Introduction Until recently, there was no definitive Korean court decision on whether a foreign award that includes an award of exemplary (or punitive) damages should be recognized and enforced (1) in its entirety or (2) only partially (i.e. without the award of exemplary damages).1)Wonsik Yoon, Rieu Kim and Hyukjun Jung, “Recognition and Enforcement of the…

In a decision dated 7 September 2022, the French Supreme Court confirmed the Sorelec decision issued by the Paris Court of Appeal in 2020. For the first time, France’s highest civil court has directly approved a shift in the jurisprudence of the Paris Court of Appeal that might have important implications for France as a…

In line with current discussions in Brazil’s arbitration community, especially in the context of Brazilian party leaders’ initiative to call for a vote on a controversial bill to amend the Brazilian Arbitration Act (“BAA“) on an urgent basis (previously covered here), one of the panels focused on the controversy of whether information regarding corporate arbitral proceedings…

In line with its overarching theme of “Arbitration, Corporate Law & ESG”, on September 29, 2022 the CBAr’s 21st International Arbitration Conference hosted a panel on disputes arising under M&A contracts. Julian Chediak moderated a prolific, technical, and practical discussion with Gabriel Buschinelli, Rodrigo Octávio Broglia Mendes and Jennifer Permesly regarding various aspects of M&A…

From 28 to 30 September 2022, the Brazilian Arbitration Committee – CBAr held its 21st International Arbitration Conference (“21st CBAr IAC” or “Conference”) in Rio de Janeiro. Considering the rising number of arbitration proceedings related to corporate disputes, the subject of this year’s Conference was “Arbitration and Corporate Law”. The 21st CBAr IAC was a…

Introduction The second day of the Asia ADR Week 2022 kicked off with a panel discussion on Rechartering a Modern Legislative Framework with Mr Abang Iwawan (Abang & Co.) as moderator. Mr Iwawan was joined by Ms Karen Ng Gek Suan (Karen, Mak & Partners), Mr Rajendra Navaratnam (Azman Davidson & Co.), Mr Foo Joon…

Designed by the United States (“U.S.”) government to enhance the success of its primary sanctions programs, secondary sanctions are intended to prevent, on a global basis, third parties from trading with countries that are subject to sanctions. In a dispute involving the transfer of U.S. dollars between two non-U.S. persons located outside U.S. jurisdiction, these U.S. secondary…

On August 5, 2022, the Tribunal hearing the Bacilio Amorrortu v. The Republic of Peru case issued its Partial Award on Jurisdiction, upholding the State’s objection that Mr. Amorrortu did not provide a valid waiver as required by the “No U-Turn Clause” established in article 10.18.2 of the United States – Peru Trade Promotion Agreement…

The first Colombian Arbitration Week was launched last week in Bogotá. The closing event comprised a panel discussing new challenges and perspectives of arbitration in Colombia. The discussion was moderated by Anne Mürrle (Partner, Mürrle Asesores) with the following panelists Cristina Mejía (Partner, Baker McKenzie), José Miguel Mendoza (Partner, DLA Piper), David Araque (Partner, Gómez…

In the first edition of the Colombian Arbitration Week, the first panel discussed international arbitration in the context of the changing political situation in Latin America. This panel addressed, among other issues, the constitutionalization of arbitration and the impact of new governments in the region on arbitration matters.   Constitutionalization of arbitration and the existence…

Since 2006, the Bolivian State adopted a policy of “recovery” of resources and entities that were considered as ‘strategic’ by the State.  Multiple investment arbitration proceedings against Bolivia were initiated as a consequence of the expropriation measures derived from the execution of this policy. To this date, the main claim in each of these cases…

Poland surprised the world when on 25 August 2022 the Government submitted to the Polish Parliament a draft law authorizing the President of Poland to terminate the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and the Energy Charter Protocol on Energy Efficiency and Related Environmental Aspects. The idea of Poland terminating the ECT had not been floated in the…

The dispute resolution landscape in Japan is almost unrecognisable from the position 20 years ago.  In that time, Japan has evolved into a significant market for cross-border contentious legal matters.  Sophisticated Japanese corporations with significant overseas business are comfortable using international arbitration and mediation as methods of dispute resolution. 86% of the case load of…

After a gala evening at the National Museum of Scotland filled with Scottish gastronomy and ceilidh dancing, delegates returned to the conference centre for the last day of the ICCA Congress. Renaissance Arbitrator This panel asked: “what can lawyers and arbitrators learn from disciplines outside the law and arbitration?”. That question is particularly timely as…

The second day of the ICCA Congress took place on Tuesday, September 20. Delegates gathered in the morning for the presentation of the inaugural ICCA Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez Memorial Prize, established in honour of former ICCA Governing Board Member Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez. Professor Stefano Azzali said a few words on the life and career of Guillermo, fondly…

After a long, pandemic-induced delay, the ICCA Congress in Edinburgh is now in full swing.  Six and a half long years after winning the bid to host the XXVth ICCA Congress, I had almost forgotten why we, the Scottish Arbitration Centre, had made the bid in the first place, but as the international arbitration community…

The 2022 ICCA Congress kicks off today in Edinburgh. Together with our Host Committee, the Scottish Arbitration Centre, and my Congress co-chair and immediate past ICCA President Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, it is an honor to declare the XXVth ICCA Congress officially open! Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment? The XXVth ICCA Congress has been seven years in the…

Lord Chief Justice Hon. Michael H. Whitten KC has been the Lord Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Tonga since 2 September 2019. After gaining early broad experience in various areas of law, Chief Justice Whitten was called to the Queensland Bar in 1990 before moving to Victoria where he practised for more than 20…

On 21 April 2022, the Dubai Court of Cassation (the “Cassation Court”) issued a judgment in respect of an application for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration award in case no. 109 of 2022 (the “Judgment”, available in Arabic-only on the Court’s website). In the Judgment, the Cassation Court considered whether an arbitration award…

In many Arab countries, including Jordan, special legislative and regulatory instruments are in place to provide certain protections for local commercial agents and distributors. The relevant laws regularly vest the local courts with exclusive jurisdiction to rule on disputes between agents/distributors and principals. Such exclusive jurisdiction rules prevent derogation from the jurisdiction of local state courts…

A little over a decade has passed since the introduction of the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in Australia as the framework for uniform domestic arbitration legislation. Before this, the various enactments of domestic legislation in the Australian states and territories had followed English Acts. For example, the New South Wales 1902 Arbitration Act…

After the October 2021’s plebiscite, Chile began the process of drafting a new constitution, which was entrusted to a “Convención Constituyente“. After a year of work, on July 4, 2022, the final proposal was delivered to the President of the Republic.  The proposed constitution will be submitted to a ratifying plebiscite in September of this…

The 1996 Brazilian Arbitration Act (the “BAA”), which subjects domestic and international arbitrations to the same set of rules, has been modified only once through the 2015 amendment (the “2015 Amendment”). On July 6, 2022, Brazilian party leaders signed a Motion of Urgency to bypass the standard legislative process – which usually comprises public consultations…

Uzbekistan has updated certain legislative acts in connection with the recent adoption of the Law “On International Commercial Arbitration” (No. O’RQ-674) in 2021 (as previously covered in this blog). On May 16, 2022, the President of Uzbekistan signed a new law “On amendments and additions to certain legislative acts of the Republic of Uzbekistan in…