Jurisdiction

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Confidentiality, Due process, KCAB, South Korea, Technology, Videoconferencing

and (KCAB Next)/ /Leave a comment

Significant advances in technology over the last decade have made videoconferencing a viable alternative to traditional, in-person witness examinations in arbitration. As the use of videoconferencing in international arbitration grows more common, we must ask ourselves: do we have the right tools to eliminate the risks that arise with this new technology? This question led…

COVID-19, MENA, Middle East, Moot Courts, Videoconferencing, Vis Moot, Willem C. Vis Moot

(Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution), (Commercial Law Development Program of the US Department of Commerce), and (CILE; Reed Smith LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The Middle East Vis Pre-Moot Program (the “Program”), scheduled in Bahrain from 10 to 14 March 2020, was prepared and excited to welcome over 200 students, faculty, and lawyers to celebrate the Program’s 10th anniversary. However, on 25 February, amid the unfortunate COVID-19 global pandemic, Bahrain took precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the…

Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Peru

(CML Arbitration)/ /1 Comment

On February 4, 2020, ICSID registered a request for arbitration submitted by the company Odebrecth Latinvest Sarl, a Luxembourg-based subsidiary of the Brazilian company Odebrecht SA, against the Republic of Peru (ICSID Case No. ARB/20/04). This post analyzes the background to this dispute, as well as the possible strategies that the parties could use during…

Enforcement, Kazakhstan, New York Convention, Public Policy

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The overwhelming weight of opinion among legal practitioners is that enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kazakhstan is theoretically possible under the New York Convention (“NY Convention”), albeit problematic in practice due to ambiguity in the Kazakh legislations. Many problems associated with the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Kazakhstan and the application…

Afghanistan, Arbitration, Vis Moot, Willem C. Vis Moot

(ICC-Afghanistan Commission on Arbitration and ADR) and (SAARC Arbitration Council)/ /Leave a comment

Afghanistan, in January 2007, enacted its Commercial Arbitration Law to facilitate prompt, fair and neutral resolution of commercial and economic disputes through arbitration. However, despite enactment of the Law, Afghan courts exhibited reluctance to defer to dispute resolution clauses in contracts which directed parties to arbitration. Consequently, till 2013, arbitration was neither considered a viable…

BIT, Brazil, India

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Young ICCA

On 25 January 2020, India and Brazil signed an Investment Cooperation and Facilitation Treaty, in the presence of the Brazilian president Jair Messias Bolsonaro. Arguably the most prominent of the 3 BITs that India has signed since adopting the model BIT in December 2015. The new treaty articulates several provisions (briefly discussed below) in departure…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration Agreements, BIT, India

(Jindal Global Law School)/ /1 Comment

During the recent visit of Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, to India, Brazil and India inked the investment cooperation and facilitation treaty (hereinafter bilateral investment treaty – BIT). From Brazil’s point of view, this BIT is an extension of a novel approach to foreign investment in international law based on investment facilitation and cooperation, not investment protection…

Court Assistance, Emergency Measure, ICC Arbitration Day, Interim Orders, Turkey

( Işık & Partners Law Firm) and , (Erdem & Erdem)/ /Leave a comment

The 15th ICC Turkey Arbitration Day was held on 24 January 2020 in Istanbul. The aims of the conference were to contribute to the development of commercial and investment arbitration in Turkey, to promote Istanbul as a place for arbitration and alternative dispute resolution as well as the work of Turkish arbitration practitioners both on…

Set aside an arbitral award, Supreme Court, Ukraine, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Jursvneshservice)/ /Leave a comment

On 9 October 2019 the Supreme Court of Ukraine 1)This article refers to the Supreme Court created in the course of the judicial reform of 2016 in Ukraine. (Supreme Court) rendered a decision in a case on setting aside an arbitral award that goes completely against Article 3 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International…

Egypt, empirical data, ICSID Arbitration, International Investment Arbitration

(Egyptian Ministry of Justice)/ /Leave a comment

The motive for writing this blog post was conceived during my work as a member of the Technical Secretariat for the Ministerial Committee for Settlement of Investment Contracts Disputes, when I realized the need of both academics and practitioners for access to a reliable database of empirical analyses to support their work. This post is…

Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrators, Austria, Impartiality, Independence and Impartiality, Public Policy, Revision of Award, Set aside an arbitral award, Switzerland

(ARP Attorneys)/ /Leave a comment

Like virtually all arbitration laws, the Austrian Arbitration Act is silent on whether the lack of impartiality and independence of an arbitrator may be invoked for the first time in setting aside proceedings in cases where a party becomes aware of the relevant circumstances only after the award was rendered. The Austrian Supreme Court has,…

Georgia, Impartiality, Independence, Independence and Impartiality, Institutional Arbitration, Institutional Rules, Interim measures, Unconscious Bias

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /Leave a comment

Recent legislative developments have shown that Georgia strives to become a hub for dispute resolution in the Caucasus region. The legislative framework on commercial arbitration is now fully tailored to the needs of international commercial arbitration: the law of Georgia on arbitration (the “Law on Arbitration”) is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration Agreements, Financial Industry, Lebanon

