International arbitration

CJEU, Energy Charter Treaty, International arbitration, International Investment Arbitration, Intra-EU BITs, Intra-EU Investment Arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(European Institute, London School of Economics)/ /Leave a comment

Intra-EU investment agreements and arbitration have been a highly divisive issue in European policy circles for decades. The European Commission has been forcefully pushing for the termination of these agreements since the early 2000s. It criticised inter alia that intra-EU investment agreements and arbitration undermine the European legal order and create inequality among European investors…

Arbitral Appointments, Diversity, Equal Treatment, International arbitration

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The launch of Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (REAL) took place on 18 January 2021.The date to launch this initiative coincided with Martin Luther King’s Day, to commemorate the birth of this influential civil rights leader, known for his fight for racial equality. The initiative is led by Kabir Duggal, Rekha Rangachari, and Crina Baltag,…

Europe, International arbitration, London

(Zaiwalla & Co)/ /Leave a comment

As the transition period following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU approached, there was much speculation about what a “no deal” Brexit might entail. Optimistically, some drew inspiration from Singapore to suggest a possible future for the City of London as an “offshore” European financial services hub. While the exclusion of financial services from…

Achmea, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, ECT Modernisation, Energy Charter Treaty, Environment, European Union, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(Ministry of Climate and Environment, Republic of Poland)/ /Leave a comment

Following a highly-publicized diplomatic battle among the EU Member States (MS), the EU revealed in mid-February its proposal to amend the ECT’s definition of the “Economic Activity in the Energy Sector” (EAES). The announcement allayed fears of the intra-EU discussions on the matter falling apart. Insofar as it sets forth a vision for amendments that…

Anti-suit injunction, France, Germany, International arbitration

(Humboldt University of Berlin)/ /3 Comments

For more than a decade, it was evident that anti-suit injunctions are not permitted in the European Union. Recently, however, there have been developments that could signal the beginning of a new dawn. In late 2019, the Higher Regional Court Munich confirmed the first anti-anti-suit injunction in German history. The court prohibited Continental from further…

Brexit, Free Trade Agreements, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Japan, Reform

and (Concepción Global, PLLC, Universidad Complutense de Madrid)/ /1 Comment

On 23 October 2020, Japan and the United Kingdom (UK) signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the agreement coming into force on 1 January 2021. This signifies a historic landmark as the UK’s first trade deal as an independent nation, and represents a key milestone for international trade in a post-Brexit UK. The…

Egypt, International arbitration, Investment agreements, ISDS, Nationality

(Riad & Riad; Cairo University School of Law)/ /1 Comment

Egypt has been trying to control the number of investor-state arbitration disputes which has been steeply increasing since 2011 and the Arab Spring movement (see past discussion on the Blog here). To that end, Egypt created alternative out-of-court forums for amicable settlement of existing arbitration cases and worked toward curbing the eruption of new cases…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Institutional Rules, International arbitration, PCA, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Space Arbitration

and (King & Spalding)/ /Leave a comment

Nearly a decade ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) published its Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Outer Space Activities (“PCA Outer Space Rules” or “Rules”).  Unlike the five United Nations treaties on outer space, the Rules provide for a voluntary and binding dispute resolution process accessible to all space actors.  Notably,…

International arbitration, International Arbitration Law Library Series, School of International Arbitration (SIA), sociology of international arbitration

(General Editor International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

The publication of the 60th volume of the International Arbitration Law Library Series (“IALL” or “Series”) is a remarkable anniversary. The purpose of this blog post is to offer a brief assessment of the Series’ contribution to the field in the light of the evolution of international arbitration’s scholarship in the last 40-50 years. It…

International arbitration, International Arbitration Law Library Series, School of International Arbitration (SIA), sociology of international arbitration

(20 Essex Street and Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

Professor Stavros Brekoulakis has written a blog post commemorating the 60th volume of Kluwer Law International’s International Arbitration Law Library Series (“Series”), of which he and I are co-editors. His blog post considered the Series’ contribution to the field in light of the evolution of international arbitration’s scholarship in the last 40-50 years. In particular,…

Cybersecurity, General Data Protection Regulation, International arbitration, Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados, Personal data protection

, (Flex Arbitri)/ /Leave a comment

Brazil’s new data protection law, the Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD) (September 18, 2020), has important implications for international arbitration users and practitioners.1)On August 2018, the law was approved with an effective date of February 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effective date was postponed and the law came into force in…

Artificial Intelligence, Bias, International arbitration

(Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S.)/ /Leave a comment

Wolters Kluwer teamed up with the global law firm Clifford Chance to discuss the advances in artificial intelligence (AI), its limitations, and various applications in an interactive webinar titled Artificial Intelligence and Arbitration: Should We Keep It Real? The lively discussion covered AI fundamentals, in addition to recent developments in the field. The panel also…

Cybersecurity, Diversity, International arbitration, Surveys, Sustainability, Technology

and (Queen Mary University of London, School of International Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

