Arbitration

ADR, Arbitration, Mediation, Taipei

(Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei)/ /2 Comments

Are litigation, arbitration and mediation competitive, collaborative or cooperative? Is litigation becoming an “alternative” to “alternative dispute resolution”, especially keeping arbitration on top of its game? Are mixed processes or combined regimes becoming the preference? These questions were part of the timely and timeless theme for this year’s Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation…

Africa, Arbitration, Surveys

(Chronicles Advisory)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

On 2 May 2018, the maiden edition of the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Arbitration in Africa Survey was launched at the SOAS Arbitration in Africa Research Conference in Kigali, Rwanda. The survey, conducted using an online questionnaire, focused on perspectives of African arbitration practitioners in domestic and international arbitration. The insufficiency of…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Belgium, CAS arbitration, International arbitration

(Hanotiau & van den Berg) and (Hanotiau & van den Berg, Brussels)/ /Leave a comment

The authors write this contribution strictly in their own name. Most arbitration laws require parties to identify in their arbitration agreement the “defined legal relationship” for which they wish to submit disputes to arbitration. Nonetheless, this requirement has given rise to little case law in practice. In a judgment of 29 August 2018 (“Judgment”), however,…

Arbitration, Statistics

(Illustrategy, LLC and University of South Carolina Beaufort) and , (Dispute Resolution Data, LLC)/ /Leave a comment

Recently, CRC Press published Data-Driven Law: Data Analytics and the New Legal Services by Edward J. Walters. The volume’s contributed chapters cover a wide range of topics at various levels of mathematical rigor, but they all underscore the importance of how data science can greatly improve the quality and efficiency of the legal process from…

Applicable Law, Arbitration, Conflict of Laws

(University of Oslo)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

It’s been decades since arbitration has started its emancipation from conflict of laws rules (private international law). Many were of the opinion, and still are, that conflict of laws rules are an undesirable straitjacket forcing the arbitral tribunal to determine the applicable law according to rigid and complicated rules and thus hindering it from considering…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, China, Evidence, Witness

, , , (King & Wood Mallesons)/ /Leave a comment
King & Wood Mallesons

Witness evidence is an integral part of international arbitration, but challenges can arise from the interaction of different legal cultures, norms and languages.  Although issues can arise with any testimony given through an interpreter, Mandarin-speakers are more challenged, and challenging, because of 1) the stark differences between Mandarin and English (the lingua franca of IA);…

Arbitration, Document Production

(Schoenherr) and / /Leave a comment
Schoenherr

In Parts 1 – 3 of our Efficient Arbitration Series, we introduced various efficiency tools. In Part 4 we will discuss one of these tools which has considerable savings potential: “document production”. Presenting the right evidence is key in arbitration. But, what if a party does not have the documents it needs to prove its…

Accreditation, Arbitration, Arbitrators, India

(ANR LAW LLP)/ /2 Comments

The current government in India is undertaking sweeping policy changes to increase India’s rank on the global index of ease of doing business. In order to attract more investments, it is also focusing on revamping the ailing judicial system and attempting to bring India at par with global arbitration standards. In pursuance of the same,…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Blockchain, Enforcement, International arbitration

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

Sometimes, the establishment needs to step aside to let the next promising generation create a new way forward: So it commences with entrepreneurial students at the University of Miami, combining talents of engineering, technology, and international law and arbitration. It is by thinking out of the box that disruptive changes happen and they must in…

Arbitration, China, Courts, DIFC, International Courts, Singapore International Commercial Court

(Anli Partners)/ /Leave a comment

In June 2018, China launched its first and second International Commercial Courts (the “CICC”). The advent of them represents a prolonged attempt of China to upgrade its judicial system by transplanting the advanced international practices to, according to the Supreme Court of China (the “SPC”), “provide services and protection for the “Belt-and-Road” construction (the “BAR”)”….

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Arbitration clause, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Turkey

, (Çakmak Avukatlık Ortaklığı)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent decision, Turkey’s Court of Cassation refused to enforce an arbitration clause in an English language contract between a Turkish party and a foreign party based on Turkey’s national language requirement for commercial enterprises, the Code on the Mandatory Usage of the Turkish Language in Commercial Enterprises No. 805 (“Law No. 805”). The…

Arbitration, Brazil, Latin America, Litigation, Third party funding

, (Woodsford Litigation Funding)/ /Leave a comment

Litigation finance continues expand rapidly on a global basis, including in Latin America. The region’s code-based civil systems generally permit litigation funding and the continued growth in arbitration make it an attractive market for funding. Brazil, as the region’s largest economy, and with a well-developed and sophisticated legal system, is leading the way.  Moreover, local practitioners…

