With giga-projects at the forefront of its construction industry, the eyes of international contractors and foreign investors alike are on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”). But as with all construction projects of significant scale and complexity, disputes are unavoidable. With the introduction of the new arbitration rules of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration…
On 17 and 18 October 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and FIDIC co-hosted the annual ICC FIDIC Conference on International Construction Contracts and Dispute Resolution in Seoul. During the two-day conference, the speakers presented an update on developments and trends in the construction industry while sharing their insights into contracts and disputes. This…
On 17 and 18 October 2024, ICC and FIDIC co-hosted the annual ICC-FIDIC Conference on International Construction Contracts and Dispute Resolution in Seoul. On the second day, the panels focused more on dispute resolution aspects of construction projects and FIDIC. Session 5: Part I—Recent ICC and FIDIC Highlights Day 2 commenced with updates on…
On December 8, 2023, a Permanent Court of Arbitration tribunal composed of José Emilio Nunes Pinto (president), Guido Tawil, and Claus von Wobeser issued its final award in Mota Engil v. Paraguay (the “State” or “MOPC”)1)Mota-Engil Ingeniería y Construcción S.A. – Sucursal Paraguay v. Republic of Paraguay – Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Comunicaciones, PCA…
Acceleration is increasingly on the agenda for construction projects. Its use for decades in the United States in the form of constructive acceleration appears to continue unabated, and there is some evidence that the concept may be sought to be applied more broadly in other jurisdictions, including in the international marketplace through alternative dispute resolution…
In a region characterized by infrastructure projects and ambitious architectural feats that shape the nation’s skyline, arbitration has emerged as a common choice in the industry for settling construction disputes. This preference arises as foreign parties can sidestep entwining with local courts, enjoy privacy, and present their matters to arbitrators who are well-versed with the…
On June 7, 2023, an ICC tribunal issued an award that will redefine risk allocation in the construction industry. The arbitration was initiated by Refinería de Cartagena S.A.S. (“Reficar”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Ecopetrol S.A., which is in turn owned by the Republic of Colombia, against Chicago Bridge & Iron Company NV., CB&I UK…
In a judgment issued by the Dubai Court of Cassation (“COC”) on 8 June 2023 (Dubai Court of Cassation No. 1514/2022 Commercial), the COC confirmed that the condition precedent of referring the dispute to the engineer prior to filing arbitral proceedings is an issue pertaining to admissibility, not jurisdiction. The same judgment also provided insight…
Days 2 and 3 of the LIDW 2023 saw insightful discussions on three hot topics in international arbitration, i.e. corruption, diversity and efficiency. This post summarizes discussions held during two events: “Corruption in International Arbitration: Challenges and Approaches” held on Day 2, and “Increasing Diversity and Efficiency in the Resolution of Construction and Engineering Disputes”…
On the fourth day of the LIDW22, the session on “Changes in construction and infrastructure disputes: 2022 and beyond” looked at how construction contractors and employers have found ways to either avoid liability or impose extended liability on their counterparties. It also examined how English law has responded to these new developments. The conference was…
This post is a non-exhaustive summary of an online ICC YAF conference organised on 27 May 2021 primarily for the benefit of the Romanian and Moldovan practitioners, but with the participation of international practitioners having a general interest in construction arbitration in Eastern Europe. The conference comprised two panel discussions, each one debating one of…
International Law Talk is a series of podcasts through which Wolters Kluwer provides the latest news and industry insights from thought leaders and experts in the fields of International Arbitration, IP Law, International Tax Law and Competition Law. Here at Kluwer Arbitration Blog, we highlight the podcasts focused on international arbitration. In this latest episode,…
This is the second of a two-part blog post series for an upcoming publication titled International Arbitration and the COVID-19 Revolution edited by us. As detailed in Part 1 of this series, the book contains 17 chapters from 31 leading international arbitration practitioners. The focus of the contributions range from procedural topics in international arbitration…
Over the past decade, technology has been seeping into our everyday life at an exponential rate. Accordingly, much like any other industry with rapid growth, contractual agreements are required to form the framework in which lasting relationships can be maintained and provide for mutually beneficial dispute resolution mechanisms (“DRMs”). As we introduce technology into almost…
How severely are international construction projects affected by global COVID-19 pandemic? What does the COVID-19 pandemic mean for international construction disputes? As with so many other questions arising in relation to the pandemic, these questions will only be answered definitively in retrospect. For construction arbitration practitioners though, one of the immediate and graspable effects has…
A 3-day International Conference on Construction Law & Arbitration was held in December 2019 in New Delhi, co-hosted by the Society of Construction Law-India and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators-India. During the course of their presentations, the panelists discussed various topics ranging from trends in construction law in the context of arbitration across global jurisdictions…
It is well known that disputes arising from the realisation of major energy and infrastructure projects are often exceptionally complex, long, and expensive. They are of high factual and technical complexity with a great volume of evidence, witnesses and experts and involve multiple parties with the fragmentation of responsibilities. As such, one of the main…
The Latin Lawyer – GAR Live 3rd Annual Arbitration Summit took place on Tuesday, April 30, 2019 (the “Summit”). Practitioners from the United States and Latin America gathered for a third consecutive year in Miami to discuss the importance of dispute boards in constructions contracts, the issue of social licenses, the challenges facing the energy…
The main concerns of parties when considering arbitration are the costs and length of arbitration proceedings (see, e.g., Queen Mary University of London 2018 International Arbitration Survey). The popularity of arbitration as a method of resolving construction disputes thus depends largely on whether costs can be reduced and efficiency maintained. This is particularly the case…
Anecdotally, the time and cost of arbitrating international construction disputes is one of the biggest sources of dissatisfaction. This was reflected in the discussion on the final day of London International Disputes Week at the international construction disputes panels. This is unsurprising as previous Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) surveys identified cost and lack…
Unlike some Western arbitration institutions which enacted institutional arbitration rules dedicated to construction disputes, such as the 2015 American Arbitration Association (AAA) Construction Industry Arbitration Rules, to date, the leading Russian arbitration providers have not developed any specific rules for construction-related disputes. However, such disputes hold rather high positions in the caseload, with a peak…
The recent Petrobras – Lava Jato government fraud scandal that hit Brazil hard and swept through other Latin American countries has also greatly affected Perú. According to Marcelo Odebrecht (a Brazilian businessman and the former CEO of Latin America’s largest construction company), more than US$29m was paid in bribes between 2005 and 2014 in Perú…
