For years, Australia and the U.K. have been the pioneering jurisdictions regarding ownership of law firms. Now, there’s a new kid on the block. Recent developments in a few U.S. states, predominantly Arizona, and a new approach by the American Bar Association (ABA) signal a broad reexamination of the long-entrenched prohibition on non-lawyer participation (ownership…
The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has taken strides in increasingly accepting arbitration as the parties’ chosen dispute resolution mechanism. It is now well established that UAE courts would respect the parties’ agreement on arbitration and uphold valid arbitration clauses. In fact, Article 8(1) of the Federal Law on Arbitration, No. 6 (2018) (“UAE Arbitration Law”)…
On 27 October 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) issued a judgment in Kabab-Ji SAL v Kout Food Group [2021] UKSC 48. The Court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal finding that the law applicable to the arbitration agreement was the English choice of law for the whole…
Dubai’s Decree 34 of 2021 (“Decree”) and its appended statute on DIAC (“Statute”) were promulgated on 14 September 2021. The Decree consolidates the local arbitration centres under a new-and-improved DIAC (“DIAC 2.0”), and notably abolishes the DIFC Arbitration Institute (“DIFC-LCIA”), marking the beginning of a new era for arbitration in Dubai. From the outset, DIAC…
This post, which follows up on a recent submission in respect of the impact of asset freezes on arbitral and financial institutions, addresses some of the issues that may be faced by such institutions as a result of restrictions that form part of the United States’ secondary sanctions against Iran. A third and final post…
Established in 1995 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Paris Centre for Mediation and Arbitration (“CMAP”) is a prominent Parisian institution specializing in both arbitration and mediation, which adopts a resolutely business-focused approach to dispute resolution. If the CMAP mostly deals with internal matters, approximately one third of the disputes submitted to…
This post examines the distinctive features and positive aspects of the maritime arbitration infrastructure of Singapore and South Korea while also exploring areas in which there is room for improvement in order to make these regional centers attractive to a wider international audience.1)Inni In Young Choi of Shin & Kim also contributed to this post. …
In August 2021, the Indian Supreme Court (‘Court’) in Amazon v. Future found an emergency award rendered in an arbitration seated in India (New Delhi) to be enforceable as if it were an interim order of an arbitral tribunal under Section 17(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (“Act”). The Court also found that such…
John Steinbeck’s classic novella, “Of Mice and Men,” took a modern day form in the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week – appropriately enough, for purposes of this blog, in an arbitration matter. As others have commented on social media, during oral argument in Badgerow v. Walters, Case No. 20-1143 (U.S. S. Ct.), the Supreme…
It is trite that an award may be set aside if there has been a breach of the rules of natural justice. This may arise from, among others, a tribunal’s procedural ruling. However, during the arbitration, there is no recourse for parties to challenge such procedural rulings. This was the situation in CBS v CBP…
Hidden behind the glamour and grandeur of major sporting events such as the Olympics is the way the sport comes to terms with various aspects of the law. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), or the Tribunal Arbitral Du Sport (TAS), based in Lausanne, is at the apex of a now complex pyramid of…
On 30 June and 1 July 2021, the Tenth Investment Arbitration Forum took place in form of a webinar jointly organized by Dr. Herfried Wöss of Wöss & Partners and Prof. Dr. Guillermo Estrada Adán of the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, UNAM. The topic of this year’s forum was “The Second Mexican Energy Reform” or energy…
On 30 June and 1 July 2021, the Tenth Investment Arbitration Forum took place in form of a webinar jointly organized by Dr. Herfried Wöss of Wöss & Partners and Prof. Dr. Guillermo Estrada Adán of the Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas, UNAM. The topic of this year’s forum was “The Second Mexican Energy Reform” and the…
A common issue in commercial contracts across a range of industries is whether a claimant’s failure to comply with the provisions of a dispute resolution clause gives rise to an issue of admissibility or jurisdiction. There have been a range of recent decisions from across the globe ruling on this very question, with all of…
On May 7, 2021 the arbitral tribunal in the arbitration between América Móvil S.A.B de C.V and the Republic of Colombia (the “Tribunal”) under the Colombia-Mexico Free Trade Agreement (the “FTA”) (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/16/5) issued the award. América Móvil initiated the arbitration on its own name and in representation of its subsidiary in Colombia,…
On the final day of ACICA’s Australian Arbitration Week 2021, Level Twenty Seven Chambers presented a seminar on “Functus Officio in Arbitration”. The theme of the seminar was judicial intervention and functus officio, discussed by Shane Doyle QC (Barrister, Level Twenty Seven Chambers), Sarah Spottiswood (Barrister, Level Twenty Seven Chambers), and Chiann Bao (Arbitrator, Arbitration…
On 19 October 2021, Mr Bret Walker AO SC delivered the 2021 CIArb Australian Annual Lecture as part of ACICA’s Australian Arbitration Week 2021. Mr Walker’s lecture, titled ‘Privacy or Secrecy? Open Justice Values as a Challenge to Arbitral Procedure’, offered a thought-provoking examination of what he termed the ‘problematic nature’ of secrecy in commercial…
Lion Mexico Consolidated v. Mexico1)Lion Mexico Consolidated L.P. v. United Mexican States (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/15/2). represents the first positive finding of denial of justice in the history of NAFTA2)In 1999, a NAFTA tribunal analysed and rejected for the first time a claim for denial of justice in Robert Azinian v. Mexico. and one of…
Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2021 is upon us, with a number of exciting in-person, virtual and hybrid events. On 27 October 2021, the ADR in Asia Conference was held, focussing on “Tomorrow’s Disputes Today”. After opening remarks by The Honourable Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng GBM, GBS, SC, JP, and an update on developments at…
In the past year, there has been a paradigm shift from a norm of in-person hearings to a norm of virtual hearings. As part of the 10th Hong Kong Arbitration Week, KCAB INTERNATIONAL and the Korean Council for International Arbitration (KOCIA) invited arbitration practitioners, mostly based in the dynamic Korean arbitration market, to share their…
Sarah has been HKIAC Secretary-General since September 2016. During her time at the helm, the HKIAC has, among other actions, released its 2018 Administered Arbitration Rules, overseen the changes arising from the 2019 arrangement between Mainland China and Hong Kong regarding interim measures for arbitration (“Interim Measures Arrangement”), became the first foreign arbitral institution to…
The proposed Article 91 in the Draft Amendment to PRC Arbitration Law (the “Draft Amendment”), which was issued by the PRC Ministry of Justice in July 2021, introduces ad hoc arbitration: “The parties to a commercial dispute involving foreign elements may agree on an institutional arbitration or directly agree that it shall be arbitrated by…
On 14 September 2021, a Decree (no. 34) by the government of Dubai (currently only available in Arabic) (the Decree) abolished two of Dubai’s most successful arbitration institutions: the Dubai Maritime Arbitration Centre (EMAC) and the DIFC-LCIA Centre.1)The DIFC-LCIA was established as a joint venture between Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Dubai Arbitration Institute (DAI),…
As part of Canadian Arbitration Week, the 2021 ICC Canada Conference, titled Leaning into the Future, was designed to facilitate critical thinking and debate on several important topics in international arbitration. The focus of the conference was decidedly post-pandemic, exploring fault lines and cleavages in the system of international arbitration as we know it today,…
