Annulment

2025 PAW, Annulment, Arbitration Reform, CEE, Croatia, Czech Republic, Eastern Europe, Lithuania, Romania, Set aside an arbitral award, Slovenia

(ESSEC Business School; Paragon Advocacy)/ /Leave a comment

As part of Paris Arbitration Week 2025, the Arbitration Association of Central and Eastern Europe (“ArbCEE”) hosted a roundtable discussion on “The Annulment of Arbitral Awards in the CEE.” The event was chaired by Rostislav Pekar (Squire Patton Boggs), hosted by Piotr Bytnerowicz (ByArb), and moderated by Veronika Korom (ESSEC Business School; Paragon Advocacy).  …

Annulment, Chile, Enforcement, International Commercial Arbitration, Latin America

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /Leave a comment

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…

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

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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…

Annulment, Chile, Ecuador, Latin America, Public Policy

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /Leave a comment

On October 18, 2024, the Santiago Court of Appeals rejected a petition seeking the annulment of an international arbitration award, once again providing strong arguments in favor of the validity of international commercial awards (Case No. 12506-2022). In the twenty years since the enactment of the International Commercial Arbitration Law (ICAL) No. 19971, no international…

Annulment, France, French Law, Independence and Impartiality

(Clyde & Co)/ /1 Comment

On 2 May 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal set aside an ICC award rendered on 1 September 2016 in Paris due to the existence of facts likely to cause, in the minds of the parties, a reasonable doubt as to the presiding arbitrator’s independence. This post will summarise and comment the judgment rendered by…

Annulment, Lithuania, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Magnusson)/ /Leave a comment

Although often seen as theoretical, the recognition and enforcement of annulled arbitral awards remain a fascinating issue in international arbitration. As the text of the New York Convention (“NYC”) provides limited guidance, there has been substantial consideration in both academic commentaries and national court decisions. While global arbitration hubs such as Paris, London, or Singapore…

Annulment, Bias, Canada, Domestic Courts, Set aside an arbitral award

(Mechantaf Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 11 April 2024, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (“Court”) issued its decision in Ballantry Construction Management Inc. v GR (CAN) Investment Co. Ltd., arising from an application to enforce two arbitration awards filed by Ballantry Construction Management (the “Applicant”). The Respondent in this application, Investment Co. Ltd, sought an order setting aside the awards…

Annulment, Commercial Arbitration, Corruption, Latin America, Peru

(Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú and Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas)/ /Leave a comment

On 12 March 2024, Judge Ana C. Reyes, presiding over the District of Columbia (“D.C.”) Circuit, issued a decision on the petition to set aside filed by the Municipalidad de Lima concerning two arbitral awards. Judge Ana C. Reyes denied the petition from the Municipalidad de Lima. This post describes the background to this long-standing…

Annulment, Enforcement, Investor-State arbitration, Public Policy, Swiss Private International Law Act, Switzerland

(Walder Wyss)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 April 2024, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (“SFSC”) rendered decision 4A_486/2023, upholding the unpublished Final Award in Clorox Spain S.L. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Clorox v. Venezuela”) (PCA Case No. 2015-30). In the underlying investment treaty arbitration, Clorox sought compensation for the alleged expropriation and unfair treatment of its investment by Venezuela,…

Annulment, Competition Law, Public Policy

, (WilmerHale)/ /1 Comment

On January 23, 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal (“CoA”) dismissed an action for annulment of an arbitral award on public policy grounds, namely a violation of EU competition law.  The ruling casts further light on the standard of judicial review applicable to annulment proceedings in France.  In particular, it is instructive with regard to…

Annulment, Public Policy, Spain

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

Spanish regional High Courts of Justice (Tribunales Superiores de Justicia) have heard applications to annul awards since the 2011 amendment to the Spanish Arbitration Law (“SAL”). The most active among the seventeen regional courts has been the High Court of Justice of Madrid (“TSJM”), in charge of hearing annulment proceedings of Madrid-seated arbitral awards. According…

2023 in Review, Annulment, Canada, Due process, Procedural Fairness, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Set aside an arbitral award

(Woods LLP)/ /Leave a comment

This Part 2 continues reflections on key arbitration-related developments in Canada during 2023. Whereas Part 1 addressed the courts’ approaches to arbitrator independence and impartiality and the unconscionability of arbitration agreements, this Part 2 shines light on different takes on procedural fairness and “fresh evidence” in post-award proceedings.   What is “Proper Notice”? The past…

2023 in Review, Annulment, Arbitrability, Duty to Disclose, France, French Law, Investment Arbitration

(Africa Global Logistics) and (Laborde Law)/ /Leave a comment

This post provides a recap of notable arbitration-related developments in France in 2023. Far from being an exhaustive account, it focuses on French court decisions in the areas identified below. Overall, French courts have not only consolidated their approaches on recurring topics—as was the case in 2020, 2021, and 2022—but have also taken a slightly…

