Jurisdiction

Arbitration Agreements, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, European Law, Jurisdiction, Lis Pendens

(Fulbright & Jaworski LLP)/ /1 Comment
YIAG

In the recent decision in Youell v La Reunion Aerienne [2009] EWCA Civ 175 the English Court of Appeal applied the ECJ decision in West Tankers and upheld a Commercial Court decision holding that the mere fact that a contract contains an arbitration clause does not deprive the court of jurisdiction under the Brussels Regulation….

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, Investment Arbitration

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In recent months, there have been a steady barrage of media reports about so-called “land grabs”. Many believe that we are seeing a new “Scramble for Africa”, as food-scarce countries and private investors alike jostle to lease or purchase vast swathes of agricultural land abroad. There are multiple drivers for such deals: including the perennial…

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 Institutions and Rules, Asia-Pacific, Other Issues

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White & Case

On 1 September 2008, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (the “HKIAC”) adopted a new set of arbitration rules, entitled the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre Administered Arbitration Rules (the “Administered Rules”). In a press release in January 2009, the HKIAC announced that it had already received cases under the Administered Rules. The Administered Rules…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Asia-Pacific, Commercial Arbitration

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White & Case

On 1 May 2009, the new “Online” Arbitration Rules (the “Online Rules”) of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) came into effect. At this stage, it appears that the Online Rules are only available in Chinese. The Online Rules are aimed primarily at e-commerce disputes, although parties are free to agree to…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Disclosure, Europe, North America

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

The already much debated Paris Court of appeal judgment in Tecnimont, rendered on 12 February 2009, has put into light the dangers arising from the lack of uniformity in the field of conflict disclosure. The Paris Court of appeal has quashed a partial award because the chairman of the arbitral tribunal, a well-known international arbitrator…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Investment Arbitration, Jurisdiction

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

When does a most-favoured-nation (MFN) treatment clause in an investment treaty confer jurisdiction on an investor-state arbitration tribunal? Most readers will be aware that in a series of decisions investment treaty tribunals have given very different responses to this question. On the one hand, a line of decisions suggests that, unless there is a express…

Arbitration Agreements, Commercial Arbitration, Europe

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

Under Swiss arbitration law, the validity of an arbitration agreement is in general subject to formal and substantive requirements (Article 178 of the PILA). With regard to the formal validity, Article 178(1) of the PILA requires the arbitration agreement to be in writing and allows the parties to use any means of communication which permits…

Europe, European Law, Investment Arbitration, Legislation

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

Germany has introduced an amendment to its Foreign Trade and Payments Act. It is a direct response to increased activities and acquisitions by sovereign wealth funds (SWFs), as they are often perceived to pursue economic as well as political aims. Despite this origin, the legislation does not only apply to SWFs. Instead, it allows the…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Europe, Joinder, Jurisdiction, Public Policy, Res Judicata

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /1 Comment

The Paris Court of appeal, on 25 September 2008, and the Swiss Federal Tribunal, on 5 December 2008 have rendered two interesting decisions. These two decisions address issues of primary importance, such as the “extension” of the arbitration agreement, joinders, and the scope of review by courts of award having declined the tribunal’s jurisdiction. These…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Europe, Investment Arbitration

(Loyola Law School Los Angeles)/ /Leave a comment
American Society of International Law (ASIL)

ICSID arbitration proceedings against Germany (Vattenfall AB, Vattenfall Europe AG, Vattenfall Europe Generation AG & Co. KG v. Federal Republic of Germany – ICSID On April 17, 2009, the government-owned Swedish energy company Vattenfall initiated Case No. ARB/09/6, reported in IA Reporter, April 2nd, 2009 (Vol. 2, No. 6)). The dispute concerns the construction by…

Africa, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, UN and Int’l Organizations

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /1 Comment

By now almost everyone in the international arbitration world is aware of the gavel-to-gavel coverage of the oral pleadings in the so-called Abyei Arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The case included many of the leading lights of international arbitration, including Pierre-Marie Dupuy, Stephen Schwebel, and Michael Reisman among the arbitrators, and James Crawford,…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Europe, European Law, Legislation, Lis Pendens, Seat of the arbitration

(Castaldi Mourre & Partners)/ /1 Comment

The relationship between Arbitration and European Judicial Private Law has not always been easy. The bedrock European Law principle in this field, as embedded in the European Council Regulation (EC) No. 44/2001 of December 22, 2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (“the Judgment Regulation”), is the…

Arbitration Awards, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, North America

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

For international arbitrations seated in the United States, there has sometimes been a tension between the so-called “American rule” against the shifting of attorneys’ fees and litigation costs to the loser of the proceedings, and the more accepted practice of fee-shifting in international arbitrations as expressed in procedural rules such as the UNCITRAL and LCIA…

Arbitrators, Europe

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

Kluwer Arbitration Blog is pleased to introduce Alexis Mourre as a guest blogger for the next month. Alexis specialises in international arbitration and international litigation with the law firm of Castalde Mourre & Partners in Paris. He has served as counsel to party, co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator or expert in more than 80 international arbitral procedures,…

Arbitration Agreements, Europe, Legal Practice

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /1 Comment

In a decision dated 5 December 2008 (4A_376/2008), the Swiss Federal Court (“SFC”) had the opportunity to address two legal topics in the context of international arbitration: The first topic was the interpretation of a pathological arbitration clause. B___ Ltd. (“Claimant-Company”) had initiated arbitration proceedings in Lugano under the ICC rules against A.___ (“Respondent”) on…

Domestic Courts, National Arbitration Laws, North America

(The London School of Economics and Political Science)/ /3 Comments
YIAG

The relevance of the Supreme Court’s Hall decision in Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., 128 S. Ct. 1369 (2008) for the question of whether “manifest disregard of the law” can constitute a ground for vacatur of an arbitral award by a U.S. court has already been addressed in an earlier post to this…

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…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Europe, National Arbitration Laws, North America

(White & Case LLP)/ /1 Comment
White & Case

In two recently reported cases, parties to arbitrations have challenged arbitrator and/or institutional fees where the underlying awards have also been subject to annulment or set aside proceedings. Are these cases isolated instances or do they signal an increased trend? The answer may have widespread ramifications for how, and where, arbitrations are conducted and administered….

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Asia-Pacific, Other Issues

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White & Case

The Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (the “JCAA”) introduced their International Commercial Mediation Rules (the “Rules”) on 1 January 2009. The JCAA has followed the lead of other international arbitral institutions in devising and promoting a set of mediation rules for international disputes. Settling disputes by mediation is hardly new to Japan. In a domestic context,…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, North America

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

George Bermann, the ALI Reporter for the Restatement (Third) on the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration, presented a wonderful summary of the current progress on the Restatement at the ASIL annual meeting last week. Here are a few key thoughts from my notes. The Restatement is in its early stages and it could take…

Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, National Arbitration Laws, North America

(Suffolk University Law School)/ /3 Comments
American Society of International Law (ASIL)

American Bar Association’s International Law Section Criticizes the ABA Dispute Resolution Section’s Subcommittee Draft on Arbitrator Disclosure Guidelines It has been interesting to watch the strong reaction to the draft disclosure guidelines and checklist for arbitrators proposed by the Disclosure Subcommittee of the Arbitration Committee of the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Section. Over the last two…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Europe, Jurisdiction

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent decision of 22 January 2009 (4A_424/2008), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court had to consider an appeal against a decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, a qualifying competition was held for the women’s Olympic hockey tournament. The Spanish team won…