The United States (“US”) and European Union (“EU”) demonstrate major differences in relation to consumer arbitration. In December 2015, the US Supreme Court rendered a judgment in Direct, Inc. v. Imburgia et al., an important precedent for consumer arbitration, which may make the law of these two jurisdictions diverge even further. This blog post discusses…
The arbitration of patent disputes is on the rise. This is not only because patent litigation has been subject to criticism on multiple grounds, but also because arbitration offers several distinct advantages. In an effort to further explore this growth field, the Georgetown International Arbitration Society hosted a panel on the subject as a part…
On 17 December 2015, the website of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) announced that the Arbitral Tribunal in the Philip Morris Asia Limited (Hong Kong) v. The Commonwealth of Australia case has issued an Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility of the case. While the award has not yet been published – pending the redaction…
In October 2015, during an official visit to the United States, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, announced that Indonesia intended to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Jokowi’s plan immediately ran into political opposition at home, including from within the ranks of his own Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). The Government, however, appears determined to follow…
An arbitration can be severely disrupted by a party who refuses to comply with an order or direction of its tribunal. In such circumstances, a peremptory order may be used to force the non-compliant party to comply with the earlier order or direction within a specific timeframe. An arbitral tribunal’s peremptory order was recently enforced…
Most arbitration agreements in the international realm require arbitrators to produce a “reasoned” or “fully reasoned” award. However, relatively little has been written on why such awards are necessary and what constitutes a reasoned award in a legal regime that includes elements of both the common and civil law. On one level, the question of…
The last several years have witnessed a tremendous increase in the participation of third-party funders in international arbitration. A growing number of claimants are seeking external funding, either because they lack the necessary funds to commence arbitration proceedings (which are becoming increasingly more expensive) or because they want to maintain cash-flow and offset the risk…
An extension of arbitration agreements to non-signatories has been a much discussed topic, also on this blog. Here is an insight from Croatian courts: In a judgment issued on 2 September 2014 (VSRH Revt-321/2013-2), the Croatian Supreme Court [“Court”] set aside an arbitral award rendered by the Permanent Arbitration Court at the Croatian Chamber of…
Co-authored with Tsvetelina Georgieva, Dimitrov, Petrov & Co. The identification of the seat of arbitration is undisputedly one of the most important features of an arbitration clause, as it determines lex arbitri and, consequently, which courts will have supervisory jurisdiction over the arbitration. According to Bulgarian law, the choice of seat of arbitration may also predetermine the…
In my last post, I pointed out the inconsistencies of the Italian judicial system. Italy has a court system that is indisputedly overloaded (and, as a consequence, inefficient); yet the most obvious solution to this problem, International Arbitration, is rarely used by companies or private individuals to resolve their disputes. In my view this happens…
2015 was an eventful year in Hong Kong arbitration. The Hong-Kong based institutions shepherded through several reforms, the local courts issued several pro-arbitration decisions, and a long-awaited Law Reform Commission paper opened the door to third-party funding for arbitration. Third party funding for arbitration in Hong Kong Readers will be aware of the increasing popularity…
One of the peculiarities of the revised Russian Arbitration Laws of 29 December 2015 (“Laws“), entering into force on 1 September of this year, is an attempt to localize the on-shore settlement of corporate arbitral disputes involving domestic companies. Only an arbitration institution which has adopted, publicized online, and filed special rules for arbitration of…
In a highly unusual arbitral decision, the Cour Commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage (CCJA), the court created by the Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (the Organisation for the Harmonisation of Commercial Law in Africa) (OHADA) Treaty, signed by 17 African States, has ruled that an award should be set aside on…
In a recent long-anticipated move, the Emirate of Abu Dhabi has finally expanded its own arbitration offering by adding a further arbitration facility in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). More specifically, on 17 December 2015, the Board of Directors of the ADGM enacted the so-called ADGM Arbitration Regulations 2015, following an initial consultation process,…
Since 2011, Myanmar has seen a renewed effort at reforming its political, social and economic landscape. As part of the reforms, on 15 July 2013, Myanmar formally acceded to the New York Convention 1958. Myanmar had however not enacted local legislation or revised its archaic Arbitration Act of 1944 to give effect to its international…
Five years after the UK Supreme Court handed down its infamous decision in Dallah v. Pakistan, UK Supreme Court Justice Lorde Mance has shed new light on the ‘pathological’ case. To recall, the arbitral tribunal in the Dallah case faced a jurisdictional challenge which questioned whether the Government of Pakistan was a party to an…
The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 was passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on 17 December 2015 and on 23 December 2015 respectively and received the President’s assent on 31 December 2015. It was notified on 1 January 2016 and is deemed to have come into force on the 23 October 2015….
The 3rd Annual Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration, co-hosted by the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the Institute for Energy Law (IEL), and the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), took place on January 14-15, 2016, in Houston, Texas. Under the guidance of conference co-chairs C. Mark Baker (Norton…
We are pleased to announce the event “The EU and investment arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty” a conference organised by the Centre of European and International Legal Affairs (CEILA) and supported by the Energy Charter Secretariat. The event will take place in London on the 11th & 12th of February, hosted in the…
Introduction “Essentially what is at stake at this climate conference is peace”. Those were the words uttered by French President François Hollande to signify the importance of COP21 – the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) held in Paris to address climate change in December 2015. Indeed,…
Latvian courts annually enforce approximately 1000 arbitral awards. Just a few years ago this number was even higher – reaching 7000 requests in 2004 (statistics of the Court Information System available here) – since also consumer disputes could have been submitted to arbitration, as non-negotiated arbitration clauses were not presumed to be unfair and thus…
Investing internationally is all about taking risks. Risk-taking is essential to survive in today’s business world, where competitors, rivals, challengers, in all sectors of the economy, are growing like mushrooms. One needs to take risks to stand out from the rest. Foreign investors are at the center of our economies and appear as key actors…
The Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) makes it clear that an arbitration between an Indian and a foreign party can be governed by foreign law and can have a foreign seat. This is defined as ‘international commercial arbitration’ under the Act. However, whether two Indian parties can agree to a foreign seat for…
The legal consequences of a breach of a contract tainted by corruption are better understood through a hypothetical: Contractor A of country X enters into negotiations with B, the Minister of Economics and Development of country Y, with a view to concluding an agreement on a large infrastructure project (“the Contract”). B requests the payment…
