Arbitration

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, LCIA Arbitration, LCIA Guidance Notes for Arbitrators

(Hughes Hubbard LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Background At the end of June 2015, the London Court of International Arbitration issued three new guidance notes to accompany its 2014 arbitration rules. The guidance notes, entitled: “Notes for Parties”, “Notes for Arbitrators”, and “Notes on Emergency Procedures” are available on the institution’s website. In issuing the guidance notes, the LCIA has followed in…

Arbitration, Awards, DIFC, Dubai, Enforcement, ICC Arbitration, International arbitration, MENA, Middle East, New York Convention, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Stay of Proceedings, UAE, Uncategorized, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

By Order of 11 May 2015 (unpublished) in Case No. ARB 005/2014 – A v. B, Justice Sir David Steel of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court of First Instance dismissed an application made by an award debtor to set aside an order granted by the DIFC Court on 8 January 2015 (unpublished) for…

Arbitral Award, Arbitration, DIFC, Enforcement, Middle East, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, UAE, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance (CFI 043/2014 – DNB Bank ASA v. (1) Gulf Eyadah Corporation (2) Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC, ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 2nd July 2015), H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, drew…

ADR, Arbitration, European Union, Mediation, Singapore, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

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

At the CIARB’s London centenary conference earlier this month, the Honourable Chief Justice of Singapore, Sundaresh Menon, cautioned that: “we should remain mindful that there is no place for complacency or reason to assume that [the] international system of dispute resolution which so many have invested so much in, will continue on its recent trajectory…

Arbitration, Burden of proof, Due process, Enforcement, Estoppel, France, Third Party

(Castaldi Partners)/ /Leave a comment

On 5 November 2014, the French Cour de Cassation, overruled a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal for having reversed the burden of proof in a case involving a non-participating party. With this victory before the French Supreme Court, Yukos Capital (“Yukos”) is one step closer to the enforcement of an arbitral award against…

Applicable Law, Arbitration, Economic Sanctions, Sanctions

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As mentioned in a prior entry (Brussels’ Sanctions Against Russia and Moscow’s Retaliatory Measures Through the Eyes of the Arbitrator), under certain conditions, arbitrators have the authority to give effect to economic sanctions that are external to the applicable law. These, just like exchange control regulations and antitrust laws, fit into the category of overriding…

Arbitration, Arbitration clause, Australia, Free Trade Agreements, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Transparency

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 June 2015, the Australian Productivity Commission released its eighteenth Trade and Assistance Review 2013-14. The Commission is an independent research and advisory body, with statutory authority to report annually on the economic impacts of Australia’s international trade policy. As readers of this blog may recall, in previous years the Commission’s Review has influenced…

Arbitration, Third party funding

(Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law)/ /3 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Third-party funding is a controversial, dynamic, and evolving phenomenon in international arbitration. Proponents and opponents of third-party funding debate whether the practice will make a positive or negative impact on the worldwide system of dispute resolution. Both sides of the debate make predictions regarding the effect of third-party funders through the cases that they finance….

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, National Arbitration Laws, Russia

(Fangda Partners)/ /1 Comment

Introduction and background Vladivostok is often perceived as the ‘capital’ of Russia’s Far East. It is also often portrayed, however, as Moscow’s backward colonial outpost, with few cars on the streets and where the supermarkets’ half-empty shelves offer nothing but Bulgarian pickles and stale bread. This perception is misguided. Russia’s Far East encompasses 36% of…

Advocacy, Arbitration, Conference, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The 27th Annual Workshop of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (“ITA”), which took place on June 17-18 in Dallas, Texas, examined  “Subconscious Influences in International Arbitration”.  The Workshop was organized by co-chairs José Astigarraga of Astigarraga Davis (Miami), Professor Margaret Moses of Loyola University Chicago School of Law (Chicago) and Luke Sobota of Three Crowns…

Arbitrability, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, European Law

(Allen & Overy LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

Accentuate Ltd v. ASIGRA Inc. [2009] EWHC 2655; Fern Computer Consultancy Ltd v Intergraph Cadworx & Analysis Solutions Inc [2014] EWHC 2908 (Ch) In 2009, a senior libel judge sitting in the English High Court held that an arbitration agreement was “null and void” or “inoperative” because it purported to apply a foreign law which…

Arbitration, Energy, Energy Charter Treaty, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Italy, Russia