Annulment, Brazil, Brazilian Arbitration Act, Dissenting opinions, Latin America

(Wilmer Hale ) and (King & Spalding )/ /2 Comments

The São Paulo Court of Appeals (“TJSP or “Court”) recently annulled a quantum arbitral award and referred the case back to the arbitral tribunal because one of the three arbitrators had failed to issue a dissenting opinion. The Court held that the co-arbitrator’s abstention amounted to a failure in the part of the arbitral tribunal…

Annulment, Arbitrability, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investor-State arbitration, Latin America, Paris Court of Appeal, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Uruguay

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer)/ /1 Comment

On August 6, 2020, an arbitral tribunal composed of Andrés Rigo Sureda (P), O. Thomas Johnson, Jr., and Pierre Mayer (the Tribunal), constituted under the agreement between the United Kingdom and Uruguay for the promotion and protection of investments (the BIT), issued an award in Prenay Agarwal, Vinita Agarwal and Ritika Mehta v. Uruguay (PCA…

Annulment, Arbitral Secretary, Belgium

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In a decision of 24 April 2023, the Belgian supreme civil court (“cour de cassation”) dismissed the petition against a judgment of the Brussels court of first instance (“tribunal de première instance”; hereafter the “lower court”) that addressed the question to what extent arbitrators can delegate tasks to arbitral secretaries. The supreme court decision analyzed…

Annulment, Arbitral seat, Due process, Party Representation, Powers of the tribunal, Public Policy, Seat of the arbitration, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, VIAC, Vietnam

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Vietnam International Arbitration Centre (VIAC Vietnam)

Under the Law on Commercial Arbitration 2010 (“LCA”), both domestic and international arbitral awards can be set aside on the basis that the arbitral award contravenes the “fundamental principles of Vietnamese law.” This concept, however, is undefined and broad, causing much uncertainty, especially in light of decisions of the Vietnamese courts. In 2020, the People’s…

Annulment, Guerrilla Tactics, Procedure

(Boustany Law Offices) and (Hadef & Partners)/ /1 Comment

The use of “guerrilla tactics” is by no means a new phenomenon in the world of international arbitration. Indeed, such strategies have been the subject of a number of articles, scholarly discussions and even a four hundred-page book. What is meant by this expression, in essence, is the use and abuse of the procedural rules…

Annulment, Appointment of arbitrators, Equal Treatment, France

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Recently, in the landmark Vidatel case (previously discussed here), the French Court of Cassation (“Court of Cassation”) rejected an appeal for setting aside an arbitral award on the ground, among others, that the tribunal was improperly constituted. This appeal had arisen from a Paris Court of Appeal (“Court of Appeal”) judgment refusing to set aside…

2022 in Review, Advance on Costs, Annulment, Applicable Law, Duty to Disclose, France, International Public Policy, Intra-EU Investment Arbitration

(Africa Global Logistics) and (Pinsent Masons)/ /Leave a comment

This post provides a review of the most noteworthy arbitration-related developments in France in 2022. In a nutshell, last year, French courts consolidated previous approaches and solutions endorsed in 2020 and 2021, and confirmed major developments of French arbitration law.   The Fear of a Substantive Review of Awards by the Annulment Judge Are French…

Annulment, Arbitration, Brazil, Brazilian Arbitration Act, Set aside an arbitral award

(BMA - Barbosa, Müssnich & Aragão Advogados)/ /1 Comment

As most arbitration laws, the Brazilian Arbitration Act (Law n. 9307/1996; “BAL”) establishes a short deadline for any interested party to seek annulment of an arbitral award in court. The interested party has a 90-day period as from (i) notice of the partial or final arbitral award or (ii) the decision on a motion for clarification…

Annulment, France

, , (Reed Smith)/ /Leave a comment

On 9 February 2022, the French Supreme Court (‘Cour de cassation’) held that a respondent party in arbitration cannot sabotage proceedings by refusing to pay its share of the advance on costs, then subsequently challenge the jurisdiction of national courts in favour of arbitration. Such behaviour, according to the French Supreme Court, constitutes a breach…

Annulment, Belgium, Denial of justice

(Crowell & Moring) and (A&O Shearman)/ /1 Comment

On 18 February 2022, the Brussels court of first instance set aside an UNCITRAL award regarding a claim brought against the Republic of Poland under the US-Poland bilateral investment treaty (US-Poland BIT).  This is the first time we see a Belgian court set aside an investment treaty award.  The court decided that the arbitral tribunal…

2021 in Review, Admissibility, Annulment, Corruption, Dual Nationals, French Law, Independence and Impartiality

(Africa Global Logistics) and (Pinsent Masons)/ /Leave a comment

Following a fruitful 2020, 2021 also brought some noteworthy developments in France, that this post proposes to review on a general level. Overall, the Paris Court of Appeal (“the Court”) seems to have taken a slightly more exigent approach towards arbitration this year, while the Cour de cassation has overturned regrettable decisions. Admissibility and Waiver…