Arbitrators, EU Permanent Court, Investment, Investment agreements, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, Treaty

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Arbitration clause, Brazil, Company Law

(Lobo e Ibeas Advogados)/ /Leave a comment

and Rômulo Greff Mariani, Souto Correa Cesa Lummertz & Amaral Advogados The enforceability of arbitration clauses in the bylaws of companies set up under Brazilian law has long been a source of controversy. The topic is now in the spotlight with the notorious In Re Petrobras Securities Litigation, a class action filed before the US…

BIT, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

(Peking University School of Transnational Law)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Given the existence of thousands of international investment agreements, the international investment law regime has been described as “complex and confusing,” “highly fragmented,” and “characterised by overlaps and incoherence”. Two key developments, however, are contributing to the harmonization of that regime. First, a set of major agreements is being negotiated by many of the world’s…

Arbitral Award, DIFC, Dubai, Enforcement, Final Award, MENA, Middle East, New York Convention, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, UAE, Uncategorized, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

Attentive readers of this Blog will remember that the Court of Appeal of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) adopted a ruling in the latter half of last year confirming its status as a “host” or “intermediate” – or, in the Court’s own words, “conduit” – jurisdiction for the enforcement of domestic arbitration awards rendered…

Africa, Amicus Curiae, BIT, Canada, Investment Arbitration, Oil & Gas

(Allen & Overy LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In the past two years, Canada has signed BITs with nine African states: Benin (January 2013), United Republic of Tanzania (May 2013), Cameroon (March 2014), Nigeria (May 2014), Senegal (November 2014), Mali (November 2014), Cote d’Ivoire (November 2014), Burkina Faso (April 2015) and most recently Guinea (May 2015). The first eight of these treaties (the…

Asia-Pacific, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Singapore, Singapore International Commercial Court

(Mayer Brown LLP)/ /Leave a comment

and Paul Tan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Short answer: Yes for some actions, but not all. Here is why. The Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”) was launched in January 2015 and provides litigants with the benefits of court proceedings and international arbitration without the constraints and setbacks of either option. Thus far, murmurs of…

Arbitration clause, Dubai, Enforcement, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, UAE, Uncategorized

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/

Regular readers of this Blog will be aware of the DIFC Court’s adoption of Practice Direction No. 2 of 2015 on the Referral of Payment Judgment Disputes to Arbitration (“PD 2 of 2015”) earlier this year (for contemporaneous reporting see my previous blog). As the title of the Direction suggests, it essentially allows judgment creditors…

India, Interim Orders, Pakistan, Permanent Court of Arbitration, State-to-state arbitration, Treaty

(Clyde & Co. LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

International arbitration has been widely recognized as an efficient process for resolving State-to-State disputes. Factors such as procedural flexibility and party autonomy, which contribute to general appeal of international arbitration, play out to render arbitration as the preferable option for settlement of complex disputes between States. More importantly, however, the success and broader acceptance of…

HKIAC

(Norton Rose Fulbright LLP) and (Fangda Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction In Ever Judger Holding Co Ltd v Kroman Celik Sanayii Anonim Sirketi [2015] 3 HKC 246, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance (CFI) restrained a party from pursuing Turkish court proceedings in breach of an arbitration clause. This is reportedly the first time such an anti-suit injunction has been granted in Hong Kong to…

Applicable Law, Arbitration, Economic Sanctions, Sanctions

(AZHA Avocats)/ /Leave a comment

As mentioned in a prior entry (Brussels’ Sanctions Against Russia and Moscow’s Retaliatory Measures Through the Eyes of the Arbitrator), under certain conditions, arbitrators have the authority to give effect to economic sanctions that are external to the applicable law. These, just like exchange control regulations and antitrust laws, fit into the category of overriding…

Infra and Ultra Petita Challenges, Set aside an arbitral award, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /3 Comments
WilmerHale

In AKN v ALC [2015] SGCA 18, the Singapore Court of Appeal (“SGCA”) partially allowed a set of three appeals against a High Court decision to set aside a SIAC award. The result of this decision was to effectively allow the setting-aside, but under a more constrained reading of the grounds for challenge under the…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Portugal

