Large arbitral awards have generally given rise to multi-jurisdictional post-award litigation (see Yukos). The Deutsche Telekom v India saga is a similar instance, with the Republic of India (“India”) having challenged the arbitral awards before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (“seat court”) and the courts in Germany, Singapore, and the United States (“US”) (“enforcement courts”)….

On 29 November 2023, speakers from various jurisdictions met at a conference at Heuking in Düsseldorf, organised by the European Chinese Arbitrators Association (ECAA) and the Asian European Arbitration Centre (ASEAC), to discuss whether we are currently experiencing “A New Dawn of Arbitration in Asia”. Professor Sundra Rajoo, Director of the Asian International Arbitration Centre,…

In January 2023, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance in Grand Ocean & Williams Co Limited v. Huaxicun Offshore Engineering Co Ltd (江苏华西村海洋工程服务有限公司) [2023] HKCFI 86 (“Grand Ocean”) held that an arbitration clause, governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), was void and incapable of being performed on the basis…

The General Division of the High Court of the Republic of Singapore (“SGHC”) in the matter of Beltran, Julian Morena and another v. Terraform Labs Pte Ltd and others [2023] SGHC 340 recently dismissed an appeal against an Assistant Registrar’s decision denying a stay in favour of arbitration on the basis that the First Defendant…

In the ever-evolving landscape of international commercial disputes, the co-existence of arbitration and insolvency-related proceedings has become a focal point. This comparative piece delves into the legal position in three key jurisdictions – Singapore, the United Kingdom, and India – and focuses on the pro-arbitration approach of deferring to the arbitral tribunal and staying (or…

2023 in Southeast Asia witnessed several significant decisions issued by apex courts across various countries, and exciting new initiatives which promise an eventful 2024 ahead. In this post, we’ve put together a summary of 2023’s key highlights.   Developments in Arbitral Rules and Regulatory Frameworks 2023 was an eventful year for arbitral institutions in Southeast…

There is a debate about whether courts and arbitral tribunals should be involved in the amicable resolution of disputes. Different jurisdictions deal with this issue in different ways. This post considers the approaches taken by courts and tribunals in Germany, England and Wales, and Singapore to examine whether courts or tribunals in these jurisdictions, on…

In 2013, Deutsche Telekom AG (“DT”), a German corporation, commenced an UNCITRAL arbitration in Switzerland under the Germany-India BIT claiming that India had (amongst other things) breached the fair and equitable treatment (“FET”) standard. In the arbitration, India raised various jurisdictional objections, which the Tribunal rejected in an Interim Award issued on 13 December 2017….

The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) held the SIAC Symposium, its flagship conference, during the Singapore Convention Week on 28 August 2023. The SIAC Symposium featured a conversation with Minister K Shanmugam, SC (Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, Singapore) and a plenary address by Justice Judith Prakash (Justice of the Court of…

Ban Jiun Ean is the Chief Executive of Maxwell Chambers, the world’s first integrated dispute resolution center in the heart of Singapore. Maxwell Chambers assembled arbitral institutions, service providers, and legal practitioners under the same roof, making the Chamber a one-stop shop for customers in a facility equipped with best-in-class hearing facilities and state-of-the-art supporting…

This might not be a secret: the Singapore courts recently issued two decisions in June 2023 about confidentiality in the international arbitration context. The first, The Republic of India v Deutsche Telekom AG [2023] SGCA (I) 4 (“India v DT”), concerned the availability of court-ordered confidentiality protections after information about the arbitration (whose confidentiality is…

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…

On 6 January 2023, the Singapore Court of Appeal (the SCA) passed a judgment in Anupam Mittal v Westbridge Ventures II that redefines existing notions of the law applicable to subject matter arbitrability at the pre-award stage (the Westbridge Judgment). The High Court’s decision which was appealed before the SCA is discussed here. National courts…

Issues relating to the arbitrability of disputes have gained increasing prominence in recent years. The question of which law ought to govern an arbitration agreement and concomitantly the inquiry as to whether a dispute is arbitrable, in the absence of an explicit choice of law governing the arbitration agreement has been explored in previous judgments…

The year 2022 seems to have passed in a flash, but not without bringing some exciting developments for the arbitration scene in Southeast Asia. From the Southeast Asia editorial team, here are some of the past year’s highlights.   Developments in the law and jurisprudence Contributors to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog critically analysed the Singapore…

International arbitration is reputed for its flexibility shaped by the underlying principle of party autonomy. Past years have witnessed the development of various types of funding arrangements for arbitration users, including third-party funding (“TPF”) and, most recently, alternative fee arrangements with counsel (“AFAs”) in Singapore and Hong Kong. While these new initiatives undoubtedly increase flexibility…

Arbitration’s key strength lies in the near-universal enforcement of its arbitral awards. The 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”) offers parties the benefit of going under a uniform enforcement regime in all of its Contracting States. But whilst it is a popular choice, the New York Convention…

On 7 October 2022, the High Court of the Republic of Singapore (“High Court”) delivered a landmark decision on the enforceability of foreign emergency arbitration awards in CVG v CVH. The High Court rejected the enforceability of the emergency award on the ground of procedural irregularity, reinforcing the importance of due process even in cases where…

When determining what matters fall within the scope of submission to arbitration, five sources are relevant: the parties’ pleadings, the agreed list of issues, opening statements, evidence adduced, and closing submissions: CDM v CDP [2021] 2 SLR 235 at [18]. If a court, on an analysis of these five sources, finds that an award should…

Allen & Overy’s webinar on the second day of Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2022 brought together six practitioners from the fields of arbitration, insolvency and enforcement to discuss the key practical and strategic considerations when acting for and against parties in financial distress. Guided through a hypothetical case study involving jurisdictions such as Hong Kong,…

Ms Lucy Reed is a full-time arbitrator and a Visiting Professor at National University of Singapore.  Previously, she was the Co-Head of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Global International Arbitration Group.  Her prior experience includes acting as the US Agent to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and as General Counsel of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (“KEDO”). …

In Singapore, lawyers and their clients will soon be able to enter into conditional fee agreements (“CFAs”) for arbitrations and certain court proceedings. CFAs provide parties with an alternative to traditional fee arrangements and third-party funding (“TPF”) by enabling part or all of their lawyers’ fees and costs, as well as an uplift fee, to…

The distinction between jurisdiction and admissibility (the “Distinction”) has important consequences in international arbitration. Chief among these is the determination of the permissible extent of a national court’s intervention regarding a final award;1)Gretta Walters, “Fitting a Square Peg into a Round Hole: Do Res Judicata Challenges in International Arbitration Constitute Jurisdictional or Admissibility Problems?” (2012)…