On 1 January 2017, the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (‘ACICA’) released a new Guideline on the Use of Tribunal Secretaries. This new Guideline addresses a silence in the existing ACICA Arbitration Rules as to the scope for tribunals to appoint arbitral secretaries, and the basis upon which they might be appointed. This post…

Over the past few decades, responding to the need to control the growing costs and time of arbitration proceedings, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC Court”) has continuously sought to achieve greater efficiency of the ICC arbitration proceedings (examples of such efforts can be found on the links available…

On 12 April 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal rejected the request for annulment brought by the Greek Company S.A.J. & P. Avax (“Avax”) against an ICC partial award on the ground that the chairman of the tribunal lacked independence. This is the fifth decision rendered in this case by French courts and in all…

Time and cost efficiency is the most commonly praised argument in favor of arbitration as opposed to state court litigation. The exchanges within the arbitral community as regards strategies to streamline arbitral proceedings in an effort to increase their efficiency are abundant. The issue, quite apparently, ranks high on the hot topic lists of counsel…

In a recent enforcement action of a foreign arbitral award rendered under the ICC Rules in London, England, the Dubai Court of Appeal questioned the United Kingdom’s proper membership of the 1958 New York Convention (on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards) (the “NYC” or simply the “Convention”). The action was brought by…

There is a saying in Bosnia and Herzegovina: “A tree does not grow from the sky”. In the same vein, an arbitration-friendly legal environment does not come about without much persistence and hard graft. As expert consultants tasked with assisting the Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP) division of the U.S. Department of Commerce with its…

Introduction Expert conferencing is undoubtedly gaining popularity in international arbitration. Many leading arbitrators are supporters and proponents of expert conferencing. Its attraction is growing in Singapore, as borne out by the results of a 2013 survey by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Expert conferencing can prove a baffling process for the lawyer trained to deal…

The Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce began the new year by announcing two interesting and even bold innovations. The ICC Court will now, according to the ICC’s own press release, “publish on its website the names of the arbitrators sitting in ICC cases, their nationality, as well as whether the appointment…

A ruling of the Austrian Supreme Court, the Oberste Gerichtshof in Vienna, Austria, of earlier this year (see ruling of 18 February 2015, 2 Ob 22/14w) raises anew the much debated question of the type and intensity of supervisory court review of European Union (EU) competition law awards. Readers may recall that EU competition law…