(Arbitrator Intelligence)/ /5 Comments
Arbitrator Intelligence

Seemingly not a month goes by without a new arbitral institution springing up, from Turkey to Bulgaria, from Georgia to Jerusalem, and from Cambodia to Rwanda. Establishing a new arbitration center, however, is not simply a matter of finding office space or picking a name.  In fact, picking a name can barely even be considered…

Arbitration, Arbitration clause, Australia, Free Trade Agreements, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Transparency

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 June 2015, the Australian Productivity Commission released its eighteenth Trade and Assistance Review 2013-14. The Commission is an independent research and advisory body, with statutory authority to report annually on the economic impacts of Australia’s international trade policy. As readers of this blog may recall, in previous years the Commission’s Review has influenced…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Commercial Arbitration, Dispute Resolution, LCIA Arbitration

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /2 Comments
Herbert Smith Freehills

Two months ago I commenced a five-month secondment with the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), a change of scene from my usual post at Herbert Smith Freehills LLP in London where I am a New York-qualified associate working on both commercial and investment arbitration matters. While in many ways the secondment has so far…

Costs, Stay of Proceedings

(University of Aberdeen)/ /1 Comment

Non-payment of the share of an advance on costs in arbitration has consequences on an arbitration agreement, arbitration proceedings and a possibility for the parties to have recourse to courts. The consequences vary and they heavily depend on national laws, applicable arbitration rules, circumstances of the case and the relief sought. The complexity of these…

Arbitration, Third party funding

(Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law)/ /3 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Third-party funding is a controversial, dynamic, and evolving phenomenon in international arbitration. Proponents and opponents of third-party funding debate whether the practice will make a positive or negative impact on the worldwide system of dispute resolution. Both sides of the debate make predictions regarding the effect of third-party funders through the cases that they finance….

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, National Arbitration Laws, Russia

(Fangda Partners)/ /1 Comment

Introduction and background Vladivostok is often perceived as the ‘capital’ of Russia’s Far East. It is also often portrayed, however, as Moscow’s backward colonial outpost, with few cars on the streets and where the supermarkets’ half-empty shelves offer nothing but Bulgarian pickles and stale bread. This perception is misguided. Russia’s Far East encompasses 36% of…

Investment, Investment Arbitration

(Stylopoulos & Associates)/ /Leave a comment

A ruling issued on the 9th April 2015 by the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) rejected a case brought by a Slovak bank and its shareholders against the 2012 PSI bond ‘haircut’ in Greece via the activation of Collective Action Clauses (CACs) (the award is available here). Poštová banka (a Slovakian bank)…

Arab World, BIT, Middle East, New York Convention

(Covington & Burling LLP)/ /Leave a comment
ArbitralWomen

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. Arbitration in the Arab World is a hot topic these days. Over the past few decades the Arab World has become a region at the forefront…

Brazil, Uncategorized

(Atelier Juridico)/ /Leave a comment

On May 26, 2015, the law containing the amendments to the Brazilian Arbitration Act (BAA) was finally enacted (Law n. 13,129/2015), almost 20 years after the publication of the BAA. It will soon enter into force, on 27 July 2015. Though Law n. 13.129/15 amended certain provisions of the BAA and introduced some innovations, it…

International arbitration, Mediation, New York Convention, Uncategorized, UNCITRAL

(MDisputes)/ /Leave a comment

Vienna can be a confounding place for an outsider. In one moment, the city projects itself confidently into an innovative, international future and yet in the next moment can appear irrevocably bound to traditions. Being forward-minded in dispute resolution, Vienna is host this week to the IBA-VIAC International Mediation and Negotiation Competition, a four-day event…

Advocacy, Arbitration, Conference, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The 27th Annual Workshop of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (“ITA”), which took place on June 17-18 in Dallas, Texas, examined  “Subconscious Influences in International Arbitration”.  The Workshop was organized by co-chairs José Astigarraga of Astigarraga Davis (Miami), Professor Margaret Moses of Loyola University Chicago School of Law (Chicago) and Luke Sobota of Three Crowns…

Ecuador, Uncategorized

(Carmigniani Pérez Abogados)/ /Leave a comment

  On May 22, the new General Organic Code of Processes (GOCP) was enacted (Official Register Supplement N. 506). Excluding constitutional, electoral and criminal matters, the GOCP will regulate all judicial procedures in Ecuador. It is a long expected and generally very welcome reform in the Ecuadorian judicial system. It replaces an outdated spaghetti bowl…