On 4 June 2025, Gatehouse Chambers and Elkinson, in collaboration with Clyde & Co, hosted a panel discussion examining the rare yet intricate phenomenon of dissenting opinions in arbitral proceedings. Convened in accordance with the Chatham House Rules and moderated by Frederico Singarajah (Gatehouse Chambers), the session brought together a distinguished panel comprising Jeffrey Elkinson…
Large language models (“LLMs”) are increasingly reshaping legal work. According to the 2024 Wolters Kluwer Future Ready Lawyer Survey Report, 76% of in-house legal departments and 68% of law firms now use artificial intelligence (“AI”)–powered tools at least once a week. In arbitration, AI has an emerging role in various stages of the process—from dispute…
Following its resounding success last year, the Arbitral Institutions Congress made a comeback, featuring on day 3 of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) 2025. The event comprised of representatives from several global arbitral institutions as well as regional arbitral institutions and was held in the historic Queen’s Room at Middle Temple. The event was…
London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) 2025 commenced with International Arbitration Day on 2 June 2025. The opening event, hosted by Linklaters LLP, featured a keynote address by Kevin Nash, Director General of the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”), followed by a panel of in-house counsel discussing best practices and jurisdictional insights in international arbitration,…
Introduction Procedural fairness is a fundamental principle in international commercial arbitration, which ensures that parties have a fair opportunity to present their case. The 1958 New York Convention (hereinafter “NY Convention”)—particularly Article V.1.(b)—plays a crucial role in upholding this principle. This provision provides that the court of a contracting State may refuse to recognize and…
The main conference of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) 2025 was themed “Innovation in Dispute Resolution: Navigating Global Risks.” Throughout the day, practitioners from around the world gathered to explore how to navigate an increasingly fast-paced and ever-changing global landscape—and to reflect on the legal profession’s role and responsibilities in this new era. …
On International Arbitration Day, London International Dispute Week (“LIDW”) featured panels that explored how courts and institutions can promote and strengthen arbitration, as well as how pivotal projects can benefit from it. This post highlights two panels hosted by Simmons & Simmons and Squire Patton Boggs, which focused on the approaches courts can take to…
The recent award in Ahron G. Frenkel v. Republic of Croatia has already succeeded in dividing the very tribunal that rendered it—never an encouraging omen. It is unlikely to cease causing a stir in the near future, given its immediate impact on the claimant and its longer-term contribution to the perennial headaches induced by the…
In a recent decision (the “Decision“), the Amsterdam Court of Appeal (Gerechtshof Amsterdam) (the “Court”) ordered the claimant in an UNCITRAL arbitration brought against Poland under an intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaty (“BIT“) to cooperate in terminating an arbitration, subject to a hefty daily penalty. Although there have been many court decisions addressing the enforcement of…
On 30 April 2025, a five judge constitutional bench (by a majority of 4:1) of the Supreme Court of India (“SC”) passed the much-awaited judgment in Gayatri Balasamy v. ISG Novasoft Technologies Limited (“Judgment”) on the issue of whether a court, hearing a challenge to the arbitral award, can modify the arbitral award. As discussed…
The Arbitration & Mediation Center of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (“CAM Santiago”) and the Madrid International Arbitration Center & Ibero-American Arbitration Center (“CIAM-CIAR”) have concluded a strategic agreement whereby CIAM-CIAR will manage all international arbitrations submitted to CAM Santiago. While the agreement might initially appear to represent an outsourcing of CAM Santiago’s functions, potentially…
The United States-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement (“TPA”), in force since 15 May 2012, has been interpreted through a 15 January 2025 decision (Decision No. 9) issued by the Free Trade Commission of the TPA (the “FTC Decision”), which introduced new binding interpretations of the treaty’s investment protection standards (Article 10.22.3). While much of the FTC…
Competence-competence is fundamental to arbitration. It prevents costly and onerous court proceedings from frustrating the dispute resolution process. For competence-competence to be effective, courts must take a step back and generally stay court proceedings if the dispute is also subject to an arbitration agreement. Still, there are times when courts’ deferral to arbitrators to define…
The rapid evolution of legal technology (“legal tech”) presents both opportunities and challenges for arbitration practitioners. With the emergence of artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools and specialized software solutions, arbitration practices are increasingly seeking ways to streamline workflows, enhance efficiency, and maintain competitive advantages. However, selecting the right legal tech solution requires a nuanced approach that…
In recent years, the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) mechanism has attracted widespread criticism from countries, practitioners and academics, which has been the subject of a vast amount of literature. UNCITRAL through Working Group III has been working on possible reforms of ISDS since 2017. During its 51st Session, UNCITRAL Working Group III agreed that the…
The intersection of climate change and international investment law has become an increasingly pressing issue in ISDS, shaping both disputes and policy responses. In recent years, a growing number of disputes have emerged, challenging the balance between States’ regulatory autonomy to implement climate policies and investors’ treaty-based protections. Against this backdrop, the American Society of…
On 30 April 2025, the United States and Ukraine signed the long-awaited Agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Government of the United States of America on the Establishment of a United States-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund (“Minerals Deal”). The Minerals Deal, which, according to the Ukrainian government, will promote substantial investments in Ukraine, was…
On March 26, 2025, the German Federal Government, the federal states (Länder), and municipal organizations entered into an agreement to establish arbitral proceedings for claims concerning Nazi-confiscated art. This article endeavors to show the cornerstones of the new arbitration procedure as well as to highlight some possible weak points of this reform. Lost Art…
To enforce arbitral awards against recalcitrant sovereign debtors, creditors have occasionally resorted to searching for assets embezzled from sovereigns and seeking to attach them. But two recent cases – Commissions Import Export SA v. Republic of the Congo, et al. and Casa Express Corp. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela – show that any creditors adopting…
In investment arbitration, it is widely recognized that to benefit from the protection of an investment treaty, the investment must be legal. Tribunals assess this legality either because the treaty explicitly mandates it (e.g., Ecuador-Sweden BIT) or because the tribunal assumes this authority even if the treaty is silent (e.g., Worley v. Ecuador). In either…
Following last year’s surprising change of government in Botswana, one of the largest diamond mining countries, investors in the country’s natural resources sector could see an increase in the risks impacting their projects. Botswana’s economy has been experiencing a slowdown – growth decreased from 5.5% in 2022 to 1% in 2024. In addition, the newly-elected…
On March 18, 2025, the Office of the Paraguayan Presidency’s Legal Counsel submitted to the Paraguayan Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “Center”) its draft to modernize Law No. 1879/2002, the Paraguayan Arbitration Act (the “Project”), following a recent trend in other jurisdictions amending their arbitration legislation (e.g., France, the UK, and Germany). The Center has…
One could be forgiven for thinking that teaching international economic law in the United States (“U.S.”) is challenging these days. The U.S. has disabled the World Trade Organization’s (“WTO”) Appellate Body. In the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), the parties (following a transition period) eliminated Investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) between the U.S. and Canada and curtailed…
In a significant decision issued on 24 June 2024 (Case No. 200 of 2023), the Bahraini Court of Cassation (“Court of Cassation”) reaffirmed the centrality of arbitral autonomy by upholding the principle of Kompetenz-Kompetenz. This doctrine, foundational in international arbitration, empowers arbitral tribunals to rule on their own jurisdiction, including disputes over the existence or…