Knowledge of international arbitration has often been based on anecdotal evidence. However, there has been increasing interest in empirical research among practitioners and scholars. In the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, arbitral practice has rapidly changed and new empirical research aimed at understanding the experience and expectations of the users of international arbitration is…

Arbitration, Environment, International arbitration

and (Columbia Law School)/ /8 Comments

For a long time, the word ‘environment’ occurred in the realm of arbitration only when disputes between parties had some connection to it. Lately, however, there has been a shift from environment only being a subject-matter specific issue in arbitrations to a more diverse theme of discussion among the global arbitration community. Credit for this…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Enforcement, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek) and (Georgetown University Law Center)/ /Leave a comment

On 5 May 2020, 23 Member States of the European Union (“EU”) signed an Agreement for the Termination of all Intra-EU Bilateral Investment Treaties (“Agreement”). Following ratification by the Kingdom of Denmark (6 May 2020) and Hungary (30 July 2020), the Agreement entered into force on 29 August 2020 (Article 16). The Agreement comes in…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitrators, BIT, International arbitration, Interpretation, Investment Arbitration

and (University of Naples "Federico II")/ /Leave a comment

On 15 July 2020, an UNCITRAL Tribunal rendered a Partial Award on Jurisdiction in a dispute between Mr. Lee-Chin ­­and the Dominican Republic (DR) concerning the alleged expropriation of a landfill in Santo Domingo. The arbitrators had to decide whether the arbitration clause – enshrined in Article XIII, Annex III, of the Caribbean Community-Dominican Republic…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration Agreement, Choice of Law, English courts, International arbitration, Law governing the arbitration agreement, Proper law of arbitration agreement, UK Supreme Court, Validation

(Mihaela Maravela Law Office)/ /Leave a comment

In its recent decision of 9 October 2020 in Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO “Insurance Company Chubb” & Ors [2020] UKSC 38 (Enka), the UK Supreme Court upheld the decision of the England and Wales Court of Appeal earlier this year restraining Chubb Russia from proceeding with parallel court proceedings in Russia, but…

CISG, International arbitration, Party autonomy

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The relationship between arbitration and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG” or “Convention”) is not a clear one, and the question of when an arbitrator is bound to apply the CISG is still not answered with clarity either by scholars or by practitioners. At a recent conference organized…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Court Assistance, International arbitration, Provisional measures, Removal of arbitrator, Swiss Civil Procedure Code, Swiss Private International Law Act, Switzerland

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The draft bill for the revision of the 12th Chapter of the Swiss Private International Law (“PILA”) was recently approved by the Swiss legislator (as analyzed previously on this blog). Besides permitting the filing of set-aside motions in the English language, the provisions regulating the court assistance have also been revised and adjusted with the…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, investor-State arbitration and mediation, Mediation, Mediation and Dispute Management

(Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes )/ /Leave a comment

Of the six States that have ratified the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (“Convention”) only Singapore seems to have made any requisite preparation for its implementation, by passing the Singapore Convention Mediation Act in February 2020. Yet, following the Convention’s entry into force on 12 September 2020, forthcoming developments in…

International arbitration, International Investment Arbitration, International Mediation, investor-State arbitration and mediation

(Centre for International Law)/ /Leave a comment

As has been previously reported in this blog (e.g., here and here), there exists a rising interest globally for alternative forms of dispute resolution (ADR) for investor-state disputes. Indicative examples from investment treaty-making confirm this, including the USMCA, CPTPP, the EU’s investment agreements with Canada, Singapore and Viet Nam, ACIA, and the China-Hong Kong CEPA…

International arbitration, International dispute resolution, International Mediation, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investment Treaties, investor-State arbitration and mediation, Mediation, Mediation and Dispute Management

(Australian National University)/ /1 Comment

In their reform discussions, States and arbitration institutions have been exploring the potential for investor-State mediation to work alongside arbitration, or even to replace it altogether for some disputes. While investor-State mediation has strengths relative to arbitration, any reform must carefully integrate mediation with existing processes and reform efforts.1)This post builds on: Esmé Shirlow, ‘The…

International arbitration, kompetenz-kompetenz, Lithuania, National Courts, National Treatment, Seat of the arbitration

(Ellex Valiunas ) and (TGS Baltic)/ /Leave a comment

Global arbitration centers such as Paris or London are well known and need no introduction. In contrast, there are many other arbitration sites around the world that seek a larger role on the international stage of dispute settlement. Lithuania and its capital Vilnius in particular is no exception. In 2014 the Vilnius Court of Commercial…

Applicable Law, Arbitration Agreement, Conflict of Laws, France, French Law, International arbitration, Non-signatory, Third Party

, (LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

Almost a decade after the Dallah saga, the French and English courts are once again considering the enforcement of the same award yet reaching conflicting solutions. On 29 March 2019, the High Court of England and Wales, followed on 20 January 2020 by the England and Wales Court of Appeal both refused to enforce an…