Appointment of arbitrators

Appointment of arbitrators, Conflicts of interest, Disclosure, IBA, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest

, (Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In February 2024, the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association (“IBA”) released a revised version of the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (the “2024 IBA Guidelines” or the “Revised Guidelines”). First published in 2004 (the “2004 IBA Guidelines”) and then revised in 2014 (the “2014 IBA Guidelines”) (collectively, the “IBA…

Appointment of arbitrators, Asia-Pacific, Climate change, Court Assistance, Expedited arbitration, Expedited Proceedings, Insolvency, Institutional Rules, Investor-State arbitration, Northeast Asia, SIAC, SIAC Symposium 2023, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Southeast Asia, Technology

(Sidley Austin LLP) and (Allen & Overy LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) held the SIAC Symposium, its flagship conference, during the Singapore Convention Week on 28 August 2023. The SIAC Symposium featured a conversation with Minister K Shanmugam, SC (Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law, Singapore) and a plenary address by Justice Judith Prakash (Justice of the Court of…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, India

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The question of the validity of unilateral arbitral appointments in the Indian scenario has risen above the surface yet again. The Delhi High Court recently, in Margo Networks Pvt. Ltd. and Another v Railtel Corporation of India Ltd (“Margo”), reiterated the conflict in the existing legal position and the need for finality on this issue….

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…

Appointment of arbitrators, arbitration rules, Case Management, Dissenting opinions, Hungary, Remote hearings

(SMARTLEGAL Schmidt & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

The Permanent Arbitration Court attached to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (The Hungarian Commercial Arbitration Court or ‘HCAC’) has recently adopted its revised rules of proceedings that went into effect on 31 December 2022. This development is particularly significant for the Hungarian arbitration landscape given that HCAC has exclusive competence over commercial, financial…

Appointment of arbitrators, Duty to Disclose, Reform, Summary procedure, UK

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The Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act“), the principal legislation governing arbitration in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, came into force 25 years ago. This landmark Act has enabled London to become a top arbitral seat and England and Wales is now home to at least 5,000 arbitrations every year. On 22 September 2022, to mark…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrator Challenges, Brazil, CAM-CCBC Arbitration Congress IX Edition, Latin America

(Barbosa, Müssnich & Aragão Advogados – BMA) and (The CAM-CCBC)/ /Leave a comment

On 17 and 18 October 2022, the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada held its IXth Arbitration Congress (“IX CAM-CCBC Congress” or “Congress”) in São Paulo. The Congress is the opening event of what became the Sao Paulo Arbitration Week (“SPAW”): a collaborative calendar for law firms, universities, associations, and…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrability, Iran

(ICC YAAF) and (University of Nottingham)/ /Leave a comment

A significant number of disputes related to Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) that have been settled by arbitration are reflected in the 2011-2020 World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Caseload Summary. The expansion of the notion of arbitrability to include IPR disputes in recent years illustrates the global trend toward arbitration of IPR disputes despite concerns over…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, India

(Khaitan & Co)/ /Leave a comment

This blog has previously discussed the illegality of unilateral appointments of sole arbitrators in India. However, a good beginning is only half the battle won.  Before one dwells further, it is important to gauge the Indian position on unilateral appointments.  First, as stated in TRF Ltd. v. Energo Engineering (“TRF”), if the nominated arbitrator is…

Appointment of arbitrators, Australia

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Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI)

On 30 May 2021 the fifth webinar of the series “The Rising Arbitrator’s Challenge: Navigating the Premise and Perils of Your First Appointment(s)” covering Australia and New Zealand was presented by ACICA45 in collaboration with the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI). RAI was created in September 2020 to support arbitration practitioners under 45 who have either…

Apparent bias, Appointment of arbitrators, Bias, Deepwater Horizon, Impartiality, UK, UK Supreme Court, Uncategorized, Unconscious Bias

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YIAG

In November last year, the UK Supreme Court (the “Court”) pronounced judgment in Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd [2020] UKSC 48. It held, among other things, that there was a duty of disclosure for arbitrators in English law. Recognizing the importance of the principle of party autonomy, the Court concluded that parties could,…

Appeal, Appointment of arbitrators, India, Judicial intervention

(Gujarat National Law University)/ /Leave a comment

In a March 2021 decision, Pravin Electricals Pvt. Ltd. v. Galaxy Infra and Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (“Pravin Electricals”), a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court (the “Court”) shed light on an “anomaly” that exists in the operation of Sections 8 and 11 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (the “Act”). The Court clarified its…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrators

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Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI)

On 27 January 2021, the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) hosted the second webinar of its series “The Rising Arbitrator’s Challenge: Navigating the Premise and Perils of Your First Appointment(s)”. The aim of the series of events is to support practitioners who are seeking or tackling their first appointments and each webinar is focused on a…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, ICC, ICC Arbitration, ICC Rules, Nationality, Party Representation, Procedure, Remote hearings, Settlement

