Jurisdiction

Africa, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investment protection

(Tilburg Law School)/ /Leave a comment

The Patel Engineering Limited (“PEL”) v the Republic of Mozambique tribunal, constituted under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, dealt with pre-investment expenditures and whether such expenditures constitute a protected investment. Investors frequently make expenditures in the preparatory phase of an investment, such as environmental impact assessments, scientific surveys, or financial advice. When are these expenditures considered…

ICC Miami Conference, Latin America

/ /Leave a comment

After concluding the first day of the 22nd ICC Miami Conference with a dinner and a fun party that kept the attendees dancing until late at night, the conference promptly resumed the next morning. Day 2 (December 3, 2024) featured an exciting lineup of discussions on various topics, including the ICC’s own Terms of Reference…

ICC Miami Conference, Latin America

/ /Leave a comment

On December 2 and 3, 2024, the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) hosted the 22nd ICC Miami Conference on International Arbitration, which brought together over 800 participants from all over the world to discuss critical developments in international arbitration in Latin America, making it the largest ICC conference ever held. Honoring its title “Revisiting the…

2024 in Review, Arbitration Agreements, Dutch Supreme Court, Enforcement, Exequatur, Multi-tiered clauses, Netherlands, Netherlands Arbitration Institute, Set aside an arbitral award

(Avizor Advocates & Arbitrators)/ /Leave a comment

Following the Blog’s tradition of “year-in-review” series, this post reflects on the key arbitration developments in the Netherlands in 2024. What emerges from this review is the Netherlands’ strong arbitration-friendly culture, notably reflected in the release of the 2024 Netherlands Arbitration Institute (“NAI”) Arbitration Rules and a pro-arbitration stance in court decisions. However, a notable…

Annulment, Chile, Ecuador, Latin America, Public Policy

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /Leave a comment

On October 18, 2024, the Santiago Court of Appeals rejected a petition seeking the annulment of an international arbitration award, once again providing strong arguments in favor of the validity of international commercial awards (Case No. 12506-2022). In the twenty years since the enactment of the International Commercial Arbitration Law (ICAL) No. 19971, no international…

2024 in Review, AIAC, Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, arbitrators’ conduct, Cambodia, Insolvency, International Commercial Courts, Malaysia, Philippines, SIAC Rules 2025, SIAC Symposium 2024, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Singapore International Commercial Court, Stay of Proceedings, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy) and (Drew & Napier LLC)/ /Leave a comment

The year 2024 witnessed notable advancements in the Southeast Asian arbitration and dispute resolution landscape. Key developments included legislative reforms, initiatives to strengthen arbitration and legal frameworks, and landmark judicial decisions. Here’s a closer look at last year’s highlights.   Significant Advancements in Dispute Resolution Frameworks Southeast Asian countries launched modernised arbitration laws and innovative…

Access to Justice, Achmea, Europe, European Convention on Human Rights, German Federal Constitutional Court, Germany, Intra-EU Investment Arbitration, Intra-EU ISDS, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

, (Fietta LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 13 September 2024, the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht, “BVG” or “the Court”) published two judgments dated 23 July 2024 (available here and here, both in German), accompanied by a press release (here), rejecting as inadmissible two constitutional complaints brought by the claimant in the Eureko (later Achmea) v Slovakia (1) arbitration (“BVG Judgments”).  While other commentators…

Emergency Arbitration, Emergency Arbitrator, Ex Parte Relief, Preliminary Orders, Protective Preliminary Orders, SIAC, SIAC Rules 2025, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

(Singapore International Arbitration Centre)/ /Leave a comment
Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)

Emergency arbitration (“EA”) was initially introduced as a procedural tool on an opt-out basis in arbitrations under the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution Rules. In 2010, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) became the first institution based in Asia to introduce EA provisions in its arbitral rules. This has since been followed by…

Awards, ECT Withdrawal, Energy Charter Treaty, Enforceability, Enforcement, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, Spain, United States Courts

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /Leave a comment

The third updated edition of the “Report on compliance with investment treaty awards by States” (the “2024 Report”) was released in November 2024. The Report was conducted in the summer of 2024 by the present author (see for coverage of the 2023 version of the report here and here). In light of the termination of intra-EU international…

India, Stay on enforcement

, / /Leave a comment

Earlier this year, the Bombay High Court  in  Balmer Lawrie & Co. Ltd. v. Shilpi Engineering Pvt. Ltd. (“Balmer Lawrie Decision”) reviewed an application to stay the enforcement of an arbitral award for payment of money (“Money Award”). The award debtor (“Applicant”) had already provided a 100% bank guarantee for the Money Award amount (plus…

Africa, European Union, Investment, Investment protection, right to regulate, Sustainability

(NOVA School of Law and PLMJ Lawyers)/ /Leave a comment

The EU-Angola Sustainable Investment Facilitation Agreement (“SIFA” or the “Agreement”) aims at facilitating sustainable investments. Contrary to traditional investment treaties, it does not include substantive protection standards nor investor-State dispute settlement mechanisms. Rather, it seeks to enhance the regulatory landscape of the Parties to make it more investor-friendly. In this post, I wish to focus…

