The Brussels first instance court attracted significant attention in 2022 by deciding to set aside an UNCITRAL award regarding a claim brought against the Republic of Poland under the US-Poland bilateral investment treaty (“US-Poland BIT”).  This was the first time we had seen a Belgian court set aside an investment treaty award.  The first instance…

As investors increasingly look to diversify their investments whilst seeking higher returns, and emerging nations continue the push to industrialise, to develop their infrastructure and to grow their economies, the emerging economies have become a hotbed of activity for investors, developers, and legal professionals around the world. This post considers why all eyes seem to…

On 6 February 2024, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CiArb) European Branch/French Chapter held a seminar at the Paris office of Bird & Bird moderated by Jalal El Ahdab (Bird&Bird) and Alexandre Malan (Belot Malan & Associés) on a crucial topic: Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) issues and their impact on international arbitration. The panel discussion…

On 21 February 2024, the District Court of Amsterdam (“the court”) rendered a decision in summary proceedings. The key question that arose from this decision was: Can parties facing an unclear arbitration agreement ask the national courts to resolve their disputes instead? The issue of ambiguity surrounding arbitration agreements is not a novel phenomenon (see,…

The analysis of the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht – the “Court”) dated 3 June 2022 (1 BvR 2103/16) in the Pechstein case (the “Pechstein Decision”, also covered in a previous post) shows constitutional limits to arbitration agreements that are externally determined, i.e., agreements whose content can be de facto determined unilaterally by…

On March 14, 2024, the 3rd California International Arbitration Week featured an event titled ‘Resolving Tomorrow’s Conflicts Today: An In-House Perspective on Technology Disputes from the Tech Mecca,’ organized by California Arbitration and the California Lawyers Association and hosted at JAMS. The session, moderated by Hon. James Ware (Arbitrator/Mediator, JAMS), included speakers such as Barbara…

On March 14, 2024, as part of the 3rd Annual California International Arbitration Week, the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center (SVAMC) sponsored a roundtable discussion about the recently proposed SVAMC Guidelines on the Use of AI in Arbitration and the SVAMC AI Task Force’s efforts to build consensus and engagement among the global ADR…

This is the fourth post in ICCA’s series of reports on the ICCA 2024 Congress (“Congress”). It reports on the last day of the Congress on Wednesday, 8 May 2024, which looked at the present and into the future to determine how new technologies may shape the human experience in international arbitration.   International Arbitration:…

Previous posts have addressed advocacy techniques in arbitration (for example, see here, here, here, here, and here). This is not an attempt to summarize them, but rather to present the topic in a different light. As psychologists have long discovered, information that provides imagery and vividness has a greater impact on inferences and memory retention….

This is the third post in ICCA’s series of reports on the ICCA 2024 Congress (“Congress”), which took place in Hong Kong. This post reports on the events of Tuesday, 7 May 2024, the second full day of the Congress. As noted in the coverage of Day 1 of the Congress, the theme of this…

This is the second post in ICCA’s series of reports on the ICCA 2024 Congress (“Congress”), which took place in Hong Kong. This post reports on the events of Monday, 6 May 2024, the first full day of the Congress. As informed by ICCA President, Dr Stanimir Alexandrov, in the opening post to this series,…

The short answer to the title of this post is that while a few institutions have already begun to employ artificial intelligence (“AI”), most are in a wait-and-see-and-explore mode as they consider whether and how to make use of it. Most of the current institutional interest in AI is in areas that law and technology…

In February 2024, the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association (“IBA”) released a revised version of the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (the “2024 IBA Guidelines” or the “Revised Guidelines”). First published in 2004 (the “2004 IBA Guidelines”) and then revised in 2014 (the “2014 IBA Guidelines”) (collectively, the “IBA…

The Delhi Arbitration Week (“DAW”) 2024 that took place from 6 to 10 March 2024 featured two panel discussions that focused on emerging issues such as state owned entities (“SOEs”) and the role of technology in arbitration. The panel discussions came into play at a time when there have been significant developments and challenges globally…

The Delhi Arbitration Weekend (“DAW”) 2024 that took place from 6 to 10 March 2024 witnessed two back-to-back panels on Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”). These sessions deliberated on the past, present and future of ISDS from an Indian and global perspective. This post captures the discussions from the two ISDS panels at the DAW titled,…

The Delhi Arbitration Weekend (“DAW”) returned for its second edition from 6 to 10 March 2024. For the first time, the event received the patronage of the Supreme Court of India, with Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, serving as one of the keynote speakers and the Patron-in-Chief for the DAW. Other keynote speakers included Justice Judith…

ICCA is delighted to open its 26th biennial Congress in Hong Kong today. The Congress, taking place from 5 to 8 May 2024, consists of today’s opening ceremony, followed by three full days of engaging sessions for participants and speakers. For over 60 years, ICCA has been bringing the international arbitration community together to discuss…

The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of the following position with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor for South Asia. Experience and knowledge in international arbitration in, and related to, India is required, and broader expertise in international arbitration is a plus. The Assistant Editor reports directly to the coordinating Associate Editor and…

Since March 15, 2024, the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) offers a one-of-its kind solution to make third-party notices work also in arbitration: The Supplementary Rules for Third-Party Notices (DIS-TPNR). The DIS-TPNR are the work product of a DIS working group which was established in 2021. The authors of this post have had a leading role…

On 24 April 2024, the European Parliament voted for the EU to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”). Three days earlier, Ecuador had voted to keep the country’s constitutional ban on investor-state arbitration. These events mark the last chapters in the increasingly turbulent tale of investment treaties and investor-state arbitration. Over the past few…

In Carmichael Rail Network Pty Ltd v BBC Chartering Carriers GmbH & Co KG [2024] HCA 4 (“Carmichael v BBC”), the High Court of Australia (“High Court”) upheld a stay of proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia (“Federal Court”) in favour of a London Maritime Arbitrators Association (“LMAA”) arbitration seated in London. This unanimous…

The Institute of Transnational Arbitration (ITA), in collaboration with the ITA Board of Reporters, is happy to inform you that the latest ITA Arbitration Report was published: a free email subscription service available at KluwerArbitration.com delivering timely reports on awards, cases, legislation and current developments from over 60 countries and 12 institutions. To get your free subscription to the ITA…

The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of the following position with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor for East and Central Asia. Experience and knowledge in international arbitration in, and related to, Korea is required, and broader expertise in the regions is a plus. The Assistant Editor reports directly to the coordinating Associate…

In a recent judgment dated 14 March 2024, European Commission v UK Case C-516/22, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the UK failed to comply with its obligations under EU law (the “CJEU Judgment”). A casual reader may wonder how this could be. After all, the UK officially left the…