A July 2015 decision of the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (Tribunal Superior de Justicia), the competent court to decide on the setting aside of an award when the seat of the arbitration is Madrid, declared non-arbitrable a controversy between two multinational Spanish operators in the natural gas sector. The dispute arose over the…

The Report of the International Finance Corporation [IFC] “Investing Across Borders” for the year 2010 outlined that a stable, predictable arbitration regime, as a part of broader framework for the rule of law, is one of the factors that drive foreign investment and it should be country’s top priority. Despite the fact that reforming an…

Under sec 1 of the RF Law on International Commercial Arbitration 5338-1 of 07.07.1993, disputes arising from civil, including corporate, relationships may be referred to international commercial arbitration, unless otherwise provided by law. However, there is no such restriction provided. In some cases, such as Novolipetsk Still Mill (NLMK) v. Nikolay Maksimov (Decrees of the…

In 2013 the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced in his annual message to the Council of the Federation: “I would like to attract your attention to one more problem – the mechanisms of commercial dispute resolution are still not as good as the global practice is, and it is necessary to raise…

Introduction The question of arbitrability of corporate and public procurement disputes is a topic constantly evolving due to new cutting-edge precedents. Ukraine does not constitute an exception, and continues to develop its jurisprudence. Despite being far from corporate in its nature, the recent dispute between reputable Austrian company (VAMED Engineering GmbH & CO KG) and…

Accentuate Ltd v. ASIGRA Inc. [2009] EWHC 2655; Fern Computer Consultancy Ltd v Intergraph Cadworx & Analysis Solutions Inc [2014] EWHC 2908 (Ch) In 2009, a senior libel judge sitting in the English High Court held that an arbitration agreement was “null and void” or “inoperative” because it purported to apply a foreign law which…

The recent Court of Appeal of England and Wales (“the Court”) judgment in the case of The London Steamship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd v The Kingdom of Spain and The French State [2015] EWCA Civ 333 (“the Judgment”) will make interesting reading for those concerned with the subject of arbitration. The judgment rendered covers…

The new Slovak Arbitration Act (“SAA”) was adopted by the Parliament (Act. No. 336/2014 Coll.), and is in force as of January 1, 2015. In order to see whether the SAA will promote Slovakia as an arbitration venue, main novelties and amendments brought by this new act are analysed in this blog entry. Arbitrability: Under…

1. Background Modern arbitration in Mexico commenced with the reforms to the Mexican Commercial Code in 1989 and with the incorporation in such code of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in 1993. Project agreements with state entities such as Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) and the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) may be submitted to…

Brazil has well-developed systems both in arbitration and class actions and yet the use of arbitration as a class-litigation dispute resolution has been little discussed. In the USA, on the other hand, discussions on the matter abound (see especially Supreme Court Bazzle v. Green Tree, Stolt-Nielsen S.A v. Animalfeeds International Corp. and AT&T Mobility LLC…

and Niyati Gandhi, National Law School of India University in Bangalore The issues arising out of allegations of fraud in international commercial arbitration can be listed by way of two closely connected questions: 1) Do arbitral tribunals have the substantive jurisdiction to make determinations upon allegations of fraud? 2) If the contract containing an arbitration…

Allegations of fraud and corruption are increasingly encountered in international arbitrations but there is at times a perception that international arbitration, which is by nature a private and consensual dispute resolution mechanism, is ill-equipped to handle the challenges thrown up by such allegations. This is particularly so when looking at arbitral procedure. Is this perception…

It has been over two years since the DC Circuit Court of Appeals (“Circuit Court”) vacated an award in a bilateral investment treaty arbitration (BG Group PLC v. Republic of Argentina (UNCITRAL)) concluding that the panel did not have authority to adjudicate the dispute because the claimant had not satisfied a pre-arbitration requirement, namely, litigating…

A number of decisions of various national courts have dealt with the issue whether a competition law dispute may be referred to arbitration. Although the case law tends to favour a positive answer, it is still an issue that is being continuously brought up in litigation as an easy way out of arbitration clauses. This…