On October 17, 2022, the Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Ecuador (“Ecuador”) signed in Quito a “Host Country Agreement” (the “Agreement”). This news has been well received, both in the Ecuadorian and the international arbitration community. It is also the culmination of…

During the Paris Arbitration Week, Savoie Laporte hosted a virtual panel discussion entitled “International Organizations as Users and Providers of International Arbitration”. The webinar was moderated by Pierre-Olivier Laporte (Co-founder of the international law boutique Savoie Laporte) and featured four speakers from intergovernmental organizations (IOs).   OECD and WADA as Users of International Arbitration Lucie…

International arbitration is changing at a fast pace, and opportunities arise every day in this field. In this context, on May 25, 2021, Young Arbitral Women Practitioners, Holland & Knight, and Rising Arbitrators Initiative co-hosted a webinar to discuss emerging fields of practice for arbitration lawyers. This post offers an overview of the variety of…

Nearly a decade ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) published its Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Outer Space Activities (“PCA Outer Space Rules” or “Rules”).  Unlike the five United Nations treaties on outer space, the Rules provide for a voluntary and binding dispute resolution process accessible to all space actors.  Notably,…

What makes disputes in banking and finance different? After all, like most commercial disputes, their determination often requires the interpretation of contracts, deciding whether a party is liable in contract or tort, and quantifying damages. Furthermore, financial institutions are, in many respects, no different from other commercial parties to disputes. Yet, in practice banking and…

On 5-6 November 2020, reputable arbitration practitioners joined together for the 9th Asia Pacific ADR Conference and shared their experiences and insights on the latest developments in the arbitration landscape. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the annual conference took place virtually. It successfully attracted approximately 15,000 participants across 50 countries. The event was co-hosted…

There was a time when arbitrators were to a large extent immune from liability and could thus not be sued before national courts for damages caused to the parties to a dispute. This was true mainly in common law jurisdictions and was probably the case in most civil law countries as well. For instance, under…

Since 2013, an independent group of international lawyers (the Working Group of the Business and Human Rights Arbitration project) has been considering the possibility of using international arbitration as a method of resolving disputes over obligations and commitments arising out of business-related human rights abuses.  The idea underlying the project is that international arbitration could…

On 27 March 2017, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA“) designated an appointing authority in an OIC arbitration by applying the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, despite the absence of any reference to these Rules in the OIC Agreement. This decision, which concerns a pending case, DS. Construction v. Libya , could mark the…

Nearly one hundred climate scientists, economists, policy specialists, investors, and lawyers recently convened in Stockholm for the conference “Bridging the Climate Change Policy Gap: The Role of International Law and Arbitration” organized jointly by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“the SCC”), the International Bar Association, the International Chamber of Commerce and…