This post provides a recap of notable arbitration-related developments in France in 2023. Far from being an exhaustive account, it focuses on French court decisions in the areas identified below. Overall, French courts have not only consolidated their approaches on recurring topics—as was the case in 2020, 2021, and 2022—but have also taken a slightly…

Article 25 of the ICSID Convention imposes a condition on natural persons that they cannot bring a claim against the host State if they possess the nationality of both the contracting States of the invoked treaty (dual nationals). This is an added qualification to the requirements for a qualified investor mentioned in the treaty. Therefore,…

The inaugural Vietnam ADR Week (“VAW”) took place in Ho Chi Minh City from 9 to 12 May 2023. As a sponsor of VAW, Vietnamese law firm, YKVN, organized a discussion panel on 10 May 2023 on a comparative analysis of the approaches taken by various national courts towards the governing law of the arbitration…

The inaugural Vietnam ADR Week (“VAW”) took place in Ho Chi Minh City from 9 to 12 May 2023. As a sponsor of VAW, Vietnamese law firm YKVN organized a discussion panel on 10 May 2023 on a comparison of the interplay of the separability doctrine and questions relating to formation and validity of arbitration…

As discussed on the Blog, the international chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal issued on 30 November 2021 a ruling in Boralex Energie France v. Innovent, on a set-aside request based on alleged irregularities related to the signing and dating of the award caused by the pandemic. To the authors’ knowledge, this decision is…

Following a fruitful 2020, 2021 also brought some noteworthy developments in France, that this post proposes to review on a general level. Overall, the Paris Court of Appeal (“the Court”) seems to have taken a slightly more exigent approach towards arbitration this year, while the Cour de cassation has overturned regrettable decisions. Admissibility and Waiver…

Under Article 13(3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law, a party challenging an arbitrator may ‘appeal’ a decision of the tribunal or other body hearing that challenge to a court or other authority (the “Challenge Appeal Mechanism”). The purpose of the Challenge Appeal Mechanism is to make the arbitral process more efficient by permitting judicial review…

2020 saw important case law developments concerning the proper law of arbitration agreements, where the seat of the arbitration is in a different jurisdiction from the governing law of the main contract, particularly in the UK. However, various jurisdictions have adopted different approaches to this issue. It remains to be seen which jurisdictions will follow…

Almost a decade after the Dallah saga, the French and English courts are once again considering the enforcement of the same award yet reaching conflicting solutions. On 29 March 2019, the High Court of England and Wales, followed on 20 January 2020 by the England and Wales Court of Appeal both refused to enforce an…

The Paris Court of Appeal recently upheld an ICC award where the arbitral tribunal exclusively applied the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts (‘the Principles’) as lex contractus failing any agreement on the applicable law between the parties. This recent development deserves further analysis as it confirms French courts’ favourable attitude towards the application of…