The Lahore High Court’s recent judgment in SpaceCom International, LLC v Wateen Telecom Ltd 2024 LHC 5494 (“SpaceCom”) is a landmark pronouncement that seeks to establish a balanced and principled interpretation of the New York Convention (“the Convention”). In brief, the Lahore High Court refused recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award on an…
With the increasing scarcity of resources on Earth, in particular the increasing demand for the raw materials that are needed for technologies to combat climate change, legal issues relating to the exploitation of the raw materials of the deep seabed are gaining importance. Even though the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea…
The Antrix-Devas saga continues to present twists and turns (see previous coverage on the Blog here, here and here). The latest is the recent decision of the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia (the “Full Court”) in Republic of India v. CCDM Holdings, LLC & Ors. [2025] FCAFC 2. This decision concerned the…
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…
First published in 1915, Arbitration now enters a new era, building on a rich legacy while looking towards the opportunities ahead. The upcoming arrival of Issue 91.1—the first issue for 2025—marks the first step into a new chapter, with Prof. S.I. Strong taking the helm as the journal’s new Editor-in-Chief. In her inaugural editorial, Prof….
Arbitration clauses in consumer contracts have recently become a flashpoint in legal debates, especially in California. A major development in this ongoing issue came with the California Supreme Court’s ruling in Berman v. Freedom Financial Network, 13 Cal. 5th 763 (Cal. 2024) (“Berman“), which challenges the enforceability of arbitration agreements that may be seen as…
On January 30, 2025, the Constitutional Court of Chile issued a decision regarding a request for inapplicability due to the unconstitutionality of certain provisions of Law No. 19,971 on International Commercial Arbitration (“Law No. 19,971” or “International Commercial Arbitration Law”).1)Case Nº 15.144-2024, “Requerimiento de inaplicabilidad por inconstitucionalidad respecto de la expresión ‘sólo’, contenida en los…
The highly anticipated English Arbitration Bill has received Royal Assent, with the Bill enacted as the Arbitration Act 2025 (“2025 Act”). The 2025 Act modernises and amends the Arbitration Act 1996 (“1996 Act”), with the substantive amendments coming into force through regulation(s) on a date to be announced. The 2025 Act provides welcome legal clarity…
On 16 January 2025, Advocate General Capeta (“AG Capeta”) rendered her opinion (the “Opinion”) in Case C-600/23 – Royal Football Club Seraing v. FIFA et al. (“RFC Seraing”). She purports to be building upon the 21 December 2023 decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in Case C-124/21 P, International Skating…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Philippa Webb, Immunities and States’ Alter Egos Comparing the approach to the alter ego doctrine in the United States (“US”) with approaches taken in the United Kingdom (“UK”), Canada, Switzerland and Australia reveals…
Reflecting the ever-evolving landscape of international commercial arbitration, the latest edition of the ICCA International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration covers significant legislative developments from Greece and Israel, both of which have enacted new laws modernizing and aligning domestic frameworks with international standards. Greece’s Embrace of the UNCITRAL Model Law Greece has recently made significant…
The latest 2024 arbitration rules of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (“CRCICA”) have been in force since 15 January 2024 (“2024 CRCICA Rules”). As discussed in a previous post, the amendments introduced by the 2024 CRCICA Rules greatly promote CRCICA’s desirability as one of the leading arbitration institutions in the Middle East…
The freezing injunction, famously referred to as one of the law’s “nuclear weapons,” is a remedy developed for the purposes of preventing a judgment debtor (or potential judgment debtor) from unjustly dissipating their assets so as to prevent the judgment made against them from being enforced. This post explores how post-award freezing injunctions can be…
For decades, Italy was one of the very few countries in the world that prohibited arbitrators from granting interim relief. The situation changed in 2022 with the so-called “Cartabia” Reform, named after Professor Marta Cartabia, Italy’s Minister of Justice at the time and former president of the Constitutional Court (see also discussion here). Thanks to…
The Qatar International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (“QICCA”) has introduced updated rules (“the 2024 Rules”), which were adopted by the Board of Directors on 15 September 2024, effective 1 January 2025. These amendments address multi-party and multi-contract cases, third-party funding disclosure, expedited and emergency proceedings, technological advancements, fee structures, and enhanced procedural efficiency. This…
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…
Many arbitration practitioners nowadays trace their initial interest in arbitration back to their student days, when they competed at the world’s largest and most renowned law student competition in the field of arbitration – the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot. Created in 1993 by Prof. Dr. Eric E. Bergsten, the Vis Moot fosters…
On 16 January 2025, Advocate General Capeta (“AG”) issued her opinion in a dispute concerning third party ownership (“TPO”) rules between Belgian football club RFC Seraing and the International Federation of Association Football (“FIFA”). Pending the CJEU’s highly anticipated judgment in this case, this post seeks to give some insights into the scope and potential…
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…
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…
