Switzerland

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration Agreements, Commercial Arbitration, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Parallel Proceedings, Set aside an arbitral award, Switzerland, Uncategorized

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

Arbitration proceedings sometimes spawn a host of parallel court proceedings.  It is not unheard for parties to seek to instrumentalise courts, sometimes with the complicity of the courts themselves, to escape the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal.  Such conduct may, however, expose parties to liability for breach of the arbitration agreement, as was confirmed by…

Due process, Right to be heard, Set aside an arbitral award, Switzerland

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

In a recent decision of the Swiss First Civil Law Court (X._____ v. Y.______, 4A_669/2012), an arbitral award was annulled on the basis that the arbitrator had violated the appellant’s right to be heard. Although the decision applies Swiss Federal law, the decision is relevant to practitioners in other jurisdictions which allow for annulment of…

Insolvency, Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Law governing the arbitration, Switzerland

(Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd, Switzerland)/ /1 Comment
Schellenberg Wittmer

Nathalie Voser and Anya George Few Swiss cases have sparked as much debate in the arbitration community as the Swiss Supreme Court’s 2009 decision in Vivendi vs. Elektrim. In that decision, the Supreme Court upheld the award of an arbitral tribunal seated in Switzerland which had declined jurisdiction over one of the respondents, Elektrim, after…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Domestic Courts, Jurisdiction, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

In a recently published decision dated 6 August 2012 (4A_119/2012), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court confirmed its own jurisprudence according to which state courts facing a jurisdictional defense based on an alleged arbitration agreement must not assess in full the validity of the arbitration agreement. In such cases, the state court must limit itself to a summary examination of whether or not a valid arbitration agreement exists.

Arbitration Act, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

On 27 September 2012, the Swiss Parliament adopted a motion that had been introduced earlier this year tasking the Government to prepare a report on the Swiss Arbitration Law (chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA)).  The objective of the report is to further enhance the attractiveness of Switzerland as a…

Annulment, International arbitration, Public Policy, Sport arbitration, Supreme Court, Switzerland

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

With its decision of 27 March 2012, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held unlawful a disciplinary sanction by which FIFA threatened the football player Matuzalem with a lifetime ban in case he failed to pay a damage claim of his former club and employer. By an earlier decision of the CAS, Francelino da Silva Matuzalem,…

Enforcement, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

By Matthias Scherer and Simone Nadelhofer, LALIVE, Geneva and Zurich The Swiss Federal Supreme Court recently published a decision rendered last addressing the enforceability of an English Worldwide Freezing Order (“WFO”) in Switzerland. Of particular interest was the question whether a party can apply for a mere declaration of enforceability without actually seeking to enforce…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Commercial Arbitration, Dispute resolution clause, International arbitration, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Partial award, Set aside an international arbitral award, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

By Matthias Scherer and Sam Moss In a recent decision issued on 7 November 2011 on a request for annulment of a partial award on jurisdiction rendered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“TAS”), the Swiss Supreme Court recalled and applied its previous jurisprudence on the interpretation of pathological arbitration clauses (Case 4A_246/2011). The…

Arbitration Proceedings, Evidence, ICSID Convention, Sport arbitration, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

In its decision 4A_162/2011 of 20 July 2011, which was published on 2 September 2011, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court elaborated on the content of – and limits to – the right of parties to call witnesses. The arbitration which gave rise to the decision was between the Jamaica Football Federation and its former coach,…

Appeal, Arbitration, Due process, Efficiency, Qatar, Sport arbitration, Switzerland

(Perréard de Boccard)/ /Leave a comment

In a post dated March 2, 2011, I reported about a Swiss Supreme Court decision of February 20, 2009 where the Supreme Court had confirmed a CAS award which deemed an appeal withdrawn after the appellant had failed to pay the advance on costs. I indicated that I did not know what had happened to…

Arbitration, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Pre-arbitral procedure, Set aside an arbitral award, Supreme Court, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent decision, the Swiss Supreme Court examined whether contractual provisions contemplating certain procedural steps before initiating arbitration proceedings impacted the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal (Case no. 4A_46/2011 of 16 May 2011, to be published in ASA Bulletin, 2011. English translation to be published in Swiss International Arbitration Law Reports, 2011). The contract,…

Arbitration, Costs, Europe, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

According to the rules governing domestic arbitration (Art 30 of the Concordat on Arbitration, and, as of 1 January 2011, Art. 378 of the Swiss Federal Code on Civil Procedure), a party that does not pay its share of the advance on the arbitration costs requested by the arbitral tribunal risks to lose the benefit…

Arbitration, Europe, Sanctions, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /2 Comments

Introduction: Many international commercial contracts (such as e.g., construction, distribution, sale and purchase) are governed by Swiss (substantive) law as per a choice of law provision. Often the choice of law is made in combination with an arbitration clause referring disputes to arbitration in Switzerland. The effect of international sanctions on commercial contracts has become…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Switzerland

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

Switzerland may be one of the world’s most important arbitral seats, even so one would scarcely expect arbitration to hold much interest for the tubercular residents of Davos in Mann’s novel Der Zauberberg or The Magic Mountain. Yet aficionados of arbitration who persevere to the sixth chapter of his lengthy book are treated to a…