National Courts, New York Convention, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

Those applying treaties and interpreting them must remember two salient points: (1) as international adjudicators or as members of the judiciary they must apply a treaty not on the basis of discretionary powers and a judicial hunch but on the basis of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) and (2) lack of…

Achmea, Energy Charter Treaty, European Law, Intra-EU BITs, Intra-EU ISDS, Investment Arbitration, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(Colibra Insurance)/ /Leave a comment

The Cold War era brought to life, in a strange way, a number of all-encompassing treaties dealing with major subjects such as international treaty-making, diplomatic relations, law of seas, etc. Even among the topics covered by these treaties were enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and investment disputes. However, it seems like the world has already…

International Investment Arbitration, International Law, International tribunals, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment Treaties, ISDS, ISDS Reform, Transparency, Treaty, Treaty Interpretation, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(Australian National University) and (University of Vienna)/ /Leave a comment

The growing public interest in investment treaties and investor-State dispute settlement has prompted an increasing number of States to open to public view aspects of investment treaty negotiations. During the negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (‘TTIP’), for example, both the European Union and the United States sought to ‘maximise’ transparency in the…

International arbitration, International Law, International tribunals, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(Proxenia Legal)/ /Leave a comment

The Vienna Convention rules for treaty interpretation (VCLT) routinely referred to by all international courts and tribunals are known to be the result of a compromise between different schools of interpretation and therefore notoriously flexible, in my view too flexible for the purposes of modern-day international dispute resolution. Cases are therefore won and lost according…

ICSID Arbitration, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(Tribe Arbitration and St Mary's University)/ /2 Comments

It is well settled in the practice of ICSID tribunals that the general rule of treaty interpretation embodied in Article 31(1) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (“Vienna Convention”) applies to the interpretation of the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (“ICSID Convention”). While…

Decision Making, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

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

Legal Reasoning: Interpreting and Applying the Law1)Mary Mitsi, The Decision-Making Process of Investor-State Arbitration Tribunals (Kluwer 2019). When analysing the process of legal decision-making what might first come to mind is the dichotomy between the interpretation and the application of the law. These terms, in some circumstances, may be employed interchangeably due to the strong…

Decision Making, ICSID Arbitration, International Law, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

(Australian National University) and (Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) was adopted and opened for signature on May 23, 1969, and entered into force on January 27, 1980. In the fifty years since the VCLT was opened for signature, it has become universally regarded as one of the most important instruments of treaty law. It has…

Achmea, Arbitration, BIT, European Law, International arbitration, Intra-EU BITs, Intra-EU ISDS, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration, Sunset clauses

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 October 2019, the European Commission announced that the EU Member States have reached agreement on a plurilateral treaty for the termination of all ca. 190 intra-EU bilateral investment treaties (BITs). The agreement follows the political Declarations of the Member States issued in January this year in which they explained the consequences they are…

Africa, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law

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

Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) is facing significant opposition in its current form. Whilst some parties are engaged to find new common ground, others have unilaterally implemented measures aimed at ousting investor-state arbitration altogether. Over time, more and more attention has been paid to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and its…

Asian International Arbitration Journal

(The Arbitration Chambers) and (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The contents of this issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Eunice Chua, ‘Enforcement Of International Mediated Settlement Agreements In Asia: A Path Towards Convergence’ In 2014, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (‘UNCITRAL’) first considered a proposal for the development of a multilateral convention on the…

ICSID Amendments, Transparency in investment arbitrations, UNCITRAL Transparency Rules

(Trinity College Dublin, School of Law)/ /Leave a comment

The ICSID reform bells are ringing. ICSID has long been working on its latest rule amendment project, intent on modernising, simplifying and streamlining the ICSID rules also in light of ongoing criticisms of the investment arbitration system as a whole. From November 11-15, 2019, ICSID held what it hopes to be the final, or at…

Amparo, Colombia, Constitutional Court, International arbitration, International Public Policy, Tutela

(Talero Rueda & Asociados)/ /Leave a comment

In its recent decision T-354/2019, the Colombian Constitutional Court, through one of its chambers, declared that arbitration awards, issued in international arbitrations seated in Colombia, may be subject to constitutional challenges by means of the so-called acción de tutela.1)The acción de tutela is similar to the so-called recurso de amparo, a constitutional injunction widely known…

Journal of International Arbitration

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

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Kathrin Betz, Stéphane Bonifassi, Nadia Darwazeh & Mark Pieth, Navigating Through Corruption and Money Laundering in International Arbitration: A Toolkit for Arbitrators and Counsel Arbitral tribunals and counsel have to address corruption and…

