The recent reform of Italian arbitration law, which went into effect on 28 February 2023, has finally put an end to the historical prohibition for Italian-seated sole arbitrators and arbitral tribunals to grant interim measures. This ban was one of the most atypical features of Italian arbitration law (which is still found only in very…
The English High Court’s judgment in Infrastructure Services v Spain is one of the most important developments of the past year in relation to the enforcement of intra-EU investment awards. It arises out of the Luxembourgish and Dutch claimants’ successful ICSID arbitration against Spain under the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”), in which the tribunal held…
Our previous post on this Blog explored the Polish post-award case law from 2020. We tried to answer whether Poland is an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. And we concluded that out of the more than 200 proceedings we have been able to review, arbitral awards were set aside or refused enforcement / recognition only in a relatively…
On 28 February 2020, two Dutch investors obtained a favourable arbitral award against Spain. The tribunal found that Spain had violated the Energy Charter and ordered Spain to pay damages of EUR 15.4 million to AES Solar Energy Coöperatief U.A. (AES) and EUR 11.1 million to Ampere Equity Fund B.V. (AEF). Despite Spain’s attempts to…
As most other arbitration laws, section 86(3)(b) of the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) Arbitration Act 2013 provides that enforcement of arbitration awards may be refused where “it would be contrary to public policy to enforce the award.” This provision mirrors Article V(2)(b) of the New York Convention 1958 and section 103(3) of the English Arbitration…
The Panel “The Future of Major Energy Projects Crises, Challenges, and Opportunities” took place on the penultimate day of the London International Disputes Week 2023 (“LIDW 2023”) on 18th May 2023 in the London office of McDermott Will & Emergy with panellist Armando Neris from McDermott Will & Emery, Lucian Ilie from Outer Temple Chambers,…
Although the COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted almost everywhere and in-person events have returned to full swing, Kyiv Arbitration Days 2022 (KAD), the most famous Ukrainian arbitration event, was still held online. The title of the conference – “After the war: The legal battles” – speaks for itself. While the war is still ongoing and…
This post addresses the recognition and enforcement of foreign awards in Colombia and summarizes two important cases decided in 2022 by the Civil Chamber of the Colombian Supreme Court of Justice (“Court”) on the matter. These cases illustrate the process of analysis undertaken by the Court to decide requests for recognition and enforcement of foreign…
“Crypto assets” are a relatively new phenomenon. Born in 2008 with the creation of Bitcoin, they have since massively increased in price, adoption rate, and popularity, at least until 2021, when the overall market value peaked. After such highs, we entered a “crypto winter” (explored on the blog here), with a reported drop of over…
This blog post covers UNCITRAL’s current work on adjudication, whose declared goal is to ensure enforcement of decisions concluding the adjudication procedure, especially in the context of cross-border, long-term projects. The post first gives an overview of the model clauses drafted by UNCITRAL, explaining the role played by the UNCITRAL Expedited Arbitration Rules (“Expedited Rules“)….
In a recent decision, the Austrian Supreme Court ruled on the enforceability of an investor-state award rendered under the ICSID Additional Facility Rules. While the Supreme Court found that the award was — in principle — enforceable under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards from 1958 (“NYC“), it upheld the…
On 24th of February 2022, the Russian Federation commenced a full-scale and open invasion of Ukraine after annexation of Crimea and eight years of hiding behind its puppet republics, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics. The main difference between the start of armed conflict in the Donbas region in 2014 and the start of…
In recent years, arbitration in India has grappled with numerous challenges. Recalcitrant parties knocking on the doors of trigger-happy courts ensured, unfortunately, that arbitration was viewed with mistrust in India. However, the changes observed in the last few years, including those discussed in our prior year in review posts focused on India (see here, here…
The year 2022 seems to have passed in a flash, but not without bringing some exciting developments for the arbitration scene in Southeast Asia. From the Southeast Asia editorial team, here are some of the past year’s highlights. Developments in the law and jurisprudence Contributors to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog critically analysed the Singapore…
On 7 October 2022, the High Court of the Republic of Singapore (“High Court”) delivered a landmark decision on the enforceability of foreign emergency arbitration awards in CVG v CVH. The High Court rejected the enforceability of the emergency award on the ground of procedural irregularity, reinforcing the importance of due process even in cases where…
Amidst the turmoil surrounding the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and the announced withdrawal by Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia and Luxembourg, the very first edition of the Report on compliance with investment treaty awards by States has been published by the present author. Whereas the discussion usually focuses on whether international investment agreements (IIAs)…
On 29-30 September 2022, the second annual Balkan Arbitration Conference (“BAC 22”) – was held in Tirana, Albania. The Conference is the first arbitration conference for the Balkan region as a whole. Its purpose is to provide a forum to help build cooperation and develop the use and practice of arbitration in the Balkan region….
Allen & Overy’s webinar on the second day of Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2022 brought together six practitioners from the fields of arbitration, insolvency and enforcement to discuss the key practical and strategic considerations when acting for and against parties in financial distress. Guided through a hypothetical case study involving jurisdictions such as Hong Kong,…
This August, Dr. Mariel Dimsey assumed the position of HKIAC Secretary-General, succeeding Ms. Sarah Grimmer, who served in the position for six years. Mariel brings with her extensive, 15-years’ experience as counsel and arbitrator in international arbitration, spanning various jurisdictions and legal traditions. Mariel takes the helm during an exciting period at HKIAC and for…
On 30 June 2022, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR” or “the Court”) delivered its judgment in BTS Holding, a.s. v. Slovakia (“BTS”), a case concerning the non-enforcement in Slovakia of a Paris-seated ICC commercial arbitration award. Although there is nothing particularly ground-breaking in the Court’s key findings, the judgment has caught the attention…
On 21 April 2022, the Dubai Court of Cassation (the “Cassation Court”) issued a judgment in respect of an application for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration award in case no. 109 of 2022 (the “Judgment”, available in Arabic-only on the Court’s website). In the Judgment, the Cassation Court considered whether an arbitration award…
Germany found itself as the hotseat of the “battle” between EU law and investment arbitration in May 2016 when the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) referred questions relating to the compatibility of EU law with the arbitration clause in the Slovakia-Netherlands BIT to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“ECJ”) in Slovakia v….
The case involving Mr. Víctor Pey Casado, the President Allende Foundation, the 1960s Chilean newspaper “El Clarín” and the Republic of Chile – once the longest-running dispute in ICSID history – is certainly a complex one. The dispute has spanned more than twenty years, encompassing three different arbitration proceedings with three separate arbitral awards issued…
Under Article V(2)(b) of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958) (the New York Convention, “NYC”), a court may refuse to recognize or enforce a foreign award if “recognition or enforcement of the award is contrary to the public policy of that country.” The NYC does not define the term…
