Proceedings for setting-aside arbitral awards in India have been the subject of controversy since time immemorial. Recent trends indicate that the tendency of courts to set-aside awards has been on the wane. However, on many occasions, courts have been sympathetic to the losing party on issues of quantum, costs and interest, and have undertaken a…

The Singapore Court of Appeal (“CA”) recently handed down CBX and anor v CBZ and ors [2021] SGCA(I) 3 (“CBX”), setting aside, exceptionally, the awards.1)The views expressed in this article are solely the views of the authors, and are not representative of the organisations they are affiliated with. Significantly, the law was clarified, to a…

Where C commences an arbitration against a non-existent entity E, and D defends the arbitration in the guise of E, can an award rendered in favour of E be enforced by D against C?1)This article is written in the author’s personal capacity. The opinions expressed are entirely the author’s own, and do not reflect the…

Despite the prominence of Italian industry in international trade – Italy is one of the G7 countries – the country has long struggled to build a reputation in international arbitration as a reliable and arbitration-friendly seat. Italy’s court system is notoriously among the slowest in Europe, and the slowest to reach a conclusion through its…

In CBS v CBP [2021] SGCA 4 the Singapore Court of Appeal upheld the High Court’s ruling in CBP v CBS [2020] SGHC 23, being a rare example of the Singapore Courts setting aside an award. The arbitrator’s decision not to allow a hearing for oral witness evidence was found to be a breach of…

On 23 April 2021, Paul Vlas, Advocate-General of the Dutch Supreme Court issued his opinion in the Yukos case, setting the stage for the final setting aside act in The Hague after nine years of PCA-administered arbitration and six years of setting aside litigation. Advocate-General Vlas had previously advised the Dutch Supreme Court to reject…

“I want the truth!  … You can’t handle the truth!” – Hollywood’s infamous shouting match in “A Few Good Men” may have forever ruined every client’s expectation of a measured cross-examination. But the struggle to ascertain the truth remains real in international arbitration. Tribunals and counsel frequently face the tough question of what exactly they…

Where a plaintiff unsuccessfully applies to set aside an arbitral award or resist enforcement of the same, should the costs of the application, as a default rule, be awarded to the defendant on a standard or indemnity basis? The recent string of Singapore decisions on BTN v BTP address this question from a Singapore perspective….

In its civil ruling (2018) Yue 03 Min Te No 719 on 26 April 2020, the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court (the “Court”) set aside an award made by a local arbitral institution in Shenzhen (the “Award”), a special economic zone and the bridgehead of the China’s reform and opening-up. This judgment was approved by the…

Readers of this blog are well familiar with the sharp criticism international arbitration faces on account of the quality of legal reasoning in arbitral awards. Traditionally, much of the prolific debate has revolved around the arbitrators’ duty to give reasons. Recent cases (here and here), however, have sparked a discussion on the arbitrators’ failure to…

On 10 July 2020, a panel of arbitration practitioners discussed the topic of “Recent Developments and Key Arbitration Trends in Asia” as part of the 2020 Paris Arbitration Week. The panel discussion covered the distinctive features of and the latest developments in five different jurisdictions: Singapore, China, Hong Kong, South Korea and India. Hosted by…

Amid the rise of arbitration-friendly regimes, Malaysia has emerged as one of the preferred seats of arbitration in Asia. Several coordinated factors support Malaysia’s emergence as a pro-arbitration jurisdiction. These include significant amendments to the Arbitration Act 2005 (the “Act”), the pro-arbitration position taken by the Malaysian Judiciary, and the rise of the Asian International…

The Frankfurt Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) has recently taken the view that the publication of a dissenting opinion by the minority arbitrator violates the procedural ordre public, thus constituting a reason to set aside the arbitral award pursuant to Section 1059 para. 2 no 2 b) of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO).1)To…

Introduction The use of virtual hearings is not new in international arbitration. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated, and accelerated, a shift from in-person hearings to virtual hearings. With travel bans in place and no visibility of when countries will open their borders again, in-person hearings will likely be the exception rather than the norm…

The Paris Court of Appeal considers that the arbitral awards annulled at the place of the arbitration do not amount to a valid cause for refusal of enforcement in France. Recently, the Court specified that whether the interests at stake are international or national does not change this position.   Background of the Dispute  On…

The ruling given on 25 February 2020 (‘Ruling’) by the High Court of Lagos State in Nigeria (‘Lagos High Court’), setting aside an award in the case of Global Gas and Refinery Limited (‘Global Gas’) and Shell Petroleum Development Company (‘Shell’) on the ground of arbitrator non-disclosure, raises concern to the arbitral community both in…

The Paris Court of Appeal has recently sought a preliminary ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on the interpretation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) in the ongoing Republic of Moldova v. Komstroy case.   A 20-Year-Old Tale The Republic of Moldova v. Komstroy case highlights the contradicting approaches to…

Although some might have considered 2019 a bit “lackluster”,1)Th. Clay, Panorama – Arbitrage et modes alternatifs de règlement des litiges: novembre 2018-décembre 2019, Dalloz, 26 December 2019. a number of noteworthy decisions by the Paris Court of Appeal and French Supreme Court have come to refine on the now well-established French case law on international…

Due process paranoia remains a live issue in international arbitration. Arbitrators can feel under pressure to fulfil their duties to give parties an opportunity to present their case whilst also ensuring that they produce an enforceable arbitral award. This concern to be seen to have delivered due process can arguably be increased when coupled with…

On 9 October 2019 the Supreme Court of Ukraine 1)This article refers to the Supreme Court created in the course of the judicial reform of 2016 in Ukraine. (Supreme Court) rendered a decision in a case on setting aside an arbitral award that goes completely against Article 3 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International…

Like virtually all arbitration laws, the Austrian Arbitration Act is silent on whether the lack of impartiality and independence of an arbitrator may be invoked for the first time in setting aside proceedings in cases where a party becomes aware of the relevant circumstances only after the award was rendered. The Austrian Supreme Court has,…

I discussed in a previous post on the blog the decision of 18 February 2020 of the Court of Appeal in The Hague that revived the awards rendered in July 2014 against the Russian Federation in Veteran Petroleum Ltd., Yukos Universal Ltd. and Hulley Enterprises Ltd. cases. Those awards had been annulled in April 2016 on the basis that there…

The automatic stay provisions in the Indian arbitration regime have been a matter of a long debate. At first blush, the automatic stay seems like the perfect protection mechanism for any award debtor; however, it often puts the award creditor in a difficult spot. Arbitral awards rarely go unchallenged in India. The automatic stay provision…

Two and a half decades have passed since Hungary harmonised its arbitration law with UNCITRAL Model Law (‘Model Law’) in 1994. This marked a giant leap forward, especially as the adopted provisions were made applicable not only in international, but in purely domestic arbitrations as well. This post analyses the Hungarian case law on setting…