International arbitration

Appellate Body, BIT, Free Trade Agreements, Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, TPP

(Peking University School of Transnational Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Investment obligations and investor-State arbitration provisions normally have been negotiated under bilateral investment treaties (BITs), or, more recently, in the larger context of free trade agreements (FTAs). For investment provisions, the movement from BITs to FTAs recently has taken an additional, significant step: the negotiation of such provisions in the even larger context of mega-regional…

Arbitration, Arbitration institution, Corporate disputes, International arbitration, Russia

, (Hogan Lovells)/ /1 Comment

1 September 2016 marks the key date in the long-awaited Russian arbitration law reform, publicly announced by the President of the Russian Federation already in 2013. Since then, the Russian arbitration law reform has been in the public eye attracting significant publicity (previous blog posts on this can be read: here, here, here, and here)….

International arbitration, Women in arbitration

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

On a rainy Monday 19 September 2016, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP hosted an ICC YAF event at its London offices on the importance of women in our arbitration world. The issue of gender diversity was at the forefront of the agenda, and taking the Pledge for Equal Representation in Arbitration (www.arbitrationpledge.com). The YAF coincided with…

Admissibility, Arbitral Award, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, ASEAN, Asia-Pacific, China, International arbitration, International Law, International tribunals, Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Law of the Sea, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Philippines, PRC, South China Sea, State-to-state arbitration, Treaty, Treaty Interpretation, UNCLOS

(Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP )/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Introduction On 12 July 2016, a five-member arbitral tribunal (the Tribunal) constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) issued its long-awaited award on the merits in an arbitration brought by the Philippines against China. The tribunal’s jurisdiction is derived from UNCLOS; all State parties to UNCLOS…

Actual expenditure, Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, ASEAN, Asia, Asia-Pacific, Best practices, Bias, BIT, China, CIETAC, Code of Ethics, Commercial Arbitration, Confidentiality and Transparency, Conflicts of interest, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Disclosure, Ethics, Hong Kong, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, ICSID Arbitration, Independence and Impartiality, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, PRC, Security for Costs, Third party funding

(Norton Rose Fulbright LLP) and (Fangda Partners)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

Introduction On 23 May 2016, CIETAC’s Hong Kong Arbitration Center (CIETAC HKAC) issued for public consultation draft Guidelines for third party funding (the draft Guidelines). Third party funding (TPF) is a hot topic in Hong Kong. The draft Guidelines come in the wake of recent initiatives to clarify the law on TPF in the territory,…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement, International arbitration, New York Convention

, , (Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP) and (Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /Leave a comment

The 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“The New York Convention”) is the engine that makes international arbitration an effective mechanism to resolve disputes. The national courts of each signatory state give meaning to the New York Convention’s terms by rendering decisions interpreting the text of the document….

HKIAC Rules, ICC Arbitration, ICDR, ICSID Arbitration, Interim measures, interim relief, International arbitration, LCIA Rules, SCC Rules, SIAC, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, UNCITRAL Model Law

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

“When Justice Delayed Would be Justice Denied: Emergency Arbitrators and Interim Measures in International Arbitration” was the subject of the 28th Annual Workshop of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), which took place on 16 June 2016 in Dallas, Texas. Under the leadership of ITA’s Chair, Abby Cohen Smutny (White & Case), and the conference…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Energy, Financial Agreements, International arbitration

(K&L Gates, Poland)/ /2 Comments

The development of international arbitration in recent years has led to a significant multiplication of arbitration institutions around the world. In fact, every major city related to trade or industry has at least one dispute resolution centre. In addition to having long-standing, very reputable institutions for resolving commercial disputes, i.e. the ICC in Paris or…

ADR, Intellectual Property, International arbitration, Patents

(Three Crowns LLP)/ /1 Comment
Three Crowns LLP

The arbitration of patent disputes is on the rise. This is not only because patent litigation has been subject to criticism on multiple grounds, but also because arbitration offers several distinct advantages. In an effort to further explore this growth field, the Georgetown International Arbitration Society hosted a panel on the subject as a part…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Croatia, International arbitration, Non-signatory

(ARP Attorneys)/ /Leave a comment

An extension of arbitration agreements to non-signatories has been a much discussed topic, also on this blog. Here is an insight from Croatian courts: In a judgment issued on 2 September 2014 (VSRH Revt-321/2013-2), the Croatian Supreme Court [“Court”] set aside an arbitral award rendered by the Permanent Arbitration Court at the Croatian Chamber of…

International arbitration, International environmental disputes, Permanent Court of Arbitration

(11 KBW) and (gunnercooke LLP)/ /1 Comment

Introduction “Essentially what is at stake at this climate conference is peace”. Those were the words uttered by French President François Hollande to signify the importance of COP21 – the 21st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) held in Paris to address climate change in December 2015. Indeed,…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Proceedings, International arbitration, Latvia, Validity

