The Swiss Arbitration Summit is back! Following the resounding success from its first edition in Geneva last year, the second edition of the Summit is scheduled to take place this year in Zurich from January 29, 2025 to February 2, 2025. The Summit is more than just a conference. It is an immersive experience that…
Welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog and our “Interviews with our Editors” series, Ms. Falconer! 1. Could you please briefly introduce yourself and share with our readers how your legal journey brought you to the field of international arbitration? Yes, of course! My name is Caroline Falconer, Secretary General (“SG”) of the SCC Arbitration…
2024 has been another fruitful year for arbitration developments in the British Isles. As part of the 2024 Year in Review series, this post considers the key judicial, legislative and institutional developments in England and Wales in the past year, as well as highlights from Ireland’s arbitration landscape. Judicial Developments in England and Wales…
On September 15, 2024, the former President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, enacted a law that profoundly modifies the Mexican judicial system at both the federal and local level. This law aims to transform the Mexican juridical system to promote accessibility, transparency, democracy, and efficiency. A significant change is the election of justices and…
The Patel Engineering Limited (“PEL”) v the Republic of Mozambique tribunal, constituted under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, dealt with pre-investment expenditures and whether such expenditures constitute a protected investment. Investors frequently make expenditures in the preparatory phase of an investment, such as environmental impact assessments, scientific surveys, or financial advice. When are these expenditures considered…
After concluding the first day of the 22nd ICC Miami Conference with a dinner and a fun party that kept the attendees dancing until late at night, the conference promptly resumed the next morning. Day 2 (December 3, 2024) featured an exciting lineup of discussions on various topics, including the ICC’s own Terms of Reference…
On December 2 and 3, 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) hosted the 22nd ICC Miami Conference on International Arbitration, which brought together over 800 participants from all over the world to discuss critical developments in international arbitration in Latin America, making it the largest ICC conference ever held. Honoring its title “Revisiting the…
In 2024, the relationship between arbitration and technology continued to resemble a thriller. While integrating technology into arbitration offered the promise of new opportunities, it also introduced new layers of complexity, both in terms of procedure and in terms of disputes arising from technology itself. Arbitration-Related Technology Arbitration-related technology is ever-developing, as are the…
Following the Blog’s tradition of “year-in-review” series, this post reflects on the key arbitration developments in the Netherlands in 2024. What emerges from this review is the Netherlands’ strong arbitration-friendly culture, notably reflected in the release of the 2024 Netherlands Arbitration Institute (“NAI”) Arbitration Rules and a pro-arbitration stance in court decisions. However, a notable…
On October 18, 2024, the Santiago Court of Appeals rejected a petition seeking the annulment of an international arbitration award, once again providing strong arguments in favor of the validity of international commercial awards (Case No. 12506-2022). In the twenty years since the enactment of the International Commercial Arbitration Law (ICAL) No. 19971, no international…
The year 2024 witnessed notable advancements in the Southeast Asian arbitration and dispute resolution landscape. Key developments included legislative reforms, initiatives to strengthen arbitration and legal frameworks, and landmark judicial decisions. Here’s a closer look at last year’s highlights. Significant Advancements in Dispute Resolution Frameworks Southeast Asian countries launched modernised arbitration laws and innovative…
On 13 September 2024, the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, “BVG” or “the Court”) published two judgments dated 23 July 2024 (available here and here, both in German), accompanied by a press release (here), rejecting as inadmissible two constitutional complaints brought by the claimant in the Eureko (later Achmea) v Slovakia (1) arbitration (“BVG Judgments”). While other commentators…
Emergency arbitration (“EA”) was initially introduced as a procedural tool on an opt-out basis in arbitrations under the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Rules. In 2010, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) became the first institution based in Asia to introduce EA provisions in its arbitral rules. This has since been followed by…
On 4 September 2024, Delos hosted the “Delos GAP Symposium 2024” at the Paris Arbitration Centre by Delos. The topic of this year’s symposium was “Corruption & International Arbitration”. After opening remarks by Mr Thomas Granier (Anima Dispute Resolution) and Mr Hafez Virjee (Delos; Virjee Arbitration), the symposium was kicked-off with a panel discussion on…
The third updated edition of the “Report on compliance with investment treaty awards by States” (the “2024 Report”) was released in November 2024. The Report was conducted in the summer of 2024 by the present author (see for coverage of the 2023 version of the report here and here). In light of the termination of intra-EU international…
Earlier this year, the Bombay High Court in Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. v. Shilpi Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (“Balmer Lawrie Decision”) reviewed an application to stay the enforcement of an arbitral award for payment of money (“Money Award”). The award debtor (“Applicant”) had already provided a 100% bank guarantee for the Money Award amount (plus…
The EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (“SIFA” or the “Agreement”) aims at facilitating sustainable investments. Contrary to traditional investment treaties, it does not include substantive protection standards nor investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms. Rather, it seeks to enhance the regulatory landscape of the Parties to make it more investor-friendly. In this post, I wish to focus…
The modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), which essentially started in 2018, resulted in an agreement in principle (“AIP”) on modernising the ECT in June 2022. The modernised ECT should have been adopted by the Energy Charter Conference (“Conference”) in November 2022. However, it was not adopted until 3 December 2024 due to a…
Argentina’s new administration is aiming to attract foreign capital to boost the economy of the country with a new liberal and investor-friendly regime. On July 8, 2024, the Argentinean Congress approved the law No. 27,742 titled “Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentine People” (the “Law”). As discussed in prior posts, this is…
In the recent Indian Supreme Court (“SC”) case of Rohan Builders v. Berger Paints India, the default rule requiring termination of the arbitral mandate under section 29A(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”) was held not to be strictly interpreted. Section 29A(4) of the Arbitration Act provides that if the award is…
The release of the judgment in UniCredit Bank GmbH v RusChemAlliance [2024] UKSC 30, on 18 September 2024, concluded the most recent in a handful of applications for anti-suit injunctions brought by banks against RusChemAlliance (“RusChem”). The decision demonstrates the willingness of the English courts to support international arbitration proceedings, even if the seat of…
At Kluwer Arbitration Blog, December is the month to thank our readers and collaborators for their readership, contributions, and support. This is also the occasion to praise our excellent editors. In January 2025, Kluwer Arbitration Blog celebrates 16 years of existence. The Editorial Board of Blog expanded from two to over forty members, showcasing the…
In October 2024, the Indian Department of Legal Affairs unveiled the highly anticipated Indian Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (“Bill”), inviting comments and feedback on the proposed amendments. While the Bill addresses important aspects, including the formal recognition of emergency arbitration and a clarification of the longstanding ambiguity around the “venue” of an arbitration,…
Since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022, the ‘end of lawyers’ narrative has found new life. From Goldman Sachs predicting that 44% of tasks performed by corporate lawyers would be automated by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) to GPT-4 passing the bar, AI has put the legal profession on notice. Even the infamous case of a lawyer who…
