Arbitration

Arbitration, ASEAN, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Australia, foreign direct investment, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, Trans-Pacific Partnership

(University of Sydney)/ /Leave a comment

Recent developments in the international investment scene have also impacted the Asian region. Notably, China and Southeast Asia have emerged not just as growing foreign direct investment (FDI) recipients but also as major sources of outbound FDI. In parallel, the Asian region experienced a proliferation in international investment agreements (IIAs). Asian countries were initially hesitant…

Arbitration, Arbitrator Intelligence, Surveys

(Bocconi University)/ /Leave a comment
Arbitrator Intelligence

The Arbitrator Intelligence Questionnaire (AIQ) is a feedback questionnaire that will be used by Arbitrator Intelligence (AI) to collect information on case management and decision making practices of international arbitrators. After pilot testing and extensively vetting the AIQ, we are now asking for public comments to help us further refine it. A demonstration version of…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Confidentiality

(National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad))/ /3 Comments

The terms ‘Privacy’ and ‘Confidentiality’ had been used in arbitration interchangeably until the latter half of 20th century. While ‘Privacy’ means that no third party can attend arbitral conferences and hearings, ‘Confidentiality’ refers to non-disclosure of specific information in public. Private hearings do not necessarily attach confidentiality obligations to the parties to arbitration. The general…

Appeal, Arbitral Award, Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, Diversity, Financial Industry, Investment Arbitration, Third party funding, Transparency

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

2016 was an important year for international arbitration. Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales challenged the legitimacy of international arbitration, while supporters such as former Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia (Robert French AC) came forward to defend its coexistence with commercial courts. Several institutions such as ACICA, SIAC and KCAB updated…

Appeal, Appellate Body, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, India

(Kachwaha & Partners)/ /5 Comments

Appellate arbitration clauses provide for an appellate mechanism against an award rendered between the concerned parties by subjecting the dispute through another arbitration to eliminate all potential errors and obtain correction of the same. Not all arbitration disputes are suitable for an appellate review. But in cases where parties place higher importance on the correctness…

Arbitration, Argentina, Consolidation, Latin America, Uncategorized, Uruguay

(Permanent Court of Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

In Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Co, the US Supreme Court stated that “[a] contractual provision specifying in advance the forum in which disputes shall be litigated and the law to be applied is an almost indispensable precondition to achievement of the orderliness and predictability essential to any international business transaction.”  While this statement holds almost invariably…

Arbitration, IBA, ICC, PCA, SCC, Stockholm Treaty Lab

(Climate Change Counsel)/ /Leave a comment

Nearly one hundred climate scientists, economists, policy specialists, investors, and lawyers recently convened in Stockholm for the conference “Bridging the Climate Change Policy Gap: The Role of International Law and Arbitration” organized jointly by the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“the SCC”), the International Bar Association, the International Chamber of Commerce and…

Arbitration, Diversity, Surveys

(University of Aberdeen)/ /3 Comments

Diversity in arbitral tribunals has already received a considerable amount of attention at this blog, especially in regards to gender diversity (post are available here, here, and here). The discussion is, of course, still ongoing and far from reaching the desired goals. On 10 January 2017, Berwin Leighton Paisner released an annual arbitration survey titled…

Arbitration, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, Croatia, Independence and Impartiality, International arbitration, Slovenia

(Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia)/ /Leave a comment

The first weeks of 2017 have again seen an exchange between Croatia and Slovenia about the continued work of the Arbitral Tribunal expected to decide this year on the course of the boundary between the two states. The Tribunal – formed under the 2009 Arbitration Agreement – will do so despite Croatia’s decision to terminate…

Arbitration, Document Production, Evidence, Procedure

(Schoenherr)/ /4 Comments
Schoenherr

Having disposed of yet another forest worth of pristine hearing bundles, I wonder: when will arbitration finally go paperless? Gillian Lemaire asked the same question in a 2014 piece called “Where Do We Stand?” She looked at the legal and factual obstacles that paperless arbitrations face. Finding that, in reality, there were few, she proposed…

Admissibility, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Preliminary Ruling, SCC Rules, Summary procedure

(Akbaba Legal)/ /Leave a comment

The new arbitration rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“SCC Rules” or “Rules”) entered into force on 1 January 2017. These Rules introduced a new procedure in Article 39 that is, in fact, uncommon to most of the renowned arbitration rules, including the ICC Rules of Arbitration (2012), the LCIA…

Anti-ISDS Propaganda, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, Poland

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

Much ink has recently been spilt on the Investor State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) system, especially in the light of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (“CETA”), and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (“TTIP”) (summary of criticism recently collected by G. Kaufmann-Kohler, M. Potesta, at 10, available here). The existence of a potential overlap and…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Arbitration Clause Incorporated by Reference, Enforcement, International arbitration, Russia

(Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

The question of the validity of an arbitration clause incorporated by reference is debatable in international arbitration. The approach of national courts to the issue varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction (e.g., see here). The Russian Law on International Arbitration (1993) is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. In particular, the Law provides in Article 7…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, Brexit, New York Convention, UK

(Linklaters)/ /Leave a comment

Last week, Theresa May delivered her long-awaited speech setting out Britain’s broad objectives in forthcoming Brexit negotiations with the EU. She confirmed the rumours of a “hard Brexit” by indicating Her Majesty’s Government’s intention to see the UK out from the Single Market and the Custom Union and to seek “a new and equal partnership…

Arbitration, Corruption, Criminal law and arbitration, Croatia, Domestic Courts, Investment Arbitration

(OMNIA STRATEGY LLP, London)/ /Leave a comment

  Arbitral tribunals are increasingly faced with allegations of corruption. In these situations, arbitral proceedings and criminal investigations frequently go in tandem. Their findings overlap and may influence one another. Regardless of the many instances where corruption is alleged, there have been only a few investment cases in which a finding of corruption was actually…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, Expert evidence, Experts, Public Policy

, (Kolcuoglu Demirkan Kocaklı Attorney Partnership)/ /Leave a comment

An arbitration-friendly decision was rendered by the 11th Civil Chamber of the Turkish Court of Appeals (“Court of Appeals”) on 22 June 2016 [File no. 2016/4931, Decision no. 2016/6886]. The decision deals with the question as to whether the arbitral tribunal’s failure to refer the calculation of damages to experts constitutes a violation of public…

Arbitral Award, Arbitration, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Res Judicata

(International Moot Court Competition Association (IMCCA))/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with Ivaylo Dimitrov, George Washington University Law School Foreword A recent award rendered in the case of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited v. Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) (ARB/10/20, Award, 12 September 2016) (hereinafter: “SCB HK v. TANESCO”) seems to put an end to a dispute which had sparked lately relating to an arbitral…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Energy Charter Treaty, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor

(University of Aberdeen)/ /Leave a comment

Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is generally perceived as a good emerging market for investment. The country is rich with natural resources and has a long tradition of industry with favorable and attractive locations and resources. Potential areas of investment include banking and finance, energy and mining, construction and IT (ICT) sector. The relevant national framework…

Arbitration, Germany, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Legitimate Expectations

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Criticism of the Investor State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”) system is common these days. Protesters demonstrate against “secretive tribunals of highly paid corporate lawyers” as which the mainstream media increasingly portray arbitral tribunals. (“Investor-state dispute settlement – the arbitration game”, The Economist, 11 October 2014) A Controversial Doctrine Central to the general public’s opposition to ISDS…

Arbitration, Australia, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor

, / /1 Comment

On 30 November, Australia’s Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) released its Report 165 on its inquiry into the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). JSCOT is a 16-member parliamentary committee tasked with advising the Australian parliament on ratification of treaties. This article presents an overview and discussion of the Report’s findings on ISDS, the most common…

Arbitration, Energy Charter Treaty, Expropriation, Germany, Investment Arbitration, Legitimate Expectations

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /8 Comments

On 6 December 2016 the German Constitutional Court (GCC) delivered its judgment in the case of Vattenfall and other nuclear power energy companies against Germany. This dispute and final judgment – which have attracted far less attention and criticism from anti-ISDS groups than the Vattenfall dispute currently under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) – provide…

Advisory Matters, Arbitration, Financial Industry, ICC Commission Report on Financial Institutions and International Arbitration

(Linklaters) and (Linklaters LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Linklaters

Advisory works generally include advisory services rendered by investment banks to their clients in two main areas: M&A (mergers and acquisitions) and equity capital markets. In this context, a financial institution will enter into a various number of agreements, either with its clients (mandate, etc.) or with its counterparty to a transaction where the deal…

Arbitration, Dispute Resolution

(BMA Advogados)/ /Leave a comment

In the 1980s, a study conducted by Stanford University showed that after watching the same television reports on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Beirut, both a pro-Israeli and a pro-Arab group concluded that the coverage was biased in favor of the other side. The researchers found that the partisans of the two groups evaluated…

Arbitration, BEPS Convention, OECD, Tax

(Temple Tax Chambers; King’s College London)/ /Leave a comment

“A camel is an animal designed by a committee” – Anonymous In launching the BEPS programme in 2013, the OECD warned that replacement of the current consensus-based framework by unilateral measures, could lead to global tax chaos marked by the massive re-emergence of double taxation (OECD: Action Plan on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (2013))….