On a reference from the Cour d’Appel de Paris, A.G. Wathelet upholds the primacy of an arbitral award as compatible with Art.101 TFEU in Genentech, Inc. v Hoechst GmbH / Sanofi-Aventis GmbH, Case C-567/14 (Opinion of Advocate General Wathelet: 17 March 2016). 1. The Facts 1.1 The Patent License In 1992 a predecessor of Hoechst/Sanofi-Aventis…
According to the 2015 report of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, India accounts for 5.1% of the world electricity generation and is the third largest generator of electricity in the world. A McKinsey report estimates the need to increase the generation capacity to about 440 GW by 2017 with an expected investment of…
The development of international arbitration in recent years has led to a significant multiplication of arbitration institutions around the world. In fact, every major city related to trade or industry has at least one dispute resolution centre. In addition to having long-standing, very reputable institutions for resolving commercial disputes, i.e. the ICC in Paris or…
The headline is there as a trap. The writer will argue that arbitration by women is not legal either. Legitimate, of course, but not legal in the strict sense, the senses of “[r]equired or appointed by law; founded on or deriving authority from law” or “[r]ecognized by law as distinguished from equity” or “[b]elonging to…
More or less since 2010, the topic of third party funding (“TPF”) in connection with international arbitration has been everywhere (heard of, seen in practice, written about, presented at conferences, and so on). In a series of recent developments however, TPF has been, for the first time, made subject to mandatory provisions contained in the…
The recent decision of the Paris Court of Appeal on the annulment of the ICC award in the case De Sutter P. – K., DS2 S.A., et al. v. Republic of Madagascar brings the “iura novit curia” issue back into the limelight. The dispute arose in 2012 when the Attorney General of the Malagasy Supreme…
Historically, there has been no binding uniform code of ethics governing the conduct of counsel appearing before international arbitral tribunals or dictating how issues of counsel conduct are to be resolved in international arbitration. Recently, however, efforts have been made to fill this void by international organizations and arbitral institutions. For example, in 2013, the…
Discussions of arbitrators’ powers have riveted the international arbitration community. Practitioners increasingly face situations where arbitrators seem cautious and reluctant to rule on procedural issues. While such a careful approach may be advisable where arbitrators prudently avoid overstepping their powers, it may, at times, also frustrate parties and practitioners alike. This phenomenon has fostered endeavours…
Although maritime arbitration is now considered to be distinct from both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, the procedures have common legal roots as well as many common procedures. As a result, specialists in commercial and investment proceedings may be interested in certain recent amendments to Lloyd’s Standard Salvage and Arbitration Clauses, particularly with respect…
Not long time ago the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a refusal to grant an enforcement of an US$950,000 award, rendered on 6 September 2002 and issued in favor of the Russian oil company Yugraneft at the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry (“ICAC”). The enforcement application was filed…
Under Chinese law, disputes may only be submitted to arbitration outside China and/or under the auspices of foreign arbitral institutions if the dispute is “foreign related.”1)Chinese arbitration law adopts a two-track approach, applying different rules to domestic arbitrations and “foreign” or “international” arbitrations. This is consistent with the New York Convention and most national arbitration…
As you may (or may not) already know, a team of researchers recently concluded a study for the European Parliament on arbitration across the European Union and Switzerland. As part of this study the researchers undertook a large-scale survey of arbitration practitioners across Europe, including 871 respondents from every country in the European Union and…
European institutions have established the European Account Preservation Order procedure (“EAPO”) to facilitate the cross-border debt recovery through the attachment of bank accounts (see here the Regulation (EU) No. 655/2014, which will apply from 18 January 2017, except for Denmark and the United Kingdom). The EAPO in particular provides creditors with a measure alternative to national…
Arbitration of patent disputes in the United States is on the rise. While, perhaps, somewhat behind the U.S. in that respect, the evidence is that this pattern is being paralleled in Europe. Indeed, there is reason to believe that the volume has already significantly increased over the past few years and is likely to increase…
Juliane Kokott, Advocate General to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), gave the 2016 Mackenzie-Stuart Lecture on 26 February 2016 at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law. In her lecture, Ms. Kokott explored the conflicts between investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) and European Union (EU) law, as regards (1) conflicts between…
Prior to the amendment of the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (“the Act”), India’s journey towards becoming an international commercial hub that could rival Singapore and London was hampered by a largely ineffective Act and an arbitration regime that was afflicted with various problems including those of high costs and delays. To address these…
Wide interpretation of a non-arbitrability exception may frustrate the purpose of promoting international commercial arbitration. So far, Russian courts have not been able to formulate a clear cut and consistent rule on the arbitrability of disputes with a public element, in particular disputes arising from agreements concluded under public procurement schemes. Russian law as it…
Introduction Dan Cake, a Portuguese company and one of the biggest biscuit producers in the world, invested in Hungary by acquiring a Hungarian company’s shares, later named as Danesita. Although Dan Cake had envisaged the expansion of its business to South East Europe too through this investment, after a couple of years, the plan failed…
On 19 June 2015, the Armenian Parliament adopted a package of laws related to arbitration. This was the first arbitration reform since the adoption of the Law on Commercial Arbitration (“Law”) in December 2006. The law package came into force on 7 July 2015. One of the reasons for the reform was the need for…
On 17 December 2015, the website of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) announced that the Arbitral Tribunal in the Philip Morris Asia Limited (Hong Kong) v. The Commonwealth of Australia case has issued an Award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility of the case. While the award has not yet been published – pending the redaction…
An extension of arbitration agreements to non-signatories has been a much discussed topic, also on this blog. Here is an insight from Croatian courts: In a judgment issued on 2 September 2014 (VSRH Revt-321/2013-2), the Croatian Supreme Court [“Court”] set aside an arbitral award rendered by the Permanent Arbitration Court at the Croatian Chamber of…
2015 was an eventful year in Hong Kong arbitration. The Hong-Kong based institutions shepherded through several reforms, the local courts issued several pro-arbitration decisions, and a long-awaited Law Reform Commission paper opened the door to third-party funding for arbitration. Third party funding for arbitration in Hong Kong Readers will be aware of the increasing popularity…
One of the peculiarities of the revised Russian Arbitration Laws of 29 December 2015 (“Laws“), entering into force on 1 September of this year, is an attempt to localize the on-shore settlement of corporate arbitral disputes involving domestic companies. Only an arbitration institution which has adopted, publicized online, and filed special rules for arbitration of…
Since 2011, Myanmar has seen a renewed effort at reforming its political, social and economic landscape. As part of the reforms, on 15 July 2013, Myanmar formally acceded to the New York Convention 1958. Myanmar had however not enacted local legislation or revised its archaic Arbitration Act of 1944 to give effect to its international…
