Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Chinese Arbitration Law

, , (King & Wood Mallesons)/ /Leave a comment

As the revision of the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC Arbitration Law”) progresses, ad hoc arbitration is gaining more attention in China. This Blog has previously discussed whether ad hoc arbitration will truly take root in the country (see The turn to fact or fiction: ad hoc arbitration in the draft…

Costs, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Galadari Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Enforcement, France, Limitation period, Reform

(Pinsent Masons)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Arbitration, Enforcement, New York Convention

(Advocate of the High Courts, Pakistan)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Abuse of Rights, Abusive Claims, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment Treaties, ISDS

, (Carleton University, Department of Law and Legal Studies)/ /Leave a comment

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),…

Appointment of arbitrators, India

(JSA, Advocates & Solicitors) and / /Leave a comment

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…

Breach of natural justice, Fair hearing, Infra petita, Non-participating party, Proper notice, Set aside an arbitral award, Singapore, Singapore Court of Appeal, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

(HFW Singapore LLP) and (WongPartnership LLP)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Enforcement, Enforcement of arbitration agreement, French Supreme Court, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Paris Court of Appeal, Pathological arbitration agreement

(Université Paris Cité)/ /Leave a comment

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…

ISDS, ISDS Reform, Multilateral Investment Court, selection of arbitrators, Working Group III

(Humboldt University of Berlin) and (S. Horowitz & Co.)/ /Leave a comment

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…

ITA Arbitration Report

(Notre Dame Law School), (Stockholm University), and / /Leave a comment

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…

Appointment of arbitrators, India

, (Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co)/ /Leave a comment

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…

BIT, Enforcement, India

, (Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas)/ /Leave a comment

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….

Arbitrability, Australia, Class arbitration, Consumer contracts, Privacy, Technology, United States

, (Peter & Kim)/ /1 Comment

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”)….

2024 in Review, Canada, Disclosure, Impartiality, State Immunity

(Woods LLP)/ /Leave a comment

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 in Review, AfCFTA, Africa, Arbitral seat

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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…

Construction arbitration, RIDW, Saudi Arabia, Shari‘a

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

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…

Arbitration Procedure, Enforcement, Paris Court of Appeal, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(University Paris-Est Créteil)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Kluwer Arbitration Blog

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Yearbook Commercial Arbitration

(General Editor, ICCA Publications; Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

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…

2024 in Review, India

(Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas ), (Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge), and (International Arbitration Trainee)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Journal of International Arbitration

(ArbBoutique & 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:   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 in Review, Pakistan

(Sultan Al-Abdulla & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Annulment, Challenge of Arbitral Award, Ireland, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Bar of Ireland)/ /Leave a comment

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…

2024 in Review, Arbitration, United States Courts

(Freshfields US LLP) and / /Leave a comment

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…