Enforcement

Arbitral seat, Arbitration clause, China, Enforcement, Hong Kong, Mediation, Set aside an international arbitral award, Sovereign Immunity, UNCITRAL Model Law

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

2011 has delivered some significant arbitration developments in Hong Kong, most of which (with some exceptions!) have been undoubtedly positive. So, what were the highlights of the Hong Kong arbitration year – and what challenges might lie ahead? First, Hong Kong’s new Arbitration Ordinance (cap. 609) came into effect on 1 June 2011 (blogged here)….

BIT, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, ICSID Convention

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

and Sandrine Giroud, Lalive In a decision issued on 23 November 2011, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court gave some welcome guidance on the rules of immunity applicable to the enforcement of ICSID awards in Switzerland (Decision 5A_681/2011 dated 23 November 2011 – The published decision is redacted but mentions the date of the ICSID award…

Arbitrators, Bias, Disclosure, Enforcement, Europe, ICC Arbitration

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP) and (University of Paris Descartes)/ /4 Comments
YIAG

In a decision rendered on 2 November 2011, the Reims Court of Appeal annulled an ICC Award for failure to disclose conflict of interest during proceedings, irrespective of the ICC Rules on challenging arbitrators in the case Avax v. Technimont.1)CA Reims, 2 Novembre 2011, n°. 10/02888 This post considers the latest instalment, the Reims Court…

Arbitration, Canada, Enforcement, ICSID Convention, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, NAFTA

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

As we approach the first anniversary of the UK Supreme Court’s landmark decision in the case of Dallah Estate and Tourism Holding Company v The Ministry of Religious Affairs, Government of Pakistan, it is only fitting that we would encounter a case which would cause us to revisit the issue of the proper standard of…

Enforcement, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /2 Comments

Recent reports of the freezing of Russian government funds at the Stockholm Arbitration Institute may be premature, but it still remains possible that a Swedish bailiff could move to seize such funds. At the time of this writing, a freezing request by German businessman Franz Sedelmayer remained under active review at a Swedish government debt…

Arbitral seat, Enforcement, Seat of the arbitration, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /2 Comments
Herbert Smith Freehills

In 1961, three years after the adoption of the New York Convention, the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration was adopted in Geneva (the Geneva Convention). At the time, the Geneva Convention was noteworthy as being the first international instrument to refer to “international commercial arbitration” by name. Today, however, many practitioners give little consideration…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Asia-Pacific, Enforcement, New York Convention, Set aside an arbitral award

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

In Galsworthy Ltd of the Republic of Liberia v Glory of Wealth Shipping Pte Ltd [2010] SGHC 304 (“Galsworthy”), the Singapore High Court held that a losing party to an arbitration seeking to challenge an arbitral award had the “alternative and not cumulative options” of applying to set aside the award, or, applying to set…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, ICSID Convention, Investment protection

(Perréard de Boccard)/ /Leave a comment

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is not foreign to defending investment claims. In order to restore investors’ confidence in its country, the Pakistani government has enacted on April 28, 2011 a law to secure foreign investment. The International Investment Disputes Act (the “Act”) has been qualified by the Pakistani president, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, as…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Asia-Pacific, Confidentiality, Enforcement, International arbitration, kompetenz-kompetenz, Mediation, National Arbitration Laws, New York Convention, Seat of the arbitration, UNCITRAL Model Law

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

The new Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (the “Ordinance”) comes into effect today, having been approved by the Hong Kong Legislative Council at the end of last year. The Ordinance represents the culmination of many years of discussion and consultation and marks a significant milestone in the development of Hong Kong as a world-class…

Enforcement, English Law

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /2 Comments
WilmerHale

The recent Commercial Court decision of A v B [2010] EWHC 3302 (Comm) (16 December 2010) is notable for two reasons. Firstly, the Commercial Court provided clarification of the requirements for pursuing an application for security under section 70(7) of the Arbitration Act 1996. Secondly, the decision is an indication of how the Supreme Court…

Annulment, Appeal, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement, Estoppel, France

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London)/ /1 Comment

On Thursday, 13 January 2011, France revealed its long-awaited new arbitration law. The décret n° 2011-48 portant réforme de l’arbitrage, was published in France’s Official Journal, alongside a report commenting on the reform. The new law can be found here, as well as the accompanying commentary here. The reform concerns both domestic and international arbitration…