(Hadef & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Over the past few months anti-corruption protesters in Lebanon have taken to the streets calling for widespread reforms to the Lebanese economic and political system. This has caused considerable strain on the country’s already frail economy. The first two weeks of the unrest saw a complete closure of banks with no possibility of making transfers…

Arbitration clause, Asia-Pacific, Cross-border transactions, Financial Agreements, Financial Industry, Financial Services Arbitration, HKIAC, ICC, International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Self-help remedies, SIAC

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In my previous post in September 2018, I discussed certain trends in the negotiation of arbitration provisions in derivatives documentation. I mentioned at the outset that the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (“ISDA”) had by then already provided detailed guidance on the use of arbitration clauses in the 2013 ISDA Arbitration Guide. A year on,…

Arbitration Agreement, India, Judicial intervention, United States Courts

, (Dr. Ram Manohar Lohiya National Law University Lucknow)/ /Leave a comment

Most of the contemporary discourses on pre-arbitral judicial interference in India entail the scope of the judicial enquiry required before the constitution of an arbitral tribunal. As it currently stands, Section 8 (for arbitrations seated in India) and Section 45 (for foreign-seated arbitrations) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“1996 Act”) have the potential…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, India

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The issue of unilateral appointment of a sole arbitrator by a party has been in the spotlight since the Supreme Court of India’s (“SC”) decision in Perkins Eastman Architects DPC & Anr. v. HSCC (India) Ltd. (“Perkins”) on 26 November 2019. This case largely puts the issue to rest by rendering unilateral sole arbitrator appointments…

Anti-arbitration, Arbitration Act, Injunction, Malaysia, Parallel Proceedings, Stay of Proceedings, Third Party

(Baskaran)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction It is not uncommon for a party (or an alleged party) to an arbitration agreement to apply to the local courts for an injunction to restrain the arbitral proceedings. Such an anti-arbitration injunction is usually applied for on the grounds that the applicant is not in fact a party to the arbitration agreement and…

Ad hoc arbitration, Appointment of arbitrators, Armenia, Interim measures, Place of arbitration

(ILex law firm)/ /Leave a comment

Since my last article on this Blog on problems concerning ad hoc arbitration in Armenia, new legislative developments have offered an almost complete solution to the issues previously discussed. At the same time, such legislative developments in Armenia have given rise to new unresolved questions which will be explored in this article.   First Issue:…

Arbitration, Crimea, Dispute, Dispute Resolution, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Turkey

(Bottega Di Bella)/ /Leave a comment

This is a follow-up post that updates on developments in the escalating tensions between Cyprus and Turkey over hydrocarbon explorations in the Mediterranean Sea. In the previous post it was argued that the Italian oil company ENI could launch an arbitration against Turkey under the Italy-Turkey Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in the aftermath of the…

Arbitration, CAM, DIS, Emergency Arbitrator, Germany, Interim measures, Italy

(Seven Summits Arbitration)/ /1 Comment

Goethe’s famous journey along the Italian peninsula left humanity a collection of verses that still make him the most notorious German author worldwide. Amongst others, he expressed his fascination for the country in these few lines: “Do you know the land where lemon blossom grows? / Amid dark leaves the golden orange glows. /A gentle…

Domestic Courts, Jurisdiction, New York Convention, Unilateral Clauses, Vis Moot

(Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP)/ /4 Comments
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Introduction1)Kevin is a member of BCLP’s International Arbitration and Construction Disputes team in London. He is due to be admitted as a Hong Kong solicitor and currently has no right to practice as a solicitor in England & Wales or Hong Kong. In this year’s Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (the “2020 Vis…

Arbitral seat, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreement, English Law, Express choice, Governing Law, Separability, UK

(OBOR Legal Research Centre)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Whenever the court is confronted with the task to determine the governing law of an arbitration agreement on the basis of knowing only (1) the stipulated governing law of the main contract and (2) the seat, a three-folded test will be applied. It inquires into (i) express choice, (ii) implied choice and (iii) closest…

Arbitration Agreement, Energy Charter Treaty, Russia, Treaty Interpretation, UNCITRAL, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, Yukos

(Albright StoneBridge Group)/ /2 Comments

Introduction On the 18th of February, the Court of Appeal in The Hague reversed the lower court’s decision annulling the awards rendered against the Russian Federation in Veteran Petroleum Ltd., Yukos Universal Ltd. and Hulley Enterprises Ltd. cases. The awards are thus revived. Notwithstanding the global notoriety and public controversy, the identity of the protagonists,…

Arbitration Agreement, English Law, Estoppel, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, No oral modification clauses, Non-signatory, Separability, UK

(WilmerHale)/ /Leave a comment

On 20 January 2020, the Court of Appeal delivered its judgment in Kabab-Ji SAL (Lebanon) v. Kout Food Group (Kuwait) [2020] EWCA Civ 6. This post will focus on the Court’s findings on “no oral modification” (“NOM”) clauses and the impact that such clauses have on whether non-signatories to a commercial contract can be bound…