Arbitration

Applicable Law, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreement, Courts, New York Convention, UNCITRAL Model Law

(National University of Singapore, Faculty of Law)/ /1 Comment

A crucial issue in arbitration is determining the proper relationship between courts and the arbitration process. In addition to court challenges to preliminary jurisdictional decisions by arbitrators and court applications to annul awards or prevent enforcement, a number of other court actions also raise relationship issues. This blog is concerned with scenarios such as commencement…

Arbitration, Summary Judgment, Summary procedure, United States

(Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP)/ /1 Comment
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

The recent American case of Weirton Medical Center Inc v Community Health Systems Inc (N.D. W. Va. Dec. 12, 2017) is another reminder that the debate over the place of summary disposal in arbitration has not been settled. This issue has previously been in the spotlight notably through the transatlantic case of Travis Coal Restructured…

Achmea, Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, BIT, Enforcement, European Law, European Union, International arbitration, Intra-EU BITs, Investment Arbitration, New York Convention

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The world after the  Achmea v Slovakia decision focuses on the question about the future of ISDS in relation to intra-EU BITs. At the ASIL conference on the 6 April 2018, a representative of the EU observed the decision in the Achmea case as one that was perhaps a natural consequence of the intricacies of…

Arbitration, Diversity, The Pledge

(School of International Arbitration, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) )/ /Leave a comment

Back in the early 20th century, the business community created arbitration with the aim of offering an alternative to the perceived inadequacies of state courts in dealing with foreign parties, law, and claims. At the time, cases and claims were characterised by European, Mediterranean, and American elements. As a result, the arbitration community was described…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Brussels Regulation, Enforcement, English courts, English Law, European Law, New York Convention

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The Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 27 September 1968 was superseded by Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters. The latter was subsequently repealed by Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Blockchain

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Until a few decades ago, international arbitration was perceived to be a quick and inexpensive way of resolving disputes. However, the proliferation of legal rules, the disclosure of voluminous documents, complex technical evidence and over-lawyering have, to a large extent, hollowed that boast and made it appear somewhat of an urban myth. Quite recently though,…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Enforcement, Expedited arbitration, International arbitration, Party autonomy

, (Gujarat National Law University)/ /3 Comments

The ICC Rules introduced expedited procedure with effect from March 01, 2017. With this, the ICC joined the league of other leading arbitration institutions such as SIAC, LCIA and HKIAC who had already incorporated expedited procedure. Courts across the globe have delivered uniform decisions, views in interpreting party autonomy except for a decision by the…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, CEE, Enforcement, Investment Arbitration

(Addleshaw Goddard LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Jeantet

In the midst of the second edition of the Paris Arbitration Week, Jeantet hosted, on Thursday 12 April 2018, a roundtable on the topic “Arbitrating with States in CEE & CIS”. The speakers of the roundtable were: Cosmin Vasile (Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners), Yas Banifatemi (Shearman & Sterling), Davor Babić (University of Zagreb), Yasmin Mohammad…

Arbitration, Arbitration Pledge, Arbitrator Intelligence, Diversity, The Alliance

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /1 Comment
Young ITA

The past year has made clear that the issue of diversity and inclusion is, at last, firmly on the agenda. The 15th Annual ITA-ASIL Conference, held in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 2018, was the first major international conference to tackle this issue in the context of international arbitration. Speakers critically examined the lack of…

Arbitration, BIT, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Insurance, Investment Arbitration

(University of Strathclyde)/ /Leave a comment

After three high-value infrastructure and energy projects cases at ICSID and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is now facing a new US$40 million investment treaty claim. This time it involves the privatization of an insurance company – Krajina osiguranje a.d. Banja Luka, based in the Republic of Srpska (one of the…

Arbitration, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency

(Blaney McMurtry LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Dena Givari assisted by Ralph Cuervo-Lorens Yes, there is something to be said on this topic. The first page of the Google search results for the term “smart contracts blockchain” shows an article with the following first line: “Smart Contracts: The Blockchain Technology That Will Replace Lawyers”. While overly dramatic, the sentiment that blockchain technology…

Arbitration, Belgium, Document Exchange, International arbitration, Technology, Uncategorized

(Hanotiau & van den Berg)/ /Leave a comment

With the focus of the arbitral community being taken over by the recent discourse surrounding an important branch of international arbitration, i.e., investor state dispute settlement, after the 6 March 2018 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-284/16, Slowakische Republik v Achmea BV, there may be a risk today,…

Achmea, Arbitration, BIT, European Law, Investment Arbitration

(BSJP Brockhuis Jurczak Prusak Sroka Nilsson, Warsaw and Conway & Partners, Rotterdam)/ /Leave a comment

