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…

Before winning Peru’s presidential race in June 2021, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo vowed to withdraw Peru from the ICSID Convention and to renegotiate several of the country’s Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BIT’s”). According to the then-presidential candidate’s government plan (chapter XXI), ICSID tribunals are biased and “at the service of the multinational companies” in prejudice of…

Arbitration of commercial disputes is a common practice in Turkey, especially for those with an international element. The same, however, cannot be said for corporate law disputes, i.e. intra-corporate claims based on or concerning statutory rights, articles of association (“AoA”) or corporate resolutions. This has been the case due to a couple of judgments rendered…

In 2019 – 2020 a group of Ukrainian arbitration practitioners set out on an ambitious study of Ukrainian court decisions on recognition of arbitral awards. In this blog post, members of the group describe the background and methodology of the study and, most importantly, share its results.   Ukraine as an Arbitration Jurisdiction Ukrainian law…

Introduction On November 2021, an Arbitral Tribunal issued the award in an investment arbitration case commenced by three subsidiaries of Kimberly-Clark against Venezuela. The claims where brought under the BITs between Venezuela and the Netherlands (Dutch BIT), Venezuela and Spain (Spanish BIT), and Venezuela and Belgium (Belgium BIT). The award, which is highly case-specific, established…

In 2021, Southeast Asia saw institutional progress, arbitration-related court decisions, and investment treaty developments. All in all, it was an eventful and, at times, surprising year for the region in terms of arbitration developments.   Institutional progress Some Southeast Asian arbitral institutions revamped and revised their arbitration rules as part of their strategic institutional development….

On November 12, 2021, the new arbitration rules (the “2021 Rules”) of Paraguayan Arbitration and Mediation Center (“CAMP” for its acronym in Spanish) –the main arbitration institution in Paraguay –came into effect. The 2021 Rules include new developments that modernize CAMP’s practice, especially with regards to international arbitration. In other cases, the new provisions reflect…

The recent adoption of Decree No. 34/2021 (see Dubai Government Decree No. 34 of 2021, which entered into force with effect from 20 September 2021) provides for the consolidation of local arbitration centers into a single institution, the Dubai International Arbitration Centre 2.0 (DIAC 2.0). Some perspectives on Decree No. 34/2021 have already been shared…

2021 was significant for Africa with respect to the African Continental Free Trade Area (‘AfCFTA’) and the Agreement establishing it. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic generated a global economic crisis at a very critical phase of the AfCFTA and resulted in a delay in its implementation. This post seeks to place into perspective the…

In the legal world, countless hours are spent choosing, weighing and defining words, expressions and phrases, and linguistic precision is instilled as a virtue from the first day of law school. It is therefore rather concerning when courts use both inaccurate and inapt language to address a specific issue, such as when Canadian courts consider…

Looking back on 2021, one realizes that for those interested in the intersection between EU law and investment arbitration, it was a busy year. As part of our customary “year-in-review” series, this post offers a brief overview of the key investment arbitration-related developments in Europe and their coverage on the Blog. I have grouped these…

As previously reported, in mid-2020, changes were enacted to the Russian Arbitrazh (Commercial) Procedure Code (“APC”) to establish the exclusive jurisdiction of Russian Arbitrazh courts over cases where a Russian party is subject to sanctions or where the dispute has arisen out of sanctions. This triggered concerns that sanctioned Russian parties would be able to…

As part of the complex set of reforms that Italy presented to the EU institutions to access the Next Generation EU program, the Italian Parliament recently approved Law No. 206/2021 (“Law 206”). Among other things, Law 206: (i) establishes “principles and directions” aimed at enhancing the “efficiency of civil proceedings and amending the rules concerning”…

“If they can’t do it in California, it can’t be done anywhere.”  – Novelist Taylor Caldwell   From its sunlit beaches to its fog-spangled hills, California hosts the world’s fifth largest economy, boasting among its accomplishments Hollywood entertainment, Silicon Valley technology, and Central Valley agricultural produce. In addition to its strong trade ties within the…

In 2021, Latin American countries continued to struggle with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Accordingly, legislative and jurisprudential developments on arbitration-related issues were also affected given that the governments were focused on reactivating local economies, vaccinating their citizens, and launching tax and labor reforms.  In addition, presidential elections also marked political shifts for…

The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) adhered to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, also known as the New York Convention (“New York Convention”) in 2006. Joining the New York Convention was done through Federal Decree No. 43 of  2006. This post examines how the New York Convention has been implemented…

Last year saw positive movements in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands to better promote the use of arbitration in the region. Arbitral institution rules were modernised and domestic legal frameworks were introduced all to stimulate arbitration activity. The year also saw a sharp focus on the benefits of empirical studies to understand how…

Bilateral investment treaties depend upon international arbitration as the mechanism to resolve disputes between sovereign states and investors. Although offering obvious advantages over litigation before national courts, investors are not immune from the risk of proceedings becoming destabilized by external factors. A recent example involved Air Canada, the country’s flag carrier, and the Bolivarian Republic…

The Center for Studies and Research in Arbitration from the University of São Paulo (“CEPArb-USP”) has recently made public the findings of its pioneer empirical research on challenges of arbitrators in domestic proceedings in Brazil. The initiative analyzed data from challenges in proceedings administered by the Câmara de Mediação e Arbitragem Empresarial – Brasil (CAMARB)….

“Pedro, adelante, con juicio“: this Spanish exhortation comes from a famous Italian novel, “I Promessi Sposi” by Alessandro Manzoni. The Spanish governor of Milan gives these ambiguous instructions to his coachman Pedro, who is steering the carriage amidst a rioting mob: “forward, but be careful“. It became proverbial for describing an uneasy balance between action…