In August 2023, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (“ITA”) published the “Final Report and Recommendations of the ITA Caribbean Task Force” (“Report”). The Task Force, when the Report was published, consisted of Calvin Hamilton and Hon. Barry Leon (Co-Chairs) and Theominique D. Nottage (Deputy Chair), who are the authors of this post. The Task Force…

Canada’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada, recently considered whether a party had waived its right to rely on arbitration and forum selection clauses by submitting a statement of defence on the merits in an Ontario court litigation in which it also pleaded the clauses. The Court ruled that there had been no waiver….

So far in 2010, at least two jurisdictions have established specialized courts to handle international arbitration matters ─ Australia (in the state of Victoria) and India (in Bombay). Australia: Within Australia’s federal structure, international arbitration matters are in the jurisdiction of state supreme courts. In 2009, Australia’s Parliament gave the Federal Court concurrent jurisdiction over…

It is true that Canada did not qualify for FIFA’s World Cup and did not dominate at the Winter Olympics. However, when it comes to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Commercial Arbitration, Canada is a leader. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Model Law. Since becoming the first state signatory to the Model…