We initiate our traditional Year in review series of 2020 with a retrospective view of the reported developments in the Sub-Saharan Africa. In this post, we aim at giving you a quick look back to some of our most impactful publications in 2020 from this geographical area, with a focus on the commercial arbitration developments…
Day three of New York Arbitration Week 2020 featured a panel discussion on non-signatories in arbitration sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators New York Branch and the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC). The session was broken into two parts: compelling arbitration (before arbitration) and enforcing an award (after arbitration), each framed by the…
The issue of adjournment of enforcement proceedings relating to foreign arbitral awards that are subject to setting aside proceedings has featured prominently before national courts in recent years and has been the subject of other contributions on this blog (see here and here). This topic is especially significant in the Netherlands, an important jurisdiction for…
Electronic signatures (e-signatures) may affect in some cases arbitration’s most valuable characteristic: the enforceability of the arbitral award. In most jurisdictions, and in particular pursuant to Article 31(1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, arbitral awards must be rendered in writing and contain the arbitrators’ signatures. The enforceability risks of authenticating an arbitral…
The obligation of contracting states to recognize arbitration agreements and refer the parties to arbitration is provided in Article II of the New York Convention 1958 (the ‘Convention’). This post will endeavor to evaluate the meaning of the phrase ‘refer the parties to arbitration’ used in Article II(3) of the Convention and whether this phrase…
12th August 2020 marks the 21st anniversary of the Indonesia’s Law Number 30 Year 1999 on Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (“Arbitration Law”).1)Any comments/views expressed in this article are those of the authors only. They do not reflect the views of KarimSyah Law Firm or AIAC unless otherwise stated. Culture wise, many countries, especially Indonesia, venerate…
On 12 June 2020, the Kingdom of Tonga (“Tonga“) acceded to the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “Convention“), being the 164th state party to do so. In the context of the Pacific region, Tonga is the 6th state to accede to the Convention after the Marshall…
On February 27, 2020, the Third Division of the Colombian Council of State (“Court”) issued a judgment resolving an annulment petition submitted by a state-owned company’s subsidiary against an international arbitral award. In its judgment, the Court decided to annul the award due to the Tribunal’s failure to comply with the agreed arbitral procedure. In…
Conducting all or parts of a hearing in the form of a virtual hearing has become a daily reality for many arbitrators, parties, and witnesses as the COVID pandemic continues to disrupt the legal practice. But as countries gradually ease out of lockdown and find their way into a “new” normal, it may be worth…
An award set-side underlines that it has been annulled in the jurisdiction in which it has been rendered. The grounds for setting aside an award are provided by the UNCITRAL Model Law and are quite similar throughout numerous jurisdictions. Article V of the New York Convention (‘NYC’) presents a set-aside award as one of the…
This post analyses the recent developments in enforcement of foreign awards in India that were discussed during the Delos’ Tagtime webinar by Mr. Gourab Banerji SA.1) who was “tagged” by Sir Bernard Eder. Mr. Banerji then “tagged” his colleague from the Nigerian Bar Ms. Funke Adekoya SAN to appear in the next Tagtime webinar by…
Three recent decisions of the Courts of Appeal in Singapore and England (BNA v BNB and another [2019] SGCA 84 (“BNA v BNB”); Kabab-JI S.A.L v Kout Food Group [2020] EWCA Civ 6 (“Kabab v Kout”); and Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi A.S. v OOO “Insurance Company Chubb” and others [2020] EWCA Civ 574 (“Enka v…
On June 1, 2020, the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA. The Court held that the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“New York Convention”) does not prohibit a Contracting State from applying the domestic law doctrine…
The recent English High Court decision in Carpatsky Petroleum Corporation v PJSC Ukrnafta [2020] EWHC 769 (Comm) provides useful guidance on the English courts’ approach to determining whether a party is entitled to resist the enforcement of an award on one of the grounds set out in s. 103(2) of the Arbitration Act 1996 (which…
Public policy defences to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards continue to generate uncertainty. Under Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”), an award may be refused recognition or enforcement if “[t]he recognition or enforcement of the award would be contrary…
On 3 February 2020, the Republic of Seychelles became the 162nd Contracting State of the New York Convention (already followed by Palau as number 163, reported here). The New York Convention thus comes into force for the Seychelles today (Article XII(2) New York Convention). The Cabinet and the National Assembly had approved the accession on…
The 1958 New York Convention (“NY Convention” or “Convention”) was adopted in the era when probably the fastest form of communication in which an arbitration agreement could have been concluded was via telegrams. The Convention requires written form for an arbitration agreement (clause) to be valid, but the electronic communication of our times had not…
On 31 March 2020, the Republic of Palau (“Palau”) became the 163th state to accede to the United Nations Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the “Convention”).1)The authors were engaged by the Asian Development Bank (“ADB”) as part of a team of experts to advise on Palau’s accession to the Convention…
The overwhelming weight of opinion among legal practitioners is that enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kazakhstan is theoretically possible under the New York Convention (“NY Convention”), albeit problematic in practice due to ambiguity in the Kazakh legislations. Many problems associated with the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kazakhstan and the application…
I discussed in a previous post on the blog the decision of 18 February 2020 of the Court of Appeal in The Hague that revived the awards rendered in July 2014 against the Russian Federation in Veteran Petroleum Ltd., Yukos Universal Ltd. and Hulley Enterprises Ltd. cases. Those awards had been annulled in April 2016 on the basis that there…
Introduction1)Kevin is a member of BCLP’s International Arbitration and Construction Disputes team in London. He is due to be admitted as a Hong Kong solicitor and currently has no right to practice as a solicitor in England & Wales or Hong Kong. In this year’s Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (the “2020 Vis…
Questioning About the (Inexorable?) Future Could artificial intelligence (AI) carry out decision-making? Is it just a matter of time? Will AI replace human arbitrators? Further, will emotional intelligence always trump AI, or will AI enhance the arbitral process? Despite the topicality of the subject, the arbitration rules remain silent about AI. However, there is also…
Recently, the Center for International Investment & Commercial Arbitration inaugurated its Young Arbitration Group in Pakistan in a conference which attracted foreign panelists who efficaciously explained the theory and practice of international arbitration, highlighting the room for improvement in Pakistan. This has been summarized in a prior post on the Blog, which also explained that…
In 2019, the Swiss Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) seized two opportunities to confirm and develop its existing case law in relation to the personal scope of arbitration agreements and their possible extension to non-signatories. Extension to Non-Signatories under the New York Convention In a first decision, ATF 145 III 199, dated 17 April 2019,…
