arbitration landscape continues to evolve and London continues to play an important part in cross-border disputes with a link to India. Anuradha Agnihotri, Devika Khopkar, Arun Mal, and Nicholas Peacock, with Rishab Gupta as moderator, shed light on various aspects of the Indian disputes market during LIDW 2023, including India’s recent move towards liberalization,…
London International Disputes Week 2023 (“LIDW 2023”) kicked off on 15 May 2023. This year’s theme explores how the disputes community, is and should be, adapting to a changing world. The first day – International Arbitration Day (hosted by Mayer Brown, Allen & Overy, and Herbert Smith Freehills) – followed the “arbitration disputes sun” across…
In November 2021, the Law Commission of the United Kingdom announced its review of the English Arbitration Act 1996. Among the critical issues of the reform is the debate on whether to codify the existing principle of implied confidentiality of arbitration proceedings under English law. While the principle of implied confidentiality is largely settled in…
In Lifestyle Equities CV v Hornby Street (MCR) Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 51, the English Court of Appeal (or the “Court”) considered what law applied to the issue of whether a non-party to the arbitration agreement is bound by it. According to the majority of the Court, the issue is one of the scope of…
The Law Commission of England and Wales announced in November last year that it will be conducting an 18-month review of the English Arbitration Act. Ever since, there has been much speculation as to what changes the Law Commission might recommend. The Law Commission has announced some broad areas of potential focus. Whilst some of…
Insolvency-related claims arising from contracts containing arbitration clauses continue to culminate in intriguing cases before the England and Wales High Court (a previous post on the Blog analysed the Riverrock Securities Limited v International Bank of St Petersburg (Joint Stock Company) [2020] EWHC 2483 (Comm)). In a recent case titled The Deposit Guarantee Fund for…
The recent judgment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court (the UKSC) in Kabab-Ji v Kout Foods (the Kabab-Ji judgment) has reopened issues concerning the differing approaches of English and French courts to determining the law governing arbitration agreements. The Kabab-Ji saga provides a case study on the English-French law divide and has been discussed at…
On 27 October 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) issued a judgment in Kabab-Ji SAL v Kout Food Group [2021] UKSC 48. The Court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal finding that the law applicable to the arbitration agreement was the English choice of law for the whole…
In Armada Ship Management (S) Pte Ltd v Schiste Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd [2021] EWHC 1094 (Comm), the High Court considered the interplay between sections 32 and 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) and provided a rare indication of how the courts will consider section 32 applications, identifying when section 32 will…
In a recent High Court case, it was held that a reference in a contract to the “court” did not mean a court at all but meant instead – perhaps alarmingly – arbitration. This decision in Helice Leasing S.A.S. v PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) TbK [2021] EWHC 99 (Comm) may be a cause of concern…
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…
On 26 May 2020, the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), a networking and business support organisation that caters to the London business community, launched the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM). The LCAM is a new organisation offering arbitration, expedited arbitration and mediation services. This post will explore selected features of the…
The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 potentially poses an inadvertent, yet serious, threat to judicial deference to domestic commercial arbitration in Canada. Until Vavilov, courts hearing appeals on questions of law from arbitral tribunals applied the deferential “reasonableness” standard of review. Vavilov…
Public policy defences to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards continue to generate uncertainty. Under Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”), an award may be refused recognition or enforcement if “[t]he recognition or enforcement of the award would be contrary…
