In Aiteo Eastern E & P Company Ltd v Shell Western Supply and Trading Ltd & Ors [2024] EWHC 1993 (Comm) (01 August 2024), the Commercial Court considered in detail the principles set out in Halliburton Co v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd [2020] UKSC 48 (“Halliburton“) on the question of apparent bias of an arbitrator in a challenge…
The English Arbitration Bill, introduced to UK Parliament in November 2023, aimed to ensure that the Arbitration Act 1996 remained fit for purpose and maintained England’s status as a leading destination for commercial arbitration. However, the bill was lost when the 2024 UK general election was called. In July 2024 the new government reintroduced the…
In the case of Sharp Corp Ltd v Viterra BV (formerly known as Glencore Agriculture BV [2024] UKSC 14, the UK Supreme Court has decided the proper measure of damages under the Grain and Feed Trade Association (“Gafta”) default clause and reaffirmed the interpretation of section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (“AA 1996”). Whilst…
On 19 June 2024, the Privy Council issued its decision in Sian Participation Corp (In Liquidation) v Halimeda International Ltd [2024] UKPC 16, holding that winding up proceedings should not be automatically stayed or dismissed by the court where the disputed debt is subject to an arbitration agreement. Instead, the correct test to be applied…
The role of the United Kingdom (“UK”), particularly London, and of the European Union (“EU”) in the landscape of investment arbitration has been a central topic of discussions during the London International Dispute Week 2024 (“LIDW”). This post aims to provide a non-exhaustive account of some of the events which tackled this theme. On the…
Following the recommendations of the Law Commission of the UK (here, here and here), the English Arbitration Act 1996 (EAA) is presently undergoing a substantial reform phase after nearly 27 years. The Arbitration Bill is now before the House of Lords. As appears from the Arbitration Bill and the Commission’s recommendations, the English arbitration law…
One of the proposed changes to the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”) introduced in the Arbitration Bill is an express power for tribunals to make an award on a summary basis in relation to any issue claim, or defence, if the tribunal considers that the party has no real prospect of succeeding on that…
The UK Supreme Court (‘UKSC’) addressed the meaning of ‘matter’ in Article II(3) of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (‘NYC’) in its judgment of 20 September 2023 in Republic of Mozambique v Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL (Holding) [2023] UKSC 32 (‘Mozambique v Privinvest’). This post examines the…
The English Commercial Court’s September 4, 2020 decision in P&ID v. Nigeria (P&ID) agreed to halt enforcement due to a prima facie case of fraud. This decision introduced a novel perspective to the legal discourse of extension of time to challenge an arbitral award. In particular, the court determined to extend the time to challenge an…
On 6 September 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales issued its final report and draft Bill proposing amendments to the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). In this post we focus on the Law Commission’s recommendations regarding jurisdictional challenges in respect of English-seated arbitrations and in particular how its two recommendations (assuming that they…
The UK Law Commission recently proposed drastic reform to section 67 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 that deals with the challenge of an award on the ground of lack of substantive jurisdiction in an English seated arbitration. The Law Commission’s First Consultation Paper published in September 2022 initially recommended the challenge under section 67…
This post summarizes two events held as part of Day 3 of the 2023 London International Dispute Week (“LIDW”). First, the panel “Developments in the Arbitration Law of England & Wales: Impact on Arbitration Globally and London’s Place in the World” organized by Debevoise & Plimpton. Second, the joint special event organized by the School…
London International Disputes Week 2023 (“LIDW 2023”) kicked off on 15 May 2023. This year’s theme explores how the disputes community, is and should be, adapting to a changing world. The first day – International Arbitration Day (hosted by Mayer Brown, Allen & Overy, and Herbert Smith Freehills) – followed the “arbitration disputes sun” across…
One of the complaints levelled at arbitration is that tribunal orders lack teeth because, unlike a court, arbitrators do not have wide-ranging powers to enforce interlocutory measures against a party. Tribunals must often rely on the courts of the seat to enforce interlocutory measures. In December 2022, the English Court of Appeal (“CoA”) in S3D…
Issues relating to the arbitrability of disputes have gained increasing prominence in recent years. The question of which law ought to govern an arbitration agreement and concomitantly the inquiry as to whether a dispute is arbitrable, in the absence of an explicit choice of law governing the arbitration agreement has been explored in previous judgments…
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 November 2021, the Law Commission of the United Kingdom announced its review of the English Arbitration Act 1996. Among the critical issues of the reform is the debate on whether to codify the existing principle of implied confidentiality of arbitration proceedings under English law. While the principle of implied confidentiality is largely settled in…
The Law Commission of England and Wales announced in November last year that it will be conducting an 18-month review of the English Arbitration Act. Ever since, there has been much speculation as to what changes the Law Commission might recommend. The Law Commission has announced some broad areas of potential focus. Whilst some of…
In Armada Ship Management (S) Pte Ltd v Schiste Oil and Gas Nigeria Ltd [2021] EWHC 1094 (Comm), the High Court considered the interplay between sections 32 and 72 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act) and provided a rare indication of how the courts will consider section 32 applications, identifying when section 32 will…
In a recent High Court case, it was held that a reference in a contract to the “court” did not mean a court at all but meant instead – perhaps alarmingly – arbitration. This decision in Helice Leasing S.A.S. v PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) TbK [2021] EWHC 99 (Comm) may be a cause of concern…
In June 2020, the English High Court of Justice (Mr Butcher J) issued a judgment in Obrascon Huarte Lain SA & Anor v Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development dealing with an application under ss. 67 and 68(2)(b) of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Arbitration Act”) for the setting aside an Addendum…
The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision in Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration) v. Vavilov, 2019 SCC 65 potentially poses an inadvertent, yet serious, threat to judicial deference to domestic commercial arbitration in Canada. Until Vavilov, courts hearing appeals on questions of law from arbitral tribunals applied the deferential “reasonableness” standard of review. Vavilov…
In Minister of Finance (Incorporated) & 1Malaysia Development Berhad v International Petroleum Investment Company & Aabar Investments PJS [2019] EWCA Civ 2080 (“IPIC”), Sir Geoffrey Vos, delivering the judgment of the England and Wales Court of Appeal, addressed the ambit of supervisory relief available before the English Courts under ss 67 and 68 of the…
In A and B v C, D and E [2020] EWCA Civ 409, the English Court of Appeal issued on 19 March 2020 an order compelling a non-party to arbitration proceedings seated in New York to give evidence in support of the arbitration. The Arbitration The dispute arose under two settlement agreements between A…
