Arbitration, foreign direct investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership

(University of Sydney & Williams Trade Law)/ /Leave a comment

The Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, signed on 4 February 2016 among 12 Asia-Pacific economies, faces a rocky road to ratification. In the run-up to the US presidential election in November, both Donald Trump and (for now) Hillary Clinton say they are opposed. Yet Australian Prime Minister Turnbull urged President Obama to put the FTA to a vote in Congress…

Argentina, Awards, foreign direct investment, Investment Arbitration, Uncategorized

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) and (Knoetzl Haugeneder Netal Rechtsanwaelte GmbH)/ /1 Comment

For more than a decade, Argentina has been living in a permanent crisis, which affected all sectors of the economy and turned out in an avalanche of investment cases, many of them under the ICSID Convention. Thus, Argentina became one of the most active players in the investor-state dispute settlement system, facing almost 60 cases…

Anti-ISDS Propaganda, ISDS

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /Leave a comment

In the past two to three years the critics of investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS) have been tremendously successful in setting up an effective propaganda, which has managed to scare and misinform the general public, media, and politicians. This propaganda has not only turned around once pro-ISDS countries like Germany, The Netherlands and France, but has…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Consumer contracts, Consumer disputes, Poland

(Kancelaria Adwokacka Adwokat Marcin Orecki)/ /1 Comment

Introduction After recent amendments to the Polish Arbitration Law (part five of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure, Official Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, No 43, item 296, as amended, available in Polish here) (“CCP”) , which were a subject of my previous posts, the Polish legislator commenced in June 2016 the…

Costs in arbitral proceedings, English Arbitration Act, English Law, Third party funding

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

A new development in the third party funding arena prompts an increased analysis of the theoretical foundations of the nature of third party funding. At the moment, there are divergent views on its proper place and treatment, and with increased prevalence a piecemeal approach with little theoretical groundwork risks creating a minefield resulting in unpredictability…

Uncategorized

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

On 28 July 2016, in a judgment of Justice Sir Jeremy Cooke (see CFI 020/2016 – Brookfield Multiplex Constructions LLC v. (1) DIFC Investments LLC (2) Dubai International Financial Centre Authority, ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 28 July 2016), the DIFC Court of First Instance ruled, in principle, in favour of…

ADR, Arbitration, Conciliation, Mediation

, (Schoenherr)/ /Leave a comment
Schoenherr

Arbitration has long been the favorite of the ADR family. Mediation, however, has established an increasingly relevant position for itself when it comes to resolving (international) commercial disputes quickly, cost-efficiently, and successfully. Efforts to render mediated settlement agreements enforceable persist and will likely further bolster mediation as an independent and, possibly, even superior alternative to…

SIAC, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Transparency

(Simmons & Simmons) and / /2 Comments

There has been a lot of attention paid to the various innovations in the new SIAC Rules 2016 such as the possibility of an early dismissal of claims under the new Rule 29. One of the changes to the Rules which has generally been overlooked is that they now require consent of the parties and…

Australia, Conciliation, Timor-Leste, UNCLOS

(Signature Litigation)/ /Leave a comment

On 11 April 2016, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (“Timor-Leste”) commenced the first ever compulsory conciliation proceedings under Annex V, section 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”). The proceedings concern the disputed maritime boundary between Timor-Leste and Australia in the Timor Sea. Australia objected to the conciliation on…

Arbitration, Iura Novit Curia, Poland

(Linklaters) and (Queritius)/ /1 Comment
Linklaters

Much has been written about iura novit curia or, as it has been rephrased for arbitration purposes – the iura novit arbiter principle in international arbitration. There are three main areas of debate. The first of these areas deals with the different approaches to the role and duties of the decision-making body and the parties…

International environmental disputes, International Law, International tribunals, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration

(Allende & Brea)/ /Leave a comment

Climate change is a serious threat to humankind. The sources of the problem are many, requiring a multidimensional approach to find practical and viable solutions. In the last several years, awareness of the issue has been addressed in the public domain, by international community, and civil society. This publicity has resulted in States taking concrete…

