Arbitration Act

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Domestic Courts, Domestic law, Enforcement, Europe, Evidence, Interim Orders

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The recent Portuguese Voluntary Arbitration Law, which has been in force since 14 March 2012, (English version available here), was received with great enthusiasm amongst the legal community, which claimed for a new arbitration law that could bring to Portugal a regulatory framework closer to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The goal…

Arbitration Act, Switzerland

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On 27 September 2012, the Swiss Parliament adopted a motion that had been introduced earlier this year tasking the Government to prepare a report on the Swiss Arbitration Law (chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA)).  The objective of the report is to further enhance the attractiveness of Switzerland as a…

Annulment, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Seat of the arbitration, UNCITRAL Model Law

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On 6 September 2012, the Indian Supreme Court delivered its much-awaited judgment in Bharat Aluminium Co v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services (‘BALCO’). For the reasons discussed in detail below, the 190-page long BALCO decision is likely to go down in the annals of arbitration reports as the watershed decision that heralded a new dawn for…

Annulment, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Seat of the arbitration, UNCITRAL Model Law

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The Supreme Court of India has finally spoken to deliver a definitive ruling on the role of Indian courts in international arbitrations seated outside India. Overruling the controversial decision of Bhatia International v Bulk Trading (2002), the Supreme Court held that Indian courts do not have supervisory authority over international arbitrations taking place outside India….

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Brazil, Domestic Courts, Latin America, New York Convention, Pro arbitration, Review on the merits

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Ana Carolina Beneti Ricardo Dalmaso Marques (a) Introduction 1. The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (“STJ”) was called, in September 2010, to decide on a compelling matter: the possibility (or not) of recognizing and enforcing a foreign award rendered devoid of grounds and whether this decision would violate public policy if it produced effects in…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings

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Schellenberg Wittmer

The revised Swiss Rules of International Arbitration (“Swiss Rules”) enter into force today, 1 June 2012. While some general background has been given elsewhere (see here), the following specific features of the revised Swiss Rules can be underlined. Under the revised Swiss Rules, the administration of the arbitrations by the Court remains light as it…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, BIT, Confidentiality, Dispute resolution clause, Investment Arbitration

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Herbert Smith Freehills

In a judgment dated 25 April 2012 (Lombard North Central plc and another v GATX Corporation [2012] EWHC 1067 (Comm)), Judge Andrew Smith of the English High Court (Commercial Court) underlined the potential risks that might arise from arbitration clauses which have a limited scope. Although this judgment is relevant to a number of different…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings, English Law

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

A recent decision of the English Commercial Court (Lombard North Central plc & Anor v GATX Corporation [2012] EWHC 1067 (Comm)) has provided some insight and clarification into how the English courts will interpret and implement Section 9(1) of the Arbitration Act 1996. Section 9 is how English law has complied with Article II(3) of…

Arbitration Act, International arbitration, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal

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YSIAC

Following a previous round of amendments in 2009 that came into effect on 1 January 2010, the Singapore Ministry of Law published further proposed amendments to Singapore’s International Arbitration Act (“the IAA”) on 8 March 2012. The proposals took into account views garnered from a public consultation process. There are four key proposals in this…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Legislation

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The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice has launched a consultation on the revision of the Dutch 1986 arbitration law. See here. For an informal English translation of a comparison with the current Dutch arbitration law, see here. The consultation will be open until 1 June 2012. It is anticipated that the legislative proposal will…

Arbitration Act, Europe

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The new Portuguese arbitration law that shall enter into force on 14 March 2012 represents a remarkable evolution in the arbitration framework in Portugal. The former Portuguese arbitration law was published in 1986 (not following the UNCITRAL Model Law) and despite being considered a progressive law at the time it was clear that it lacked…

Arbitration Act, English Law

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Herbert Smith Freehills

The judgment in the case of Mary Harvey v. Motor Insurer’s Bureau (QBD (Merc) (Manchester), Claim No: 0MA40077, 21 December 2011) just before Christmas provided another opportunity for the English courts to rule on their ability to consider appeals on a point of law. This controversial power, retained in the UK’s Arbitration Act notwithstanding its…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Eastern Europe, Enforcement, English Law, European Law, New York Convention, Pro arbitration