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

No doubt that the last three years have been quite busy for the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and for the Energy Charter Conference. The number of investor-state arbitration cases under Article 26 of the ECT doubled in this time span, going from thirty known cases to sixty-eight (as reported on the website of the Energy…

Anti-arbitration, Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, India

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Prior to 2012, India faced widespread criticism from the international arbitral community over a series of judgments concerning arbitration. Much has changed since 2012 – in the post-Bharat Aluminium (“BALCO”) era. A pro-arbitration approach by the judiciary was reflected in a series of judgments that came after the BALCO judgment, such as Reliance Industries (Reliance…

Arbitration, Good Faith, Group of Companies Doctrine, Non-signatory, Switzerland, Third Party

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /1 Comment

and Katherine Bell, Schellenberg Wittmer In 2014, the Swiss Supreme Court rendered 32 decisions on petitions to set aside international arbitral awards. Consistent with a traditionally low success rate, the Supreme Court granted only 4 of the 32 petitions. One of these four petitions was considered in a French-language decision dated 7 April 2014 (Decision…

Arbitration, Oil & Gas

(Clyde & Co. LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

and Ian Hopkinson, Clyde & Co At above US$60 per barrel, crude oil prices have bounced a little since their January 2015 low. However, with continued mixed indications concerning US production, opinion remains divided on where prices will end up in the short to medium term. As the recent GAR Live Energy Disputes event (held…

Arbitration, Consent, Domestic Courts, obligation to arbitrate, Procedure, Stay of Proceedings, United States, Waiver

(Chinese University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law)/ /1 Comment
YSIAC

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered a fund management committee (‘SBC’) to arbitrate its dispute with Navistar International (‘Navistar’) – at Navistar’s request – despite the fact that Navistar refused SBC’s own request for arbitration, ignored SBC’s formal notice of arbitration, and then litigated SBC’s claim in court for over a year (Art…

Arbitration, Mediation, Uncategorized

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In April 1976, an event now known as the Pound Conference ignited modern ADR in the USA, launching discussion of what may have become the “greatest reform in the history of the country’s judicial system”.1 Forty years later, all stakeholders in the dispute prevention and resolution fields around the world are being invited to participate…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, CJEU

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On 13 May 2015, the CJEU handed down judgment in Gazprom (C-536/13). As readers will recall, the case concerns whether an EU court must refuse to give effect to an anti-suit award granted by an EU seated arbitral tribunal on the basis that such a measure is incompatible with EU Regulation 44/2001 (the “Brussels I…

Admissibility, Arbitration, ICC Arbitration, Set aside an arbitral award

(Reed Smith)/ /Leave a comment
Linklaters

The so-called Jnah v. Marriott saga belongs to the category of cases that are seemingly never-ending. It is telling that the contracts which gave rise to the various disputes between the Lebanese company Jnah Development SAL (“Jnah”) and the US company Marriott International Hotels Inc. (“Marriott”) were concluded in 1994. On 18 March 2015, the…

Arbitration, Arbitrators, Public Policy

(AZHA Avocats)/ /2 Comments

On the ground that arbitration is a consensual and neutral means of dispute resolution, it has been suggested that arbitrators ought to be wholly and exclusively at the service of the parties and that they are not entrusted with a mission to defend public interests. There may be reasons to call this view into question….

Arbitral Award, Arbitral seat, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Best practices, Commercial Arbitration, Document Production, Due process, International arbitration, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Procedure, Uncategorized

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As a fitting tribute to the vision of the first dedicated arbitration education institution, the School of International Arbitration (SIA) marked its 30th anniversary with a two day conference looking back and looking forwards. Entitled “The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration: The Next 30 years”, it brought together over 200 graduates, academics and practitioners…

Arbitration, Asia-Pacific, Russia, Sanctions

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

and Brenda Horrigan and Rebecca Soquier, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Shanghai The sanctions arising out of the Ukrainian crisis have led commercial entities to consider their options for resolving current or potential disputes. In this post, we consider the impact of the sanctions against Russia on the future of dispute resolution for Russian entities and…

Arbitration, Surveys

(The Center for American and International Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In connection with the upcoming 2015 ITA Workshop in Dallas on June 17-19, we are now conducting a survey on the experiences of arbitration practitioners with enforceability of arbitral awards. We write to invite your participation. As you may recall, last year we launched the 2014 ITA Survey on the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, and…