Arbitration, Confidentiality, International Commercial Arbitration, Scope of Confidentiality

(DLA Piper)/ /2 Comments

Confidentiality is usually mentioned among the advantages of international commercial arbitration (ICA). The thought that confidentiality is an innate attribute, seems to be an attractiveness considered to choose ICA to settle disputes. For a long time, it did not seem to be questioned that the private nature of the arbitration process also forced the parties…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Asia-Pacific, Australia

(University of Sydney & Williams Trade Law) and (Universiti Brunei Darussalam & University of Sydney)/ /1 Comment

With some fanfare, on the sidelines of the ICCA Congress hosted in Sydney over 15-18 April, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) unveiled a glossy brochure entitled “Australia’s Capability in International Commercial Arbitration”. This blog posting explains its key contents, identifying both convincing and unconvincing aspects. Our later blog posting will compare Japan as…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Sweden, Third party funding

, , (Roschier Attorneys, Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Despite a rapid emergence at a global stage, third-party funding (TPF) appears yet as unfamiliar to businesses in the Nordic region. According to a survey included in the 2018 edition of the Roschier Disputes Index, merely 5 per cent of the Nordic companies have used TPF for financing litigation or enforcement proceedings. Arguably, these…

Achmea, Arbitration, BIT, European Union, Investment Arbitration, Principle of proportionality, Slovakia

(University College Cork)/ /1 Comment

Introduction The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Case C-284/16, Slovak Republic v. Achmea B.V. (Achmea) has attracted much comment in many fora, including the Kluwer Arbitration Blog (See e.g., articles authored by Florian Stefan, Clement Fouchard and Marc Krestin, and Vivek Kapoor). This is not surprising. The CJEU…

Arbitration, Conference, Lusophone countries

and , (Derains & Gharavi)/ /Leave a comment

Fernando Pessoa and Machado de Assis.  What do these names have in common other than the fact that they are celebrated Portuguese-speaking writers?  Far away situated because of geography, history, and culture, these two writers have left an important legacy that has brought closer different cultures through their literary work.  In addition to being writers,…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Bolivia, Clean Hands Doctrine, General Principles of International Law, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

, (Aceris Law)/ /Leave a comment

The arbitral tribunal in Glencore Finance (Bermuda) Limited v. Bolivia has recently hinted at its intent to address an old question: What is the doctrine of “clean hands” in investment arbitration? On 31 January 2018, an arbitral tribunal composed of Professor Ricardo Ramírez Hernández, Professor John Gotanda and Professor Philippe Sands issued a Procedural Order…

Arbitration, Statistics

, (Dispute Resolution Data, LLC) and (Illustrategy, LLC and University of South Carolina Beaufort)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction. In our previous blog post, we presented the results of an analysis demonstrating the potential effectiveness of arbitration as a mechanism for reaching settlement. Data from the Dispute Resolution Data (DRD) repository, representing more than 3,700 international commercial arbitration cases as of May 2018, showed that settlement or withdrawal is not only the most…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, United States

(Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP)/ /4 Comments

“Why don’t you go on west to California? There’s work there, and it never gets cold. Why, you can reach out anywhere and pick an orange.  Why, there’s always some kind of crop to work in. Why don’t you go there?” – John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath Introduction For many years, the answer for international…

Arbitration, Australia, Confidentiality

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

Australia has been known for taking a somewhat controversial approach to the confidentiality of arbitral proceedings. However, the legislature, to the international arbitration community’s sigh of relief, has intervened to change the law and bring opt-out confidentiality to international commercial arbitrations seated in Australia (see Michael Pryles, ‘National Report – Australia’ in The ICCA International…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration, Mediation, Negotiation

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

In the world of International Arbitration (“IA”), one distinguishes between commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, the latter widely referred to as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, as a dispute resolution mechanism based on bilateral treaties, multilateral treaties, and free trade agreements. IA is lauded as the best method for dispute resolution in international trade. This…

Antitrust arbitration, Arbitration, Competition Law

(Richard Levin Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

This note will first reflect back thirty three years on the genesis of arbitration and competition matters and the Mitsubishi case, and then, in Part 2 below, I will touch on some practical issues that frequently will arise in a competition case today and how Mitsubishi is still influencing with vigor. As the reader will…

Antitrust arbitration, Arbitration, Competition Law

(Richard Levin Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

Now that we know the “second look” is not so much a look but a glance, what does this mean for arbitrators in these cases, frequently highly complex disputes infused with economics? In brief, it places a very heavy burden to get it right. The mandatory public policy of competition law which would by contract…