Dubai Courts’ reversal on recoverability of legal fees in arbitration under the ICC rules Earlier this year, the Dubai Court of Cassation (“DCC”) issued a judgment (“DCC Judgment 1”) setting aside an arbitral award issued under the ICC Rules of Arbitration 2021 (“ICC Rules 2021”) in part, concerning the recovery of legal fees of a…
Is there a statute of limitations applicable in France to requests for enforcement of foreign arbitral awards? On 10 December 2024, the Versailles Court of Appeal (the “Court”) responded in the affirmative and ruled that a request was time barred for having been filed more than 5 years after the issuance of the award (Case…
In SpaceCom v Wateen Telecom, SpaceCom applied to the Lahore High Court (the “LHC”) for recognition and enforcement of awards rendered by a DIFC-LCIA tribunal (the “Tribunal”) under the Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitral Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Act, 2011 (the “Act”), which implements the New York Convention (the “NYC”). The awards were rendered in…
Investment tribunals are well-known to examine the abuse of rights doctrine in various contexts, including illegitimate corporate restructuring (Phillip Morris v Australia, para. 588; Lao Holdings v Laos I, para. 70; Alverley v Romania, para. 380), bad faith conduct (Phoenix v Czech Republic, paras.143-44; WCV World Capital Ventures Cyprus Ltd v Czech Republic, paras. 477-478),…
A five-judge Bench (“Constitution Bench”) of the Supreme Court of India (“SC”) recently delivered a landmark judgment in Central Organisation for Railway Electrification v. ECI-SPIC-SMO-MCML (JV) (“CORE-II”), on the validity of unilateral appointment clauses. The SC held that such clauses cast justifiable doubts on the independence and impartiality of arbitral tribunals. The judgment addresses various…
Can a party refuse to participate in an arbitration, and thereafter challenge the arbitral award on the ground that the arbitrator failed to consider a point which was not put in issue? The Singapore Court of Appeal (“CA”) in DEM v DEL [2025] SGCA 1 (“DEM”) decided in the negative on this novel point of…
The famous saga Sultan de Sulu is coming to an end in France with the French Cour de cassation (Cass. Civ. 1re 6 November 2024, hereinafter the “Ruling”) upholding the Paris Court of Appeal’s decision to refuse the enforcement of the preliminary award whereby the sole arbitrator affirmed his jurisdiction and determined the seat of…
Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) has gone through significant changes over the years. Before arbitration became the principal mechanism for resolving investment disputes, options of foreign investors were limited to either initiating proceedings before national courts or relying on diplomatic protection. The dissatisfaction with both options, for reasons of a perceived lack of neutrality and sufficient…
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 subject of unilateral appointment of arbitrators arising from the Supreme Court of India’s (“Court”) three-judge bench decision in Central Organization for Railway Electrification v. ECI SPIC SMO MCML (JV) (“CORE I”), which held that one party’s power to unilaterally appoint an arbitrator was counterbalanced by a choice provided to the counter party to choose…
The new bilateral investment treaty (“BIT”) between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) entered into force on 31 August 2024 (replacing an earlier 2013 treaty between the two nations). Aside from generating optimism for future trade, it heralds good news in relation to concerns around enforcing investor-State awards in India—at least for this BIT….
Dating apps are now a central part of many people’s lives. Yet many users perhaps overlook that use of this kind of app usually comes with an arbitration agreement. Almost all major dating apps—including Bumble, eHarmony, Grindr, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, Plenty of Fish, and Tinder— incorporate broad arbitration clauses in their terms of service (“TOS”)….
Another trip around the Sun has brought a wealth of notable developments. Courts across Canada have addressed a multitude of issues, including challenges to arbitrators due to reasonable apprehension of bias (as previously discussed on this blog) or due to excess of jurisdiction (see commentary here), the distinctions between “awards” and other “decisions”, as well…
2024 marked a period of several significant developments and witnessed some “firsts” for the African arbitration community. Notwithstanding the constantly changing political climate and policies in different countries across the continent, the continued growth of arbitration in Africa remains relentless with exciting events and collaborations as well as judicial, legislative and institutional developments. These events…
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) is witnessing a significant surge in construction activity, from leading giga projects (such as NEOM and the Red Sea Project) to being selected as the host of the FIFA World Cup 2034 and Expo 2030. The KSA is now at the forefront of the region in this industry and…
Service of documents against States raises the usual question of its validity or effectiveness with a particular acuity. Whilst the parties willing to communicate electronically may accommodate communication procedures accordingly, when it comes to service of documents against sovereigns, the electronic mode, due to its derogatory nature, must be duly agreed upon by States and…
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…
The 2024 volume of the Yearbook Commercial Arbitration is now available in print, as well as online on the KluwerArbitration database. It contains 120 court decisions that apply the 1958 New York Convention, the 1961 European Convention, the 1965 Washington (ICSID) Convention, and the 1975 Panama (Inter-American) Convention, or address issues of general interest to the practice of…
In recent years, arbitration in India has continued to take significant strides – as covered in our previous posts here, here and here. In this post, we look back on the important developments in the Indian arbitration legislation and landscape over the last two years, and discuss the key takeaways looking ahead. Proposed Statutory Amendments…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Zongyao (Eric) Li, Revisiting the Arbitrability of Corporate Disputes: Proposing a Unified Approach The concept of arbitrability is dynamic, and its applicability to corporate disputes – such as shareholder disputes – can vary…
2024 proved to be a pivotal year for the development of arbitration in Pakistan, driven by the government’s concerted efforts to reform Pakistan’s arbitration framework. Legislative developments therefore took the centre stage. Key developments also included important judicial decisions under the existing regime. Legislative Reform The most significant development was the unveiling of the…
In the case of Parkdenton Ltd v Euro General Retail Ltd t/a EuroGiant [2024] IEHC 387 (Nolan J) a set aside application pursuant to two of the four grounds as per Article 34 of the UNCITRAL Model Law was rejected by the High Court. The application sought to set aside an arbitration award on the…
In the United States, 2024 brought a collection of refinements in the country’s arbitration jurisprudence, with courts issuing decisions that reinforced federal pro-arbitration policies and clarified important procedural issues for investment and commercial arbitration. Below, we explore four pivotal cases that shaped the arbitration landscape this year—first from the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and then…
As part of the 2024 Year in Review series, this post highlights the most significant arbitration-related decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (“SFSC”) in 2024. The 2024 decisions provide welcome (and, in some case, vividly debated) clarifications on the issues of the tribunal’s jurisdiction, the arbitrator’s impartiality, the remedy of revision and the enforcement…
