International Legal Theory and Teaching

International Legal Theory and Teaching, Japan, Teaching International Investment Arbitration Series, WTO

(Waseda University)/ /Leave a comment

The World Trade Organization (“WTO“) dispute settlement is akin to a distant cousin for the investment law community. Many investment lawyers know little about it except that it exists. It operates under a different treaty framework and involves different procedures from investment treaty arbitration. However, it is one of the two most frequently used international…

Arbitral Award, Arbitral seat, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Best practices, Commercial Arbitration, Document Production, Due process, International arbitration, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Procedure, Uncategorized

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As a fitting tribute to the vision of the first dedicated arbitration education institution, the School of International Arbitration (SIA) marked its 30th anniversary with a two day conference looking back and looking forwards. Entitled “The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration: The Next 30 years”, it brought together over 200 graduates, academics and practitioners…

International Legal Theory and Teaching

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /2 Comments

My friend and colleague David Caron, C. William Maxeiner Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, has been named the new Dean at the Dickson Poon School of Law at King’s College London. The press release is here. I have known David Caron for over twenty years and always thought he would…

BIT, International Legal Theory and Teaching

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

I have just published an article in the Utah Law Review that I wanted to flag for our readers. For the international arbitration community the article is relevant because it compares and contrasts the self-judging WTO security exception with non-self-judging emergency exceptions in various BITs. The focus of the Article is on the WTO security…

Arbitration, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Legal Practice

(Essex Court Chambers)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Empirical research shows that modern law students, at least at post-graduate level, wish to have some options to learn something about the skills of ‘lawyering’. Students often say that they want to have more than just the letters ‘LLM’ after their names. They pay substantial tuition fees to obtain these post-graduate degrees, and they wish…

Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement, International Legal Theory and Teaching, North America

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

As I have noted earlier, there is a pitched battle between victims of Pan Am 73 terrorist hijacking over the distribution of treaty funds secured by the United States for American victims in a 2008 diplomatic settlement with Libya. The treaty and Executive Order stipulate that the money shall be distributed solely for the benefit…

International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration, Other Issues

(The London School of Economics and Political Science)/ /1 Comment

It is not easy to get a grip on the vast amount of case-law being churned out by investment treaty arbitration panels. However, if law students wanted examples of the ultimate slap-dash arguments being put together by claimant lawyers, then go no further than to sample some of arguments launched in this case. It is…

International Legal Theory and Teaching, Other Issues

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

This week the good folks at Kluwer have launched a new blog, Kluwer Construction Blog. According to the press release, Managing Editor of the blog, Sarah Thomas, partner and international projects expert at Pinsent Masons, will draw contributions from a panel of pre-eminent construction lawyers and barristers covering Europe, the United States, Canada, Africa, South…

International Legal Theory and Teaching, Legal Practice, North America, South America

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /Leave a comment

The relationship between human rights and investment law is all the rage these days in academia. It seems like every week I come across a PhD student or a young academic who is tackling some aspect of the topic. But, while there are many scholars and writers looking to bridge the two fields, it’s rarer…

Arbitration Awards, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration, Legal Practice

(University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section)/ /Leave a comment

For many years, no broad international consensus emerged on the existing protection for foreign investors as a result of differences of approaches between developed and developing States. As a result of this perceived lack of established customary principles, States concluded thousands of bilateral investment treaties in the 1990s for the promotion and the protection of…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, International Courts, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration, Legal Practice, South America, UN and Int’l Organizations

(University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Civil Law Section)/ /1 Comment

The question of the existence of legal protection for foreign investors under customary international law has always been controversial. States have indeed entered into BITs precisely because of the lack of development of relevant custom rules in the field of international investment law. It is nonetheless largely agreed today that some rules of customary law…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, International Courts, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration, Legal Practice, Public Policy