Arbitration clause, Enforcement, Public Policy, Russia

(Taylor Wessing)/ /5 Comments
YIAG

Paul Hobeck and Christian Stubbe explained that internationally operating companies fear a “surprising interpretation of the term public policy” 1)“eine überraschende(…) Auslegung des Begriffs Ordre Public“, Hobeck / Stubbe, Genese einer Schiedsklausel (The Genesis of an Arbitration Clause), German Arbitration Journal (SchiedsVZ) 2003, p. 15, 19. when it comes to the recognition and enforcement of…

Enforcement, ICC Arbitration, Supreme Court, UK

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /Leave a comment

The UK Supreme Court released its judgment today in a much-written about dispute pitting a Saudi company against the Government of Pakistan. In the judgment, the Court declined to enforce a 2006 ICC arbitral award in favour of Dallah Real Estate and Tourism Holding Company. A central issue in the case was whether the Government…

Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, Europe, European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration 1961 (ECICA)

(Konrad & Justich)/ /Leave a comment

The European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration 1961 (ECICA) is a multilateral treaty regulating certain aspects of international arbitral proceedings. Some of its provisions cover issues also governed by the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958, also known as the New York Convention (NYC), which was concluded three years earlier…

Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Enforcement, Set aside an international arbitral award

(BOPS Avocats)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

Can arbitrators be called to give testimony on the arbitral procedure before the court in charge of annulment or enforcement actions? Courts in England and Norway had to tackle this issue and have given a similar answer to this question: arbitrators can be asked to give testimony as to the elements of facts of the…

Arbitration clause, Enforcement, EU Regulation 44/ 2001, Europe

(Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The discussion on the position of arbitration in the Brussels Jurisdiction and Enforcement Regulation (Regulation 44/ 2001) has now reached the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament. Just to remind those less familiar with the issue: the present Regulation, as well as the preceding Jurisdiction Convention, allowed courts in EU countries to assume…

Enforcement, Europe, Public Policy

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /1 Comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

When discussing public policy, English lawyers like to quote the famous comment of an English judge in the early 19th century that “public policy is a very unruly horse, and once you get astride it you never know where it will carry you”. Recent history shows how difficult it is to ride the ‘unruly horse’;…

Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, Europe, New York Convention, Public Policy

(Drakopoulos Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

An interesting issue regarding the enforceability of foreign arbitral awards, in relation to the provisions of the New York Convention of 1958 and its alleged conflict with domestic Greek Civil Code provisions in relation to conflict of laws and public policy doctrines arose in Greek jurisdiction. The matter is of specific interest as the dispute…

Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, National Arbitration Laws, Russia

(Muranov, Chernyakov and Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Under the Russian legal system, the last resort a party has with respect to challanging a court decision is to apply to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation with a claim to review the decision’s compliance with the Russian Constitution in terms of the provisions of laws and/or regulations applied by lower courts. There…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Europe, European Law, Jurisdiction, kompetenz-kompetenz, Lis Pendens, National Arbitration Laws, New York Convention, Public Policy, Seat of the arbitration, Set aside an international arbitral award

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

I am grateful to Professor Hess for his comments on my 3 March 2010 blog. It greatly contributes to advancing the debate. However, it also perfectly illustrates the difficulties of a proposition – the total or partial deletion of the arbitration exception in Regulation 44/2001 – that has not been sufficiently thought through. 1. Professor…

Enforcement, forum non conveniens, Inter-American Conventions, New York Convention

(Wayne State University)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Several years ago, three United States Courts of Appeal contemporaneously dismissed actions to enforce foreign arbitral awards for lack of personal jurisdiction, a development that provoked expressions of concern from the arbitration bar. Adding to their dread, the United States Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit dismissed an enforcement action on forum non conveniens…

Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, New York Convention, Public Policy, Russia

(Muranov, Chernyakov and Partners)/ /1 Comment

In post-Soviet time Russian courts have already developed quite a vast practice of recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards. One can even already fetch out some trends in such practice. Thorough case study shows that certain distrust to international arbitration and unexpected obstacles to the enforcement of the awards caused by lack of experience…

Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement, International Legal Theory and Teaching, North America

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

As I have noted earlier, there is a pitched battle between victims of Pan Am 73 terrorist hijacking over the distribution of treaty funds secured by the United States for American victims in a 2008 diplomatic settlement with Libya. The treaty and Executive Order stipulate that the money shall be distributed solely for the benefit…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Europe, European Law, Jurisdiction, Lis Pendens, National Arbitration Laws, New York Convention, Seat of the arbitration

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Professor Hess is the author of the chapter of the Heidelberg Report on the interplay between arbitration and the Regulation 44/2001 (“the Regulation”). As such, and quite understandably, he actively promotes the suggestion that the arbitration exception should be deleted from the Regulation. The Heidelberg proposal has been followed by a Green Paper of the…