On 2 May 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal set aside an ICC award rendered on 1 September 2016 in Paris due to the existence of facts likely to cause, in the minds of the parties, a reasonable doubt as to the presiding arbitrator’s independence. This post will summarise and comment the judgment rendered by…
57 years ago, the French Cour de Cassation’s Galakis decision (Civ. 1re, 2 May 1966) laid down the principle that French public entities may, exceptionally, submit to arbitration disputes arising from international contracts. Some would even consider that this principle was already in existence with the San Carlo case (Civ. 1re, 14 April 1964) where…
This post provides a recap of notable arbitration-related developments in France in 2023. Far from being an exhaustive account, it focuses on French court decisions in the areas identified below. Overall, French courts have not only consolidated their approaches on recurring topics—as was the case in 2020, 2021, and 2022—but have also taken a slightly…
Article 25 of the ICSID Convention imposes a condition on natural persons that they cannot bring a claim against the host State if they possess the nationality of both the contracting States of the invoked treaty (dual nationals). This is an added qualification to the requirements for a qualified investor mentioned in the treaty. Therefore,…
Even though the use of arbitration in commercial disputes is widely established in Europe, most European countries seems unwilling to use arbitration in family matters although it provides for the same benefits to parties. England seems to perfectly understand the opportunity and necessity to use arbitration in such disputes in the domestic realm, thanks to…
On Friday 8 September 2023, the ICC International Court of Arbitration (‘ICC Court’) hosted a panel on the interaction between arbitration and national courts titled “Arbitration and National Courts – Convergence or Divergence?” at its headquarters in Paris. The event, organized by Pedro Arcoverde (then-ICC Court Managing Counsel and Lecturer at SciencesPo), as part of…
Tel Aviv Arbitration Week 2023 had something for everyone! The jam-packed week included many different professional, social and networking events. This article highlights three important panel discussions that were held during the week. ESG Arbitration: the Future? This panel was moderated by Mr Shai Wade (RPC); and was composed of Deger Boden (Deger Law),…
The French Supreme Court (“Cour de cassation”) has ruled (1st February 2023, No. 21-25.024) that the breach of a mediation clause is not a matter of jurisdiction and as such cannot lead to the annulment of an award in which a tribunal has retained its jurisdiction, even though the mediation process has not been implemented…
Recently, in the landmark Vidatel case (previously discussed here), the French Court of Cassation (“Court of Cassation”) rejected an appeal for setting aside an arbitral award on the ground, among others, that the tribunal was improperly constituted. This appeal had arisen from a Paris Court of Appeal (“Court of Appeal”) judgment refusing to set aside…
This post provides a review of the most noteworthy arbitration-related developments in France in 2022. In a nutshell, last year, French courts consolidated previous approaches and solutions endorsed in 2020 and 2021, and confirmed major developments of French arbitration law. The Fear of a Substantive Review of Awards by the Annulment Judge Are French…
The landmark decision of the UK Supreme Court (the “Court”) handed down in 2021 in the case Kabab-Ji SAL v. Kout Food Group has already attracted considerable attention. Thus far comments focused on the Court’s construction of the New York Convention of 1958. Yet, the decision deserves a second look – which this post aims…
The epic finale of the Kabab-Ji saga has arrived. On 28 September 2022, the French Court of Cassation has delivered its long-awaited decision in Kabab-Ji SAL (Lebanon) v Kout Food Group (Kuwait) (Court of Cassation, Appeal No. 20-20.260) less than a year following the United Kingdom Supreme Court’s (UK SC) final say in the case’s…
In a decision dated 7 September 2022, the French Supreme Court confirmed the Sorelec decision issued by the Paris Court of Appeal in 2020. For the first time, France’s highest civil court has directly approved a shift in the jurisprudence of the Paris Court of Appeal that might have important implications for France as a…
On 9 February 2022, the French Supreme Court (‘Cour de cassation’) held that a respondent party in arbitration cannot sabotage proceedings by refusing to pay its share of the advance on costs, then subsequently challenge the jurisdiction of national courts in favour of arbitration. Such behaviour, according to the French Supreme Court, constitutes a breach…
As discussed on the Blog, the international chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal issued on 30 November 2021 a ruling in Boralex Energie France v. Innovent, on a set-aside request based on alleged irregularities related to the signing and dating of the award caused by the pandemic. To the authors’ knowledge, this decision is…
The Paris Court of Appeal has ruled in a Covid-related set aside request that French law does not impose an obligation on arbitrators to sign an award simultaneously on the same page. In a judgment dated 30 November 2021, the international chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal rejected an application to set aside a…
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…
It’s all still to play for. After the Paris Court of Appeal refused enforcement of a Swiss arbitral award against Alstom on the grounds of corruption, the French Supreme Court has now overturned that decision, ruling that the judges misinterpreted the evidence before them. The case may now be referred to the Versailles Court of…
On 27 October 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) issued a judgment in Kabab-Ji SAL v Kout Food Group [2021] UKSC 48. The Court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal finding that the law applicable to the arbitration agreement was the English choice of law for the whole…
Established in 1995 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Paris Centre for Mediation and Arbitration (“CMAP”) is a prominent Parisian institution specializing in both arbitration and mediation, which adopts a resolutely business-focused approach to dispute resolution. If the CMAP mostly deals with internal matters, approximately one third of the disputes submitted to…
In a judgment dated 22 June 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that liability claims against arbitrators fall within the “arbitration exception” of Article 1(2)(d) of the Brussels I recast regulation, leading to the application of French private international law rules to determine the competent courts. The Paris Court of Appeal further considered that…
The dispute between the former owners of the Yukos oil company and the Russian Federation concerning damages of more than US$50 billion is the largest in the history of arbitration. With thousands of pages written on the topic, the dispute has been summarized in earlier posts (see, amongst others, here and here). Following three arbitrations…
Over the last few years, the arbitration community’s attention was drawn to the establishment of English-speaking international commercial courts in various jurisdictions around Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Some said these courts would become a competitor of arbitration, providing an alternative forum to the international business community. Others were sceptical that the mere promise…
In establishing an International Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal in 2018, France signalled its desire to make Paris a favoured venue for resolving complex international disputes. The International Chamber has jurisdiction in France over any and all disputes that involve international commercial interest, which include, in particular, disputes related to commercial and transport…