Arbitration, CETA, Energy Charter Treaty, Enforcement, Mediation

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

Recent developments indicate there may be increasing interest in the creation of alternative forms of dispute resolution for investor-State disputes. One potential alternative is mediation. This post outlines how 2016 has been an important year for investor-State mediation, considers how mediation interacts with investment treaty arbitration, and the benefits and risks associated with such a…

Uncategorized

(MIDS Geneva)/ /Leave a comment

Can an international arbitral tribunal admit emails and documents as evidence if these documents were obtained by hacking a computer network? The ICSID tribunal in Caratube International Oil Company and Mr Devincci Saleh Hourani v Kazakhstan (ICSID Case No. ARB/13/13) held, “in principle Yes”, in a decision which is not yet published but has been…

International arbitration, Women in arbitration

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

On a rainy Monday 19 September 2016, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP hosted an ICC YAF event at its London offices on the importance of women in our arbitration world. The issue of gender diversity was at the forefront of the agenda, and taking the Pledge for Equal Representation in Arbitration (www.arbitrationpledge.com). The YAF coincided with…

Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements

(Advocate, Arbitrator and Mediator) and (Clyde & Co.)/ /2 Comments
Clyde & Co.

In a 2014 speech delivered in Sydney entitled “Commercial Courts and International Arbitration – Competitors or Partners?”, Michael Hwang SC, referring to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (‘New York Convention’), described the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (‘Hague Convention’) as “a sort of mini version of…

Arbitral Award, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Set aside an arbitral award, vacatur

(Clyde & Co.)/ /1 Comment
Clyde & Co.

The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers the district courts of New York, Connecticut and Vermont, was recently called to decide the effect that a vacatur of an award in the seat of arbitration (in that case, Mexico) had in an ongoing enforcement proceeding in New York. The Court of Appeals held…

Arbitration Act, India

(Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co.) and / /Leave a comment

The last decade has seen a concerted effort by the Indian legislature, the executive and the judiciary to promote alternative dispute resolution in India. The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (‘Amending Act’) marks an important milestone in the development of arbitration law in India. Some of the important changes brought about by the Amending…

Arbitration, Enforcement, Enforcement of an award that was set aside

, , (Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP) and (Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /1 Comment

Under Article V(1)(e) of the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“The New York Convention”), a court presented with an action to enforce an arbitral award “may refuse” to enforce the award “only if” the opposing party can prove that an award “has been set aside or suspended…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy and arbitration, Russia

(KIAP, Attorneys at Law)/ /1 Comment

The Russian Supreme Court recently rendered a decision declaring disputes on challenging agreements with banks in a special financial situation, called by lawyers – “troubled” banks, as non-arbitrable [Bank Trust v. Fosint Ltd., decision dated 16 August 2016 number 305-ЭС16-4051] (“Trust case”). In this case, a “troubled” bank, meaning a bank in which a temporary…

Journal of International Arbitration

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

Volume 33 Issue 4 ARTICLES SECTION Stephan Wilske & Chloë Edworthy, The Future of Intra-EU BITs: A Recent Development in International Investment Treaty Arbitration Against Romania And Its Potential Collateral Damage Abstract: The article explores the debate surrounding intra-EU investment treaty arbitration and the intervention of the European Commission in an investment treaty arbitration against…

Appointment of arbitrators, Women in arbitration

/ /Leave a comment
ArbitralWomen

By Mirèze Philippe Special Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration Founding Co-President ArbitralWomen Member of the Pledge Steering Committee The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and should not be regarded as representative of, or binding upon ArbitralWomen and/or the author’s institution. The Equal Representation…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Best practices, Code of Ethics, Confidentiality and Transparency, Consolidation, Investment Arbitration, Transparency in investment arbitrations, UNCITRAL

(Australian National University)/ /1 Comment

On 7 July 2016, the UNCITRAL Commission adopted a revised and updated version of the UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings. The 2016 Notes replace a 1996 edition, and aim to flag procedural issues typically associated with arbitral proceedings. They include guidance on matters such as the language(s) of the proceedings, confidentiality and transparency, and…

Evidence, Expert evidence, Powers of the tribunal, South China Sea, UNCLOS

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /1 Comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

Heading The July 2016 Award of the Tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v The Peoples’ Republic of China) has been the subject of extensive interest and comment for its findings on rights and maritime entitlements, and the obligations of States under the United Nations Convention on the Law…