, (COBALT)/ /Leave a comment

Latvian courts annually enforce approximately 1000 arbitral awards. Just a few years ago this number was even higher – reaching 7000 requests in 2004 (statistics of the Court Information System available here) – since also consumer disputes could have been submitted to arbitration, as non-negotiated arbitration clauses were not presumed to be unfair and thus…

Arbitration, Corruption, International arbitration

(D|R Arbitration & Litigation)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

The legal consequences of a breach of a contract tainted by corruption are better understood through a hypothetical: Contractor A of country X enters into negotiations with B, the Minister of Economics and Development of country Y, with a view to concluding an agreement on a large infrastructure project (“the Contract”). B requests the payment…

Arbitration, Domestic Courts, International arbitration, Italy

(Lombardi Segni e Associati)/ /4 Comments

According to the last “Scoreboard” published by the European Commission in 2015 regarding the civil justice system in each Member State, the average length of first instance proceedings in Italy is 608 days. Only Cyprus and Malta take more time to reach a decision. As if this was not enough, the number of proceedings which…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Asia, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Enforcement, HKIAC Rules, International arbitration, Russia

(Harbour Litigation Funding Limited)/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with William Kenny, Intern at HKIAC A View from Inside A foreword by Victor Dumler, Dumler and Partners Law Offices, St Petersburg. Over the last two decades, Russia-related disputes have become a considerable part of “Russia’s export” into Western Europe. Yet, after more than a year living under the sanctions regime, the situation is…

Arbitration, Arbitration institution, Arbitrator Intelligence, International arbitration, Surveys, Uncategorized

(MDisputes)/ /3 Comments

The 2015 International Arbitration Survey is out. Subtitled “Improvements and Innovations in International Arbitration,” the most recent effort by Queen Mary / White & Case has a lot to say about efforts to date to improve the practice and what more can be done. The survey’s methodology and sample size have themselves been the subject…

Asia, Enforcement, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Russia

(Fangda Partners)/ /1 Comment

In recent years, Russia has become a frequent respondent in investment treaty matters. This is a new development. There are currently at least ten treaty claims pending against Russia, with a number of other disputes threatened. At the same time, Russia is trying to protect its assets against a large-scale enforcement campaign in Europe and…

Arbitration, Awards, DIFC, Dubai, Enforcement, ICC Arbitration, International arbitration, MENA, Middle East, New York Convention, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Stay of Proceedings, Uncategorized, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

By Order of 11 May 2015 (unpublished) in Case No. ARB 005/2014 – A v. B, Justice Sir David Steel of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Court of First Instance dismissed an application made by an award debtor to set aside an order granted by the DIFC Court on 8 January 2015 (unpublished) for…

Anti-arbitration, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrator's Fees, Australia, Availability of arbitrators, Best practices, Bulgaria, Counsel, Dubai, England, Expedited arbitration, Germany, ICC Arbitration, International arbitration, LCIA Arbitration, New Zealand, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Uncategorized, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, Women in arbitration

(MDisputes)/ /3 Comments

Dear Readers, you may have noticed the dearth of recent posts, for which we make no excuses. It is late summer for the northern hemisphere contributors. At this point, most of us are lingering poolside at the Kluwer International Arbitration Resort and Amusement Park, sipping procedural cocktails in the waning light as the children take…

HKIAC, Hong Kong, India, International arbitration

(Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre)/ /Leave a comment

The Indian Government (‘Government’) plans to revamp the country’s arbitration landscape and is considering amendments to its arbitration legislation. If the Government is keen on transforming India into a global arbitration hub, it could draw from the experience of Hong Kong, which is a successful model for arbitration in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the gazettal…

Asia-Pacific, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Singapore, Singapore International Commercial Court

(Mayer Brown LLP)/ /Leave a comment

and Paul Tan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Short answer: Yes for some actions, but not all. Here is why. The Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”) was launched in January 2015 and provides litigants with the benefits of court proceedings and international arbitration without the constraints and setbacks of either option. Thus far, murmurs of…

Arbitration, Arbitration clause, Australia, Free Trade Agreements, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Transparency

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 June 2015, the Australian Productivity Commission released its eighteenth Trade and Assistance Review 2013-14. The Commission is an independent research and advisory body, with statutory authority to report annually on the economic impacts of Australia’s international trade policy. As readers of this blog may recall, in previous years the Commission’s Review has influenced…

International arbitration, Mediation, New York Convention, Uncategorized, UNCITRAL

(MDisputes)/ /Leave a comment

Vienna can be a confounding place for an outsider. In one moment, the city projects itself confidently into an innovative, international future and yet in the next moment can appear irrevocably bound to traditions. Being forward-minded in dispute resolution, Vienna is host this week to the IBA-VIAC International Mediation and Negotiation Competition, a four-day event…

Cost allocation mechanisms, Counsel, Counsel conduct, Emergency Arbitrator, International arbitration

(Clifford Chance LLP)/ /2 Comments

This was the title of one of four sessions comprising the dispute resolution module held as part of the fifth Institute for Energy Law (IEL) and IBA Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL) International Oil and Gas conference, which took place in London on 3-5 June 2015. The dispute resolution module…