(Wayne State University)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

How should tribunals apply investment treaties to measures adopted during times of crisis? Recognizing crisis as the point at which foreign investors become most vulnerable (and therefore require the most protection), should tribunals guard against any temptation to dilute the rigor of external discipline? Conversely, recognizing crisis as the point at which states can lay…

Book Review, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Middle East

(University of Victoria Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

Professor Roger Alford’s recent posting, “The Arbitrator as Diplomat”, discusses the role of “diplomatic arbitration,” a concept with a long historical pedigree. Some of that history (and much more) is contained in the late Professor Douglas M. Johnston’s posthumous opus, The Historical Foundations of World Order: The Tower and the Arena (2008). The book was…

Africa, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitrators, Europe, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Legal Practice

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

In submitting his instructions to the American delegation attending the 1907 Second Hague Conference, Secretary of State Elihu Root argued that the Permanent Court of Arbitration system needed radical improvement. In his instructions he wrote: There can be no doubt that the principal objection to arbitration rests, not upon the unwillingness of nations to submit…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, International Legal Theory and Teaching, UN and Int’l Organizations

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

1. Is Arbitral Jurisprudence anything more than a myth? 2. How does persuasiveness of past awards operate? 3. Is Precedent the product of the intrinsic qualities of one or more particularly well-reasoned awards? 4. Why do arbitral awards need to be available? 5. Why is reliance on arbitral precedents not frequent? 6. Should all awards…

Arbitrators, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

We at Kluwer Arbitration blog are most pleased to welcome Andrew Newcombe as our newest contributor. Andrew teaches commercial, international economic and arbitration law at the Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, Canada. His research and writing focuses primarily on investment treaty law and arbitration. In 2004, he established investment treaty arbitration, a resource website…

Arbitration Awards, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, International Courts, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Middle East, North America

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

On Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court decided Iran v. Elahi, a case that appears to fall within a data set of one. As I reported elsewhere, the case is extraordinarily complex, focusing on whether a terrorist victim judgment creditor can attach a confirmed arbitration award rendered in Iran’s favor. Although it involves exotic issues…

International Legal Theory and Teaching, Other Issues

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /2 Comments

One hundred years ago international arbitration was viewed as the great hope for world peace. No international tribunals were yet in existence, but the Permanent Court of Arbitration was up and running and having an extremely successful first decade. There was one key problem with the world of arbitration at that time: the corpus of…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Legal Practice

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

One of the defining features of the international arbitration community is the plethora of international arbitration conferences. Every month the calendar is full of opportunities to travel the world to attend conferences. This month it is Frankfurt, Lausanne, The Hague, and Washington. Last month it was Paris, Dubai, Vienna and Bonn. It’s not exactly normal…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /2 Comments

Ten years ago virtually all international arbitration was in a black box. The awards were accessible to the parties and virtually no one else. One had vague impressions about the quality of arbitration generally and individual arbitrators in particular. But there was no objective data from which to judge these impressions. Investment arbitration changed all…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, International Courts, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Investment Arbitration

(Three Crowns LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Three Crowns LLP

Rex has recently installed himself as the benevolent dictator of a resource-rich country where many live in poverty. He took power from a government he accuses of having distributed national wealth in a grossly unfair manner. He proclaims a policy of redistributive justice, and enjoys passionate popularity among the vast disadvantaged segments of the population….

Commercial Arbitration, International Legal Theory and Teaching

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /4 Comments
WilmerHale

Like its subject-matter, my book on “International Commercial Arbitration” is intended to be of use and interest to the widest possible audience around the world. It aspires to provide a comprehensive description and analysis of the contemporary constitutional structure, law, practice and policy of international commercial arbitration. It also endeavors to identify prescriptive solutions for…

Arbitrators, International Legal Theory and Teaching, Legal Practice

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

The Kluwer Arbitration Blog is a project that has been in the works for months, and we are excited about what the future holds for this new venture. As the managing editor of this new blog, I wanted to offer a few quick thoughts about the nature of international arbitration and why I think the…