On 28 May 2024, the Chilean Supreme Court rendered a landmark ruling in Albemarle Limitada v Emaresa Ingenieros y Representaciones S.A. & Or (see Case No. 10854-2024). The case concerned an international arbitration seated in Chile under the Law No. 19,971 on International Commercial Arbitration (“LACI”), which follows the UNCITRAL Model Law. This case raised…

On May 17, 2024, Guyana passed the Arbitration Act 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024) (“AA”). The AA repealed the outdated Arbitration Act, Cap 7:03, Laws of Guyana (Act No. 17 of 1916), passed more than a century ago, and makes Guyana the latest Commonwealth Caribbean country, after Trinidad and Tobago, which passed new legislation…

In a recent decision dated April 8, 2024, a sole arbitrator seated in Santiago de Chile ruled in favor of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (“Aramco” or the “Claimant”) in an internet domain property dispute. The dispute between Aramco and Mr. Joaquín Poblete (“Mr. Poblete” or the “Respondent”) arose when Mr. Poblete registered and obtained property…

Day 3 of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) featured an extensive discussion (the “Arbitral Institutions’ Congress”) by representatives of various arbitral institutions at the historic Parliament Chamber at Middle Temple co-hosted by McNair, Clyde & Co, and Osborne Clarke. The present post summarises the discussions held during the event.   Statistics and Views From…

On 12 February 2024, Israel achieved a significant milestone in the promotion of international commercial arbitration with the enactment of the International Commercial Arbitration Law, 2024 (the “ICA Law”). The ICA Law, which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration 1985, with amendments as adopted in 2006 (the “Model Law”), is…

On 22 February 2024, I am pleased to deliver the 6th ADR Address of the Supreme Court of New South Wales, co-organised by the Australian Disputes Centre. Past lecturers have been senior former or serving Australian judges, with some discussing developments in arbitration. More widely, there has been quite extensive discussion on case law and…

As the most prestigious arbitral institution in the world, the ICC International Court of Arbitration celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2023. The Third ICC Arbitration Conference for the Northeast of Brazil (“ICC Conference”), convened by the International Chamber of Commerce Court and the National Committee of Brazil, took place on 4 October 2023, to commemorate…

As the pool of international arbitrators has grown, and continues to grow, acting as an arbitrator is now seen more as a career path as opposed to a retirement plan. In fact, we can now confidently say that a profession of arbitrators exists. With this, the identity of a typical arbitrator has significantly changed, and the…

On 12 May 2023, the Santiago Court of Appeals (“Court”) denied EP Petroecuador’s (“Petroecuador”) (Ecuador national oil company) petition to set aside a US$63 million international commercial arbitration award. The decision is consistent with the Court’s history of denying petitions to set aside international commercial arbitration awards and marks an important milestone for Servicios Integrados…

On 6 January 2023, the Singapore Court of Appeal (the SCA) passed a judgment in Anupam Mittal v Westbridge Ventures II that redefines existing notions of the law applicable to subject matter arbitrability at the pre-award stage (the Westbridge Judgment). The High Court’s decision which was appealed before the SCA is discussed here. National courts…

International Law Talk is a series of podcasts through which Wolters Kluwer provides the latest news and industry insights from thought leaders and experts in the fields of International Arbitration, IP Law, International Tax Law and Competition Law.  Here at Kluwer Arbitration Blog, we highlight the podcasts focused on international arbitration.   In this latest episode, Prof….

Ecuador´s Arbitration and Mediation Law (“AML”) was enacted in 1997 and amended in 2015. However, the AML did not count with regulations until August 2021. Given that some provisions contained in the AML are vague, arbitrators, counsel and judges interpreted them in different ways, many of them in contradiction with the very nature of the…

On 24 December 2020, the New Brazilian Insolvency Act (“NBIA” – a slight misnomer, as the Act is in fact an amendment to an existing statute) was published in the official Brazilian gazette. The act implements important modifications in the field, including a few related to arbitration, which came into force on 23 January 2021….

On 14 October 2020, Professor Zachary Douglas QC delivered the 19th annual Clayton Utz and University of Sydney International Arbitration Lecture as part of Australian Arbitration Week. This year’s topic was a response to Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s (DFAT) review of its bilateral investment treaties (BITs). This blog post provides an overview…

Chile confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 3, 2020. Since then, Chilean institutions have designed several solutions to adjust their operation during the sanitary crisis.1) Specifically, the President declared a “state of constitutional exception of catastrophe”, which allows the Executive branch to take an array of measures to face the sanitary crisis. See:…

With the unfolding global pandemic, Brexit has largely taken a back seat. Yet, with the transition period due to end (at the time of writing) in just a few months, it is more important than ever to consider the implications for public international law (PIL) of the UK’s departure from the European Union. Exactly four…

Background There is much public discourse on the impact of the ongoing pandemic on international arbitrations. Commentators and scholars have provided perspectives on how to navigate and find safe harbours in the uncharted waters of COVID-19. In the “new normal” of wide-ranging travel advisories and restrictions, there is an emerging consensus to better integrate the…

The strength of any dispute settlement mechanism will depend upon its consistency with the requirements of independence and impartiality. Disclosures made by adjudicators prior to adjudicating a dispute, and challenges raised against adjudicators during the course of dispute settlement, target a perceived absence of independence or impartiality. The purpose of this post is to juxtapose…

A 3-day International Conference on Construction Law & Arbitration was held in December 2019 in New Delhi, co-hosted by the Society of Construction Law-India and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators-India. During the course of their presentations, the panelists discussed various topics ranging from trends in construction law in the context of arbitration across global jurisdictions…

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on his recent visit to India in January 2020 remarked that the 21st century belongs to India. If that is true, it would also mean a flurry of disputes involving some Indian angle are inevitable and will keep the arbitration industry busy. Thus, even though 2019 may have drawn curtains over…

Complex arbitration cases in financial transactions might arise within emerging markets involving gold swap transactions and syndicated loans for infrastructure projects. Gold Swaps allow central banks to receive cash from financial institutions in exchange for lending gold during a specific period of time.  On the other hand, syndicated loans provide funding for large-scale, capital-intensive infrastructure…

The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (‘New York Convention’) stipulates in Article III that enforcement of foreign arbitral awards should not be subject to more onerous conditions, higher fees or charges than those that are imposed on enforcement of domestic arbitral awards. However, the Czech Supreme Court (‘CSC’)…

In 2012, the Commercial District Court in Bijeljina (‘CDC’) finally declared that it lacked jurisdiction to hear the dispute between Elektrogospodarstvo Slovenije (‘Claimant’) on one side, and Rudnik i termelektrana Ugljevik A.D. (’Respondent’) on the other (Case reference no. 59 0 Ps 018507 12 Ps 3), with the High Commercial Court in Banja Luka (‘HCC’)…

Introduction Abdul Latif Jameel Transportation Co. Ltd. v. FedEx Corp., decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit earlier this month, is arguably the first post-Intel decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals that “permits discovery for use” in a “private commercial arbitration” under 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a). (Case No. 19-5315, at…