There appears to be a gradual shift in international arbitration, towards an assumption that parties to an arbitration agreement who are seeking interim relief will look first to the tribunal, rather than to the national courts. This is seen in recent iterations of the institutional rules, such as the 2012 ICC Rules, the 2014 LCIA…
This article discusses the successful challenge of a unanimous arbitral award on the grounds that the arbitral tribunal was improperly constituted due to the bias of one of the three arbitrators. The challenge was successful before the Higher Regional Court of Munich (Decision of Feb. 2nd 2014, Case 34 Sch 7/13). The German Supreme Court,…
Dear Readers, you may have noticed the dearth of recent posts, for which we make no excuses. It is late summer for the northern hemisphere contributors. At this point, most of us are lingering poolside at the Kluwer International Arbitration Resort and Amusement Park, sipping procedural cocktails in the waning light as the children take…
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 law firm. Taiwan is not a signatory to the New York Convention owning to its subtle status. To enforce a mainland China’s award or civil judgment in Taiwan,…
The Dissenting Opinion of Georges Abi-Saab to the Decision on Jurisdiction and Merits of September 3, 2013 in the case ConocoPhillips, Petrozuata B.V., ConocoPhillips Hamaca B.V. and ConocoPhillips Gulf of Paria B.V. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB/07/30 (hereinafter the “Dissenting Opinion”), raises the issue of whether there is a duty to…
In the recent case Integral Petroleum SA v Melars Group Ltd [2015] EWHC 1893 (Comm) arbitrator Mr W Laurence Craig was asked to decide a dispute involving three companies: Integral Petroleum SA (“Integral” or “Claimant”), Melars Group Ltd (“Melars” or “Respondent”) and Dartex Trade Ltd (“Dartex”). By a contract signed on 14 December 2011 (the “December…
In 2013 the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced in his annual message to the Council of the Federation: “I would like to attract your attention to one more problem – the mechanisms of commercial dispute resolution are still not as good as the global practice is, and it is necessary to raise…
The Odyssey is one of the most famous epic poems of the classic era. Attributed to Homer, it describes the journey of Odysseus from Troy to Ithaca, his homeland. It took the hero about ten years to complete his journey. This history is full of unexpected events, sudden changes and new obstacles that Odysseus must…
On 15 July 2015, the Supreme People’s Court (the “SPC”) of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) issued its long-awaited notice addressing issues relating to the validity of arbitration agreements and the enforceability of arbitral awards involving China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) and its former South China and Shanghai sub-commissions. The…
In a recent ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance (CFI 043/2014 – DNB Bank ASA v. (1) Gulf Eyadah Corporation (2) Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC, ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 2nd July 2015), H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, drew…
The phenomenon of “price review” and “price reopener” disputes – whereby a party seeks to adjust the pricing basis under an existing long term gas sales contract – has for a number of years been the subject of lively discussion in energy and arbitration circles. As participants at the GAR Live Energy Disputes event (held…
On of the most important developments this year in Latin America is the Chilean Act N°20.848, which sets forth a new framework for foreign investment in Chile (hereinafter, the “ New Foreign Investment Act” or the “Act”), replacing the regime contained in the Decree Law N°600 of 1974 (hereinafter, the “DL 600”). According to the…
Summary In the three years since the 2012 declaration of independence by CIETAC’s former Shanghai and Shenzhen sub-commissions, affected parties have faced an uncertain and unpredictable arbitration process in Mainland China. In a recent judicial interpretation (the Reply), however, the PRC Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has clarified the jurisdictional uncertainties caused by the split. Background…
At the CIARB’s London centenary conference earlier this month, the Honourable Chief Justice of Singapore, Sundaresh Menon, cautioned that: “we should remain mindful that there is no place for complacency or reason to assume that [the] international system of dispute resolution which so many have invested so much in, will continue on its recent trajectory…
On 5 November 2014, the French Cour de Cassation, overruled a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal for having reversed the burden of proof in a case involving a non-participating party. With this victory before the French Supreme Court, Yukos Capital (“Yukos”) is one step closer to the enforcement of an arbitral award against…
On 21 May 2015, the CJEU rendered a landmark decision regarding questions of jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regulation (recast as Regulation 1215/2012, previously Regulation 44/2001) in the case of cartel damage proceedings. We may be grappling with this decision for a long time albeit it does not explicitly address arbitration. The CJEU’s judgment brings…
On July 22, 2015, the transcripts and the audio recordings of the conversations between Dr. Jernej Sekolec, one of the arbitrators in the arbitration regarding the territorial and maritime dispute between the Republic of Croatia (“Croatia”) and the Republic of Slovenia (“Slovenia”), and Ms. Simona Drenik, one of the Slovenian representatives in the proceedings, became…
The Indian Government (‘Government’) plans to revamp the country’s arbitration landscape and is considering amendments to its arbitration legislation. If the Government is keen on transforming India into a global arbitration hub, it could draw from the experience of Hong Kong, which is a successful model for arbitration in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the gazettal…
On June 8, 2015, Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv (“Pecherskyi Court”) upheld an application lodged by JKX Oil & Gas plc, Poltava Gas B.V. and JV Poltava Petroleum Company (“JKX Companies”) to enforce an emergency arbitrator award rendered under the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“SCC Rules”) against…
By an order of late last year (ARB 002/2014 – A v. B, Order of Justice Sir David Steel of 16 December 2014), Justice Sir David Steel dismissed an application by an award debtor seeking a number of orders to avoid the recognition and enforcement of an award rendered by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre…
Introduction The question of arbitrability of corporate and public procurement disputes is a topic constantly evolving due to new cutting-edge precedents. Ukraine does not constitute an exception, and continues to develop its jurisprudence. Despite being far from corporate in its nature, the recent dispute between reputable Austrian company (VAMED Engineering GmbH & CO KG) and…
On the 24th of June, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (‘UNCTAD’) launched its 2015 World Investment Report. The Report, titled “Reforming International Investment Governance”, is the 25th in the yearly series from the UN body. As for previous years, the 2015 Report provides a statistical summary of the prior year’s foreign direct…
By Order of 5 January 2014 (see Case ARB 001/2014 – (1) X1 (2) X2 v. (1) Y, Order of the Dubai Court of First Instance), H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, dismissed an application by an award debtor for an order referring a purported conflict…
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and should not be regarded as representative of, or binding upon ArbitralWomen. On 2 June 2015, the French Minister of Foreign Trade, Matthias Fekl, submitted to the European Commission a proposal regarding the Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism included in the project for…