Argentina, Latin America

(BakerHostetler)/ /Leave a comment

Argentina’s new administration is aiming to attract foreign capital to boost the economy of the country with a new liberal and investor-friendly regime. On July 8, 2024, the Argentinean Congress approved the law No. 27,742 titled “Bases and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentine People” (the “Law”). As discussed in prior posts, this is…

Awards, India, time-limits

(National Law School of India University )/ /Leave a comment

In the recent Indian Supreme Court (“SC”) case of Rohan Builders v. Berger Paints India, the default rule requiring termination of the arbitral mandate under section 29A(4) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Arbitration Act”) was held not to be strictly interpreted. Section 29A(4) of the Arbitration Act provides that if the award is…

India, Modification of awards

, (AZB & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

In October 2024, the Indian Department of Legal Affairs unveiled the highly anticipated Indian Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill, 2024 (“Bill”), inviting comments and feedback on the proposed amendments. While the Bill addresses important aspects, including the formal recognition of emergency arbitration and a clarification of the longstanding ambiguity around the “venue” of an arbitration,…

Artificial Intelligence, RIDW, United States

(AAA-ICDR)/ /Leave a comment

Since ChatGPT’s launch in November 2022, the ‘end of lawyers’ narrative has found new life. From Goldman Sachs predicting that 44% of tasks performed by corporate lawyers would be automated by Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) to GPT-4 passing the bar, AI has put the legal profession on notice. Even the infamous case of a lawyer who…

China, Enforcement, New York Convention, RIDW, Sanctions

(Hui Zhong Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

In an era increasingly defined by unilateral economic sanctions, international arbitration faces a new set of challenges. Sanctions are not only imposed on the parties but can also implicate arbitrators, as seen in Macquarie Bank Ltd v China Wanda Group Co., Ltd, (2021) Hu 74 Xie Wai Ren No.1, which concerns the enforcement of a…

CJEU, ECT Modernisation, Energy Charter Treaty, European Union, modernisation process, TFEU

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /Leave a comment

In this blogpost I will explain why the European Union (“EU”) failed to meet its own constitutional requirements as set forth in Art. 21 of the Treaty on European Union (“TEU”) when it decided not to sign the modernized Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) text, which was recently adopted. As a starting point, I will use…

BIT, European Law, European Union, Expropriation, Russia, Sanctions, War

(Leiden University)/ /Leave a comment

On June 24, 2024, the European Union (“EU”) has introduced Council Regulation 2024/1745 which imposes the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, intensifying its response to Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine. Among the key legal innovations in this package are Articles 11a and 11b, which provide EU operators with two distinct legal bases to seek…

California, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States, United States Courts

/ /Leave a comment
Young California Arbitration (Young CalArb)

Keeton v. Tesla addresses a significant question: whether a section of the California Arbitration Act (CAA) is preempted by the United States Federal Arbitration Act (FAA).  The California Court of Appeal concluded that Section 1281.98 of the CAA is not preempted by the FAA, although, due to procedural nuances under the California Rules of Court,…

Enforcement, Netherlands

(OSK Advocaten)/ /Leave a comment

In Case No. ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2024:947, the Appeal Court in Amsterdam granted leave to enforce an arbitral award despite the applicant being unable to produce the original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy thereof, as prescribed by article IV(1) of the New York Convention. This post assesses this decision and similar decisions against the background of…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Asia-Pacific, Enforcement, Japan, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, JCAA

(Utsunomiya Chuo Attorneys at Law), (Albert Luk’s Chambers), and (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries)/ /Leave a comment

From 20 to 22 November 2024, the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA) hosted the second edition of the JCAA Arbitration Days, as part of the inaugural Japan International Arbitration Week (JIAW) in Tokyo.  This article reports on the second day of the JCAA Arbitration Days, held in hybrid format on 21 November 2024.  The panels…

Asia-Pacific, Best practices, Institutional Rules, Japan, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, JCAA

(Mitsubishi Heavy Industries), (Miura & Partners), and (City-Yuwa Partners)/ /Leave a comment

This year, Japan held its first ever Japan International Arbitration Week (JIAW) in Tokyo from 18-22 November 2024.  Previously held as a standalone event for the first time last year, this year’s Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA) Arbitration Days featured an expanded two days of sessions in English followed by one day of sessions in…

Climate change, Conference, Italy

, (Roma Tre University; UNIDROIT Centre for Transnational Commercial Law and International Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

On 8 November 2024, the Roma Tre-UNIDROIT Centre for Transnational Commercial Law and International Arbitration held its first Annual Conference, titled ”The Many Shades of Climate Change: Through the Lenses of Dispute Settlement”, at the Bank of Italy’s ‘Carlo Azeglio Ciampi’ Convention Centre, Rome. The conference was co-organised by the Roma Tre-UNIDROIT Centre and the…

Abusive Claims, Estoppel, Parallel Proceedings, Set aside an arbitral award, Singapore, Stay of Proceedings

(HFW Singapore LLP) and (WongPartnership LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In the recent Singapore High Court (“Court”) case of DJA v DJB [2024] SGHCR 10 (“DJA v DJB”), the Court was tasked with determining the novel question of whether the general legal principles for an application for a case management stay apply when an applicant seeks a case management stay of its own application to…