Although the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted almost everywhere and in-person events have returned to full swing, Kyiv Arbitration Days 2022 (KAD), the most famous Ukrainian arbitration event, was still held online. The title of the conference – “After the war: The legal battles” – speaks for itself. While the war is still ongoing and…

The recent decision issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in Pao Tatneft v. Ukraine reopened the door to whether a country waives sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (the “FSIA”) by signing the New York Convention or other international treaties. In Pao Tatneft v. Ukraine, Tatneft,…

Introduction The issues pertaining to “sovereign immunity” in international arbitration are not new. Nevertheless, several aspects remain unresolved.1)Kaj Hobér, Sovereign Immunity and International Arbitration – Recent developments, Arbitrators’ Insights, Essays in Honour of Neil Kaplan (Sweet & Maxwell, 2012), 91. Sovereign immunity from execution is said to be “the last fortress, the last bastion of State…

Overview On May 1, 2017, the United States Supreme Court issued its unanimous decision in Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela v. Helmerich & Payne Int’l Drilling Co. (137 S.Ct. 1312). In its ruling, the Court addressed the expropriation exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (the “FSIA”). The expropriation exception permits plaintiffs to bring claims in…