Arbitration institution, Belt Road Initiative, Central Asia, Interview, Interviews with Our Editors, Technology, Uzbekistan

(Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School) and / /Leave a comment

Ms. Bayzakova, thank you for joining us on the Kluwer Arbitration Blog!  We are grateful to have the opportunity to learn more about the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC), one of the youngest arbitration institutions, having launched in November 2018, when the President of Uzbekistan signed the Resolution contemplating its establishment under the Chamber of…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, France, International arbitration

(Laborde Law)/ /Leave a comment

Under French law, the principle is that both a request to set aside an award and an appeal of a decision upholding enforcement (ordonnance d’exequatur) have no suspensive effect (Article 1526(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, ‘CCP’), so that an international arbitral award is immediately enforceable. However, as an exception, stay or adjustment of…

Canada, ISDS, Mexico, USA, USMCA

(Steptoe & Johnson LLP)/ /1 Comment
Young ICCA

Introduction The United States, Mexico, and Canada renegotiated the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 2018. As a result of these renegotiations, the parties agreed on new terms to formulate “NAFTA 2.0” or the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in the United States, the CUSMA in Canada and, the T-MEC in Mexico. The USMCA aims…

Gold Swap, International Commercial Arbitration, Oil & Gas, Sanctions, Syndicated Loans

/ /Leave a comment

Complex arbitration cases in financial transactions might arise within emerging markets involving gold swap transactions and syndicated loans for infrastructure projects. Gold Swaps allow central banks to receive cash from financial institutions in exchange for lending gold during a specific period of time.  On the other hand, syndicated loans provide funding for large-scale, capital-intensive infrastructure…

Arbitration, Guaidó, Recognition, United States Courts, Venezuela

(Università degli Studi di Trento)/ /Leave a comment

Interesting developments in disputes involving Venezuela and its national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) took place after Juan Guaidò, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, took the interim Presidency of the State in January 2019. Since then, he has adopted a series of measures and intervened in a series of proceedings involving…

Evidence, Expert evidence, Experts, Hearings, Technology

, , (StoneTurn)/ /Leave a comment

In today’s busy and increasingly digitized world, pictures are the new words. The average human attention span has grown shorter and become more selective. In every facet of society, from the consumer landscape to business meetings, visual storytelling has emerged as key to delivering captivating content that commands a person’s undivided attention. This trend can…

Advocacy, Social media, Technology, YSIAC Conference

(WongPartnership LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

For the first time, YSIAC Conference this year featured an ARBXTalk where the speaker was given 18 minutes to present a topic of his or her choice in an inspirational or thought-provoking way. Mr. Christopher Y. Chan, the General Counsel and Head of Government Affairs at Lazada Singapore, was the speaker at the inaugural event….

Arbitrators, Artificial Intelligence, Bias, Cognitive biases, YSIAC Conference

(Braddell Brothers LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Introduction Humans versus robots: the YSIAC debate held yesterday as part of YSIAC Conference 2019 sought to address the deep question of what it means for us to be human and the timely question of whether technology can and will, one day, surpass us. The moderator for the debate was Professor Nadja Alexander (Director, SIDRA)….

Advocacy, Dispute Resolution, Experts, SIAC, Singapore, YSIAC Conference

(Morrison & Foerster (Singapore) LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

The Young SIAC (“YSIAC“) Conference 2019 took place earlier today in Singapore, attracting young arbitration practitioners from all across the globe. The theme of the 2019 Conference was “Arbitration 2.0 – Navigating New Frontiers in International Dispute Resolution”, which explored the impact of various trends, technologies and innovations in international arbitration. Nonetheless, while trends may…

Arbitrability, Armenia, Central Asia, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal

(Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes )/ /Leave a comment

More than four years have passed since the Armenian Cassation Court—the highest court in Armenia—held in its EKD/1910/02/13 (2014) decision (“Cassation Court Decision”) that only state courts may exercise jurisdiction over the issue of contract invalidity (see previous post). To recall, the Cassation Court reasoned that civil rights could be protected through judicial, administrative or…

Arbitration, Belgium, CEPANI, Dispute Settlement, Expert evidence, Experts, UNCITRAL, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules

(Hanotiau & van den Berg) and (The Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation )/ /Leave a comment

Located in the heart of Brussels, Europe’s capital and home to international organisations such as NATO, CEPANI, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation, was founded on 25 September 1969. At that time, Belgium had just acceded to the Geneva Convention and was exploring ways to update its obsolete legal arbitration framework. Much has changed…