During its most active years, between 1982 and 1994, the nine members of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal (at all times 3 from Iran, 3 from the US, and three “neutral” arbitrators) ruled on hundreds of disputes, sometimes involving particularly fraught points of international law, all this while applying and interpreting the UNCITRAL Rules of arbitration…
On April 12, 2019, the Republic of Djibouti (“Djibouti”) signed the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (“ICSID Convention” or “Convention”). To date, the Convention has been signed by 163 countries and ratified by 154 countries. Why is Djibouti signing the ICSID Convention at a time when…
Introduction Unlike other pillars of arbitration like recognition-enforcement of foreign awards and independence-impartiality of arbitrators, the Kompetenz-Kompetenz rule is far from a universal standard. Each jurisdiction has a particular rule, with clear distinctions between the approaches adopted, for example, by the US, the UK, France, Switzerland and China.1)For a comprehensive comparison of these legal systems,…
What drew you to the world of International Arbitration? Before moving to the United States, I practiced law in Croatia where I gained litigation experience, among other. I love the dispute resolution aspect of legal work, and especially that of advocating for clients before a court or tribunal. During my Bluebook traineeship at the Legal…
As the recent launch of the Prague Rules and the discussions at the Paris Arbitration Week 2019 and London International Disputes Week 2019 have shown, discussions around time and cost efficiency in arbitration remain a key concern of users and the arbitration community. This article accordingly reports on the launch event held by Delos Dispute…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: ARTICLES Klaus Peter Berger: Common Law v. Civil Law in International Arbitration – The Beginning or the End? The presentation of the Prague Rules on the Efficient Conduct of Proceedings in International Arbitration…
Introduction On 9 December 2018, the UAE adopted Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2018, which entered into force on 16 February 2019 (the “Cabinet Resolution“). The Cabinet Resolution introduces significant amendments to the UAE Civil Procedure Code (Federal Law No. 11 of 1992), which considerably enhance a wide array of procedures before the UAE onshore…
On March 19, 2019, an ICC tribunal seated in Paris and comprised of Claus von Wobeser (chairman), Francesca Mazza, and Horacio Grigera Naón, issued a procedural order staying the arbitration proceedings between Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (“PDVSA” for its acronym in Spanish, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company) and Petróleos Paraguayos (“PETROPAR” for its acronym in…
Arbitral tribunals have, in various instances, allowed parties to rely on documents obtained illegally as evidence. Practically, however, such documents are of a privileged character, e.g. emails exchanged between attorneys and clients, any information related to a set of confidential proceedings or communications between a psychotherapist and a patient. Privileged documents deserve higher legal protection…
Introduction On 8 May 2019, the Arbitration Amendment Act 2019 (the Amendment Act) came into force. It amends the Arbitration Act 1996 and is a much watered-down version of the original proposal. The Amendment Act makes three changes: (i) the insertion of a new waiver sub-clause in Article 16 of Schedule 1 of the Arbitration Act (which…
The CERSA (CNRS, University Paris II Panthéon-Assas) organized its fourth event in a series of seminars on selected topics in international investment law and ISDS. On 28 March 2019, a distinguished panel of practitioners and academics gathered in Paris to exchange views on ‘Environmental Considerations in Investment Arbitration’. The discussion was moderated by Catharine Titi…
The following article is the result of a collective project, carried out by one of the groups of the Young ICCA Mentoring Programme, comprised of Juan Pablo Valdivia Pizarro, Andreea I. Nica and Maria Teder, as Mentees, Vladimir Khvalei, as Mentor, and Laurence Ponty, as Buddy. With the benefit of Vladimir Khvalei being one of…
Introduction: the Arbitration Amendment Act 2019 Arbitration law reform is often portrayed in terms of relentless progress towards enlightenment: towards greater party autonomy, increased efficiency, reduced judicial interference, and more certain enforcement. In important areas of arbitral law and practice, that is an accurate narrative: the acceptance of the principles of Kompetenz-Kompetenz and separability, for…
A Mareva injunction or a freezing injunction is a form of ad personam interim relief, which is usually sought during the pendency of court or arbitration proceedings or once the proceedings are completed and a verdict is rendered, but before the judgement/award is enforced and executed. This form of injunction is essentially sought by a…
Introduction Nearly 20 years after the enactment of the Swedish Arbitration Act of 1999, a revised version of the Swedish Arbitration Act entered into force on March 1st, 2019.1) See also here (reporting on the background and process of revising the Swedish Arbitration Act). As addressed below, this update enacts improvements to Sweden’s former arbitration law,…
The session on Energy Disputes of the LIDW 2019, hosted by Latham & Watkins and chaired by Sophie Lamb QC and Philip Clifford QC, took place on 9 May 2019 at Painters’ Hall. The session was divided into two panels. The first panel, titled ‘A commercial landscape in transition – lessons from the past as…
This post aims at highlighting an inconsistency in the law of the European Union (“EU”) in regards to the comparison of the treatment of Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BITs”) and Double Taxation Treaties (“DTTs”) concluded between EU Member States. The inconsistency lies in the diametrically different approaches adopted by EU law and its institutions (“EU Institutions”)…
The Finnish Minister of Justice announced at the end of January this year that the revision process of the 1992 Finnish Arbitration Act would be launched during the current government term. Finnish business and arbitration communities greatly welcomed the statement, as it mirrors their long-time efforts towards this goal. The Ministry of Justice has begun…
The second edition of the Jeantet “Arbitrating in CEE and CIS” roundtable was held during the Paris Arbitration Week on Thursday 4 April 2019 at the Jeantet offices. The topic of this year’s edition was “Transparency, Accountability and Choice of Arbitrators”. An increasing demand of international arbitration users for more transparency, predictability of decisions and…
“Whatever the nature of the transaction, in international business there is one prime question fundamental to the validity, interpretation, effectiveness and enforceability of the contract: what law governs?” – Professor Julian Lew QC, Preface, Rethinking Choice of Law in Cross-Border Sales, Gustavo Moser (Eleven International Publishing, 2018). On 15 April 2019, a sunny Monday in…
“Developing arbitration into a matured system of adjudication that can fully compete with litigation may create tension with its promise of providing a quick, fair, and flexible way to resolve a dispute. … Some years ago, Johnny Veeder posed the question, “whose arbitration is this anyway?” Perhaps the time has now come for the arbitration…
Introduction This post explores whether a Tribunal may refer to an annulled arbitral award in support of its factual findings or legal assessments. Although a simple reference to annulled awards lies outside the context of any obligation for the Tribunal in terms of res judicata and stare decisis, this quest is aligned with annulled awards’…
Introduction The Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) is a financial free zone in the United Arab Emirates. Foreign parties are attracted to the ADGM for a number of reasons, including its direct application of English common law, the ability to use English language to conduct proceedings in the ADGM Courts, and its enhanced adoption of…
Brumadinho Dam’s Rupture1)The dam collapse happened on 25 January 2019.. On the first day, the fire department, responsible for the rescues, estimated that the number of victims was about 200. Ten days after the disaster, the death toll was confirmed to be 134, while 199 were still missing. Trigger Warning: At this link one can…
