As previously reported on the Blog (here and here), in September 2021, Dubai Decree No. 34 of 2021 (Decree), and a new statute (Statute) regulating the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC or Centre), made significant changes to the institutional arbitration landscape in the UAE, by consolidating all local arbitration centres into a single arbitration centre,…
India is witnessing a protracted corporate battle — fought before multiple courts and an India-seated SIAC arbitral tribunal — for control over one of its largest retail chains. This heavily publicised dispute between Amazon and the Future group took an unexpected turn in January this year when a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court…
Japan is traditionally the only developed country where foreign investors are reluctant to do business (see R. Katz). The peculiar case of Japan is evident if one looks at the country’s treaty practice, but some recent developments deserve attention. In the last four decades, states have attracted foreign investment through a wide web of about…
As discussed on the Blog, the international chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal issued on 30 November 2021 a ruling in Boralex Energie France v. Innovent, on a set-aside request based on alleged irregularities related to the signing and dating of the award caused by the pandemic. To the authors’ knowledge, this decision is…
The Paris Court of Appeal has ruled in a Covid-related set aside request that French law does not impose an obligation on arbitrators to sign an award simultaneously on the same page. In a judgment dated 30 November 2021, the international chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal rejected an application to set aside a…
Amidst reeling from the pandemic of 2020, 2021 witnessed a number of arbitration-related transformations, developments and notable decisions issued by the national courts in the Middle East. In this post, we focus in on the Middle East region to reflect on the significant developments that took place in arbitral centres, summarize key judgments issued by…
The draft of this blog post was prepared before the war in Ukraine began. On 16 November 2021, the Law on Mediation was adopted in Ukraine (the “Mediation Law“). It introduced mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism and allows parties to civil, commercial, labour, administrative and even some criminal disputes to resort to mediation…
At present, Hong Kong lawyers are prohibited from charging outcome related fees in arbitration. As discussed in a previous blog, the landscape started to change since the publication of a Consultation Paper by the Outcome Related Fee Structures for Arbitration Sub-committee (the “Sub-committee“) of the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong (the “Commission“). The Sub-committee…
All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered. (UN Charter, Art. 2.3) The peaceful settlement of international disputes is a fundamental principle of international law. While it can be debated precisely when or where this common principle emerged, it…
International proceedings have already been initiated against Russia by Ukraine in the International Court of Justice. Other proceedings in international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court, have also been commenced as the prosecutor has opened an investigation. This post proposes that another forum, and set of international legal claims, should also be pursued: the historical…
One often maps the path of history as the sordid account of one bloody war after another. But if one were to mark history by the great moments of peace, then the modern era began at 2:00 p.m. on May 18, 1899. From across the globe, representatives of the world’s most powerful nations gathered for…
The recently surfaced award in IC Power Asia Development Ltd. v. Guatemala dated 7 October 2020 reveals the reasoning of the Tribunal’s majority in dismissing IC Power’s claims on the merits. A majority of Albert Jan van den Berg (chair) and Raúl Vinuesa (Respondent’s appointee) dismissed IC Power’s claims on the merits, while Guido Santiago…
Confidentiality is perceived to be one of the advantages of international (commercial) arbitration. Despite this, institutional arbitration rules are largely (or even completely) silent on the parties’ confidentiality obligations, leaving such issues to be determined by the parties and/or the tribunal or, in many cases, the applicable law. Defining what the duty of confidentiality –…
As of January 1, 2022, the Conciliation and Arbitration Center of the Uruguayan Chamber of Commerce and Services (“Center”) has new Arbitration Rules (the “2021 Rules”) in force. They apply to cases filed from January 1, 2022 onwards. Following the trend of several other institutions in the region, who updated their rules in 2021, in…
Established in 1986, the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre (“VanIAC”, formerly known as the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre) is an organization committed to offering additional dispute resolution paths, providing services to individuals and businesses who wish to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration. Barry Penner Q.C. serves as VanIAC’s Managing Director. Mr. Penner, thank…
The recent judgment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court (the UKSC) in Kabab-Ji v Kout Foods (the Kabab-Ji judgment) has reopened issues concerning the differing approaches of English and French courts to determining the law governing arbitration agreements. The Kabab-Ji saga provides a case study on the English-French law divide and has been discussed at…
While the second wave of Covid-19 hit India harder in 2021 than in 2020, this did not hamper progression in the legal sphere. 2021 saw several notable arbitration-related developments including another amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Indian Arbitration Act”). Following on the tradition of the “2020 in Review: India” and “2019 in…
Cyprus is a hub for international business transactions and tax structures. It is also a place where the assets of numerous multinational corporations and businesses are maintained. As such, it is a place which where the enforcement of international arbitration awards is frequently sought. In light of the above, one would expect Cyprus to be…
The year 2021 has been the busiest year for Ukraine since 2008, with four investment arbitrations initiated against Ukraine. The odds were not always in Ukraine’s favour. Having secured the dismissal of the case for lack of jurisdiction in Littop and others v. Ukraine, Ukraine was defeated by the investor in Olympic Entertainment v. Ukraine….
A key characteristic of an international commercial arbitration award is its binding nature, although parties may still consent to non-binding arbitration. A consent to non-binding arbitration is problematic when the applicable law explicitly prescribes arbitration to be binding. Mainland China is such a jurisdiction. Thus, the issue of the validity of a non-binding arbitration agreement…
The extent to which different dispute resolution fora are willing to pay deference to the Court of Justice of the EU’s (“CJEU”) seminal (and controversial) Achmea decision is being closely observed by investors and States alike. 1) Not to mention the European Commission, which has sought to make itself heard in numerous proceedings relating to intra-EU…
The distinction between jurisdiction and admissibility (the “Distinction”) has important consequences in international arbitration. Chief among these is the determination of the permissible extent of a national court’s intervention regarding a final award;1)Gretta Walters, “Fitting a Square Peg into a Round Hole: Do Res Judicata Challenges in International Arbitration Constitute Jurisdictional or Admissibility Problems?” (2012)…
Conflict of laws issues can have a pivotal effect on the effectiveness of arbitration when state courts are asked to enforce arbitration agreements. Has the approach of Hungarian courts crystalized in the last few years in this respect? Can the contemporary Hungarian judicial practice and the new domestic legislation be characterized as arbitration friendly? This…
Canadian courts are frequently asked to rule upon the effects of arbitration agreements in the context of potential class actions. For example, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has upheld arbitration clauses for most, if not all issues, disallowing class action recourse in Dell Computer Corp. v. Union des consommateurs(2007), Rogers Wireless Inc. v. Muroff…
