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…
The confidentiality of arbitrations seated in England is long-established in English law. In the absence of an express agreement to dispense with confidentiality, English law recognises an implied obligation on parties and arbitrators to maintain the confidentiality of the hearing, the award and other materials produced in the proceedings (Dolling-Baker v Merrett [1990] 1 WLR…
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…
When a party is not content with an arbitration award, a challenge in the domestic courts often ensues. The High Court of England and Wales (the ‘High Court’) often deals with this issue in challenges based on ‘serious irregularity’ in arbitration proceedings. How domestic courts approach challenges to arbitration awards is of increasing importance as…
Taking witness evidence by video has long been considered acceptable practice in many jurisdictions. The Covid-19 pandemic of recent years has further affirmed the acceptability and use of this method of evidence-taking in both litigation and arbitration proceedings, especially since the only alternative to a remote hearing during those years was the even less desirable…
On 13 June 2024, Italian Arbitration Day took place in Rome. The full-day conference saw a large number of arbitration practitioners dealing with the issue of globalization and geography in the arbitration. This post offers an overview of the key takeaways from the discussion. Introduction: The Past, Present, and Future of Globalization After…
In a recent judgement rendered in H1 and another v W and others [2024] EWHC 382, the English Commercial Court removed a sole arbitrator under section 24 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “EEA”). This removal was based on statements made by the arbitrator regarding the way he would treat expert witness evidence that gave rise…
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…
In a recent judgment dated 14 March 2024, European Commission v UK Case C-516/22, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the UK failed to comply with its obligations under EU law (the “CJEU Judgment”). A casual reader may wonder how this could be. After all, the UK officially left the…
On 1 November 2023, the English High Court (“EWHC”) delivered its decision in Hulley Enterprises Limited v. Russian Federation. The EWHC dismissed the jurisdictional challenge raised by the Russian Federation (“RF”), which contested the enforcement of arbitral awards in favour of the former majority shareholders of OAO Yukos Oil Company (“Yukos”). Despite the RF asserting…
The UK Supreme Court (“UKSC”) in Tui UK Ltd v. Griffiths [2023] UKSC 48 recently considered the question whether a party must challenge a witness and expert evidence in cross-examination if it wants to have that evidence discredited or disregarded. The Supreme Court affirmed the rule in Browne v Dunn that a party must “put”…
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…
A recent decision, Nigeria vs P&ID, issued by the English High Court of Justice, has drawn significant global public attention. This decision is notable for several reasons. It is rare for English courts to overturn arbitration awards. However, it is the exceptional circumstances underlying the dispute that were truly extraordinary and render this case newsworthy….
“You want to tell us you don’t want to sow, you want to reap” asked the Nigerian appointed arbitrator, Chief Bayo OJO, during oral argument in the arbitration proceedings, to which Nigerian counsel, Chief Ayorinde, responded: “You cannot reap where you do not sow. That is a very Nigerian saying.” (Nigeria v. Process & Industrial…
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…
Securing a favourable arbitral award is not trivial. It involves a lot of work, a wait of, potentially, several years and the expense of the arbitral process. After all this, when a favourable award has, hopefully, been obtained, the last thing any client wants is to enter into yet another fight to enforce the award….
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…
In Lifestyle Equities CV v Hornby Street (MCR) Ltd [2022] EWCA Civ 51, the English Court of Appeal (or the “Court”) considered what law applied to the issue of whether a non-party to the arbitration agreement is bound by it. According to the majority of the Court, the issue is one of the scope of…
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…
The recent judgment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court (the UKSC) in Kabab-Ji v Kout Foods (the Kabab-Ji judgment) has reopened issues concerning the differing approaches of English and French courts to determining the law governing arbitration agreements. The Kabab-Ji saga provides a case study on the English-French law divide and has been discussed at…
Arbitration agreements often provide that certain procedural steps must be undertaken before arbitration is commenced, such as mediation or negotiation. This provides a ‘cooling-off period’ in which the parties can seek to resolve their dispute amicably before resorting to formal proceedings. When a party fails to satisfy a pre-arbitration procedural step and launches prematurely into…
Under Article 13(3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law, a party challenging an arbitrator may ‘appeal’ a decision of the tribunal or other body hearing that challenge to a court or other authority (the “Challenge Appeal Mechanism”). The purpose of the Challenge Appeal Mechanism is to make the arbitral process more efficient by permitting judicial review…
This post considers Practice Direction 57AC (“PD57AC”), which changes the approach to witness evidence in the English Courts, and its potential impact on London-seated arbitration. The New Approach to Witness Statements in English Litigation On 6 April 2021, the English Business and Property Courts marked a significant change in the approach that lawyers, and…