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White & Case

Following the path of the hotly debated West Tankers decision, in African Fertilizers v BD Shipsnavo, the English Commercial Court held that a declaratory award is enforceable, allowing judgment to be entered on the same terms as the arbitral award. Such an order enables a party to obtain the material benefit of the award and…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Dispute Resolution, Dispute resolution clause, English Law, ICC Arbitration, International arbitration, Ismaili community, Nationality requirement in arbitration clauses, Pro arbitration, Supreme Court

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In this post, we will first deal briefly with the facts in the case of Jivraj v Hashwani and the findings of the first instance judge and the Court of Appeal, which by now would be very familiar to anyone reading this blog. We will then look at the Supreme Court’s judgment ([2011] UKSC 40),…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Commercial Arbitration, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, International arbitration, Jurisdiction

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /1 Comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

The Court of Appeal of England and Wales ruled last month that where parties have entered into an arbitration agreement, one party can obtain an anti-suit injunction to prevent the other party from initiating proceedings in a foreign court, even where no arbitration is underway or indeed even contemplated. In AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant LLP…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings, Middle East, Qatar

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There are two legal jurisdictions in Qatar with laws containing specific provisions related to arbitration: the State of Qatar and the Qatar Financial Center (the “QFC”). The latter is a separate jurisdiction with its own laws within the state. The QFC Law provides for the arbitration of commercial disputes in relation to contracts that have…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration clause

(Debevoise & Plimpton LLP)/ /5 Comments
American Society of International Law (ASIL)

Costa Rica has a new Arbitration Law, which is based on the 2006 version of the UNCITRAL Model Law. The relative speed with which the new Arbitration Law was adopted came as a surprise to many. Only a few months ago, at the Second International Arbitration Congress organized by the ICC Costa Rica in San…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Asia-Pacific, Confidentiality, Enforcement, International arbitration, kompetenz-kompetenz, Mediation, National Arbitration Laws, New York Convention, Seat of the arbitration, UNCITRAL Model Law

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Herbert Smith Freehills

The new Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (the “Ordinance”) comes into effect today, having been approved by the Hong Kong Legislative Council at the end of last year. The Ordinance represents the culmination of many years of discussion and consultation and marks a significant milestone in the development of Hong Kong as a world-class…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Canada, Consumer contracts, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, North America

(McGill University Faculty of Law)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Anyone considering Canada as the seat of an arbitration or as one among several jurisdictions where recognition and enforcement proceedings could be commenced should pay close attention to the Supreme Court of Canada’s March 18 decision in Seidel v. TELUS Communications Inc., 2011 SCC 15, which appears to mark a philosophical shift in Canadian arbitration…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Disclosure, International arbitration, National Arbitration Laws, Seat of the arbitration

(White & Case LLP)/ /1 Comment
White & Case

Clear tendencies towards an arbitration-friendly approach have been demonstrated by the Swedish Supreme Court during the latter part of 2010. During this term the Supreme Court has repeatedly taken an arbitration-friendly stance and emphasized that Swedish arbitration law and practice ought to be in line with international best practice in arbitration. Sweden has a long-standing…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings, Asia-Pacific, English Law, Jurisdiction, UNCITRAL Model Law

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YSIAC

Will a court injunct arbitral proceedings if parties, before an arbitration hearing, allegedly reach a settlement agreement and a dispute subsequently arises over the existence of such an agreement? Is the tribunal functus? Recently, the Singapore High Court in Doshion Ltd v Sembawang Engineers and Constructors Pte Ltd [2011] SGHC 46 (“Doshion”) rightly held that…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Commercial Arbitration, Europe, International arbitration, Legislation, National Arbitration Laws

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White & Case

The new French arbitration law, published on 14 January 2011, further reinforces Paris’ position as a leading arbitration centre. The new law, which comes thirty years after the previous 1980 law regarding domestic arbitration and the 1981 law dealing with international arbitration, maintains the distinction between domestic and international arbitration. It clarifies and enhances an…