(ICC International Court of Arbitration) and (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The 2021 ICC Arbitration Rules introduce new procedures, update key provisions, and formalize the existing practices of the ICC Secretariat and the Court in order to allow for greater flexibility, efficiency and transparency in the administration of ICC arbitration cases. We will focus in this post on the changes made under the new Rules to…

Apparent bias, Appointment of arbitrators, Bias, Deepwater Horizon, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Impartiality, UK, UK Supreme Court, Unconscious Bias

(WilmerHale)/ /Leave a comment

On 27 November 2020, the U.K. Supreme Court in Halliburton Company v. Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd (formerly known as Ace Bermuda Insurance Ltd) [2020] UKSC 48 ruled on the approach under English law to determining whether an arbitrator’s failure to make disclosure of appointments in multiple arbitrations with overlapping subject matter and only one common…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Proceedings, arbitrators’ conduct, Challenge of Arbitral Award, COVID-19, Procedure, Remote hearings, Virtual hearings

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London), (ArbBoutique), and (Zulficar & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted an unprecedented impact on individuals, entities, businesses, and states. National court systems and alternative dispute resolution regimes have also been severely affected. Yet, international arbitration has demonstrated itself to be both adaptable and resilient throughout the crisis and emerged more strongly positioned as a method of dispute resolution for a…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Court Assistance, International arbitration, Provisional measures, Removal of arbitrator, Swiss Civil Procedure Code, Swiss Private International Law Act, Switzerland

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The draft bill for the revision of the 12th Chapter of the Swiss Private International Law (“PILA”) was recently approved by the Swiss legislator (as analyzed previously on this blog). Besides permitting the filing of set-aside motions in the English language, the provisions regulating the court assistance have also been revised and adjusted with the…

Appointment of arbitrators, Diversity, International arbitration

(Three Crowns LLP) and , (White & Case)/ /Leave a comment

On 28 July 2020, the Cross-Institutional Task Force on Gender Diversity in Arbitral Appointments and Proceedings released its long-awaited Report in the eighth volume of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) Reports Series. Established in 2019, the Task Force brings together 17 leading international arbitration institutions, law firms and gender diversity initiatives to publish…

Annulment, Appointment of arbitrators, Conflicts of interest

(Galvez Pascual SLP) and , / /Leave a comment

In a recent decision, in Eiser Infrastructure Limited and Energia Solar Luxemburg S.À.R.L. v Kingdom of Spain (ICSID Case No. ARB/13/36), an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) ad-hoc committee decided to annul an award in its entirety. The reason being a conflict of interest. For the first time in ICSID’s history, an…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, COVID-19, International arbitration

(Bocconi University)/ /7 Comments
Arbitrator Intelligence

Long before the now-popular phrase “pale, male, and stale,” leading arbitrators were instead often referred to as a “club,” a “cartel,” or even a “monopoly.” Those references were meant metaphorically, even jokingly. The irony is that they turn out to hold important truths that are promiscuously intertwined with the pale-male-stale moniker. To understand both, we…

Appointment of arbitrators, BIT, Dutch Model BIT, foreign direct investment, ISDS, Party autonomy, Sustainability

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

On 22 March 2019, the Dutch Government released the text of the new model Netherlands BIT. Its idealism has been applauded: the new model prioritizes gender and regional diversity as well as the United Nations sustainability goals. Yet, what would the effect be of some of the model’s provisions on Foreign Direct Investment (‘FDI’)? For…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Investment Arbitration, Reform, UNCITRAL WG III Series, Working Group III

(The Chinese University of Hong Kong)/ /2 Comments

Arbitrators under the Crossfire While investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) was created with the purported goal of depoliticizing investment disputes, it is currently at the centre of heated political debates. Investment arbitration follows the commercial arbitration paradigm, with disputing parties playing a direct role in the composition of the tribunal. This is perceived as a tool…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, India

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The issue of unilateral appointment of a sole arbitrator by a party has been in the spotlight since the Supreme Court of India’s (“SC”) decision in Perkins Eastman Architects DPC & Anr. v. HSCC (India) Ltd. (“Perkins”) on 26 November 2019. This case largely puts the issue to rest by rendering unilateral sole arbitrator appointments…

Ad hoc arbitration, Appointment of arbitrators, Armenia, Interim measures, Place of arbitration

(ILex law firm)/ /Leave a comment

Since my last article on this Blog on problems concerning ad hoc arbitration in Armenia, new legislative developments have offered an almost complete solution to the issues previously discussed. At the same time, such legislative developments in Armenia have given rise to new unresolved questions which will be explored in this article.   First Issue:…