The CJEU judgement issued in the much-discussed (here and here) C-284/16 Slovak Republic vs. Achmea case has every chance of becoming a game changer in the field of the investment protection regime within the EU. Where does that leave the protection of investors within the EU? The message of the CJEU to those who welcomed…

Adverse Inference, Algeria, Arbitration, Canada, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Good Faith, IBA Rules of Evidence, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration, Poland, Venezuela

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Principles of adverse inferences are applied universally. International law endorses the arbitrator’s inherent authority to draw adverse inferences against a party for unjustified non-compliance with an order to produce information. Moreover, arbitrators can rely on general principles of law when applying adverse inferences as a basis for decisions. The general principle of good faith imposes…

Achmea, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Investment Arbitration, Poland, Rule of Law

(Kancelaria Adwokacka Adwokat Marcin Orecki)/ /Leave a comment

On 6 March 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in the case no. C‑284/16 Slovak Republic v. Achmea BV (“Achmea case”) (available here) stated that arbitration agreements concluded between the Member States of the European Union (“EU”) in the so-called intra-EU BITs have an adverse effect on the autonomy of EU…

Achmea, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Brexit, CJEU, Investment Arbitration

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On 6 March 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (the “CJEU“) delivered its ruling in the case of Slovak Republic v Achmea (“Achmea“), holding that the investor-state arbitration provisions in a bilateral investment treaty (“BIT“) between the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic are invalid, as they are incompatible with EU law. In…

Africa, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, ICCA Sydney 2018, ICSID Convention, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Corrs Chambers Westgarth)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The morning session of the last day of the ICCA Sydney 2018 Conference on “Potential of Arbitration Involving New Stakeholders” was moderated by Ndanga Kamau and had the insightful contributions of Dr. Campbell McLachlan QC, Prof. Makane Moïse Mbengue and Silvia Marchili. Ndanga Kamau opened the final plenary session by asking the following question: why…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, ICCA Sydney 2018

(Corrs Chambers Westgarth)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The morning session at ICCA Sydney Conference 2018 on “Revisiting Conventional Wisdom in the Organization of Arbitral Proceedings” was moderated by Chiann Bao and had the insightful contributions of Funke Adekoya SAN, Dr. Fuyong Chen, Klaus Reichert SC and Prof. Nayla Comair-Obeid. Chiann Bao insisted that we ought to deal with issues of procedure by…

Arbitration, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, ICCA Sydney 2018, Publication of Arbitral Awards, Transparency, Transparency in investment arbitrations

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Young ICCA

What if Facebook, as a result of its recent negative publicity, had the opportunity to file a request for arbitration against Cambridge Analytica? A key principle of international commercial arbitration is its maintenance of confidentiality, but would the public interest in such an arbitration justify greater transparency? The afternoon panel of the first day of…

Achmea, Arbitration, ICCA, ICCA Sydney 2018, Legitimacy

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The theme of this year’s ICCA Congress is ‘Evolution and Adaptation: The Future of International Arbitration.’ Central to this theme was the topic of the First Plenary Session -‘Law-Making in International Arbitration: What Legitimacy Challenges Lie Ahead?’ The timing of such a discussion is apt given the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision…

Arbitration, Belt Road Initiative, China, ICC, ICC Arbitration, ICC Rules

(ICC) and , (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

On 5 March 2018, the ICC Court announced the establishment of a commission to address dispute resolution in relation to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The commission will drive the development of ICC’s existing dispute resolution procedures and infrastructure to support Belt and Road disputes. The Belt and Road The Belt and Road is China’s…

Arbitration, BIT, European Law, European Union, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Interviews with Our Editors, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

In the midst of challenges to the very legitimacy of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) celebrated its 50th anniversary and embarked on the fourth ICSID Rules amendment process in ICSID history. The previous amendment processes brought notable additions to the ICSID Rules, such as enhanced transparency in…

Albania, Arbitration, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, United States

(Chaffetz Lindsey LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The recent decision by an intermediate New York appellate court in AlbaniaBEG Ambient Sh.p.k. v. Enel S.p.A.1)A.D.3d, No. 152679/14, 2018 WL 755355 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t Feb. 8, 2018). has sharply curtailed “a procedural loophole in Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act”2)Commissions Imp. Exp. S.A. v. Republic of Congo, 916 F. Supp. 2d…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Set aside an arbitral award, Sweden

(Mannheimer Swartling)/ /Leave a comment

After almost 20 years, the Swedish Arbitration Act (“SAA” or “Act”) may be getting a well-deserved face lift. In February 2014, the Swedish Government decided to take definitive steps to begin modernising the Act. The purpose of the reform was to bring Swedish arbitration law more in line with certain advancements in arbitration and to…