Jurisdiction

Africa, Arbitral seat, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration Proceedings, CAJAC, Commercial Arbitration, Interviews with Our Editors

(Equanimity Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

With development in the African continent on the rise, the region is seeing the introduction and/ or revamping of its arbitration centres. One such development is the establishment of the China Africa Joint Arbitration Centre (CAJAC) to resolve commercial disputes between Chinese and African parties. Not an unsurprising development given China’s commitment to invest $60…

Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, Confidentiality, India

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YIAG

The proposed amendments (“Bill”) to the Indian arbitration law may soon get the force of law. The Bill is based on the report (“Report”) of a High Level Committee and suggests several changes which may have far-reaching negative effect.   In my earlier post, it was argued that the Report and the Bill have some…

Arbitration Agreement, Brazil, Multiple parties, Non-signatory, Swap

(Clyde & Co LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The debate around the ‘extension’ of arbitration agreements has, once again, been placed under the spotlight in Brazil. The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (‘SCJ’) recently considered the issue in disputes involving groups of contracts between the same parties. The SCJ ruled in favour of the ‘extension’ of the arbitration agreement contained in the main…

Confidentiality, Enforcement, Interim measures, Jurisdiction, UAE Federal Arbitration Law, UNCITRAL Model Law, United Arab Emirates

(Al Tamimi & Company)/ /2 Comments

Arbitration in the UAE is governed by the Federal Arbitration Law No. 6 of 2018 (“UAE Arbitration Law”). The UAE Arbitration Law, which entered into force in June 2018, repealed Articles 203 to 218 of the UAE Civil Procedures Law No. 11 of 1992 (“CPC”), which previously governed arbitration in the UAE. Unlike the former…

Arbitral Award, Enforcement, India, Interim Orders

(Bombay High Court)/ /1 Comment

Background The Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) provides, in Section 37(2)(b), for an ‘appeal’ from an arbitral tribunal’s order on interim/provisional measures (“interim order”). It, however, does not stipulate the standard of review that the court must apply while reviewing an interim order. Sans any prescribed legislative standard, courts have two alternatives available: test…

India, Jurisdiction, Jurisdictional challenge, Set aside an arbitral award

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The Supreme Court of India (“SC”) in its recent decision M/s Lion Engineering Consultants v. State of M.P. & Ors. (“Lion”) has held that a party that had failed to raise a jurisdictional challenge before the arbitral tribunal under Section 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”), would yet be permitted to raise such…

Japan, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, JCAA

(Universiti Brunei Darussalam & University of Sydney) and (University of Sydney & Williams Trade Law)/ /Leave a comment

Not long after the ICCA Congress held in Sydney, the Japan International Dispute Resolution Center (JIDRC) was established in Osaka on 1 May 2018, with some fanfare from the Japanese government and local legal circles. ‘JIDRC-Osaka’ does not provide arbitration services but offers specialist facilities for international arbitration hearings and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution…

Achmea, Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, Mediation, Spain

(Galvez Pascual SLP)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Unquestionably, Spain captures the highest percentage of arbitration procedures for cuts applied to renewable energies, accumulating almost thirty ongoing lawsuits from foreign investors, with claims pending in the ICSID, in the SCC and in the ICC arbitrations. Spain as the respondent was successful in the first two arbitrations, but these were unique cases and…

Arbitrability, Criminal law and arbitration, Lithuania

(Greenlex)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The Court of Appeal of Lithuania (“Court of Appeal”) in Prosecutor v. Public Entity “Pramogų sala”,1) Ruling of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania in case No. 1S-183-307/2018 dated 9 August 2018. has ruled on 9 August 2018 that claims for damages are not arbitrable in cases where the (disputable) loss is caused by a…

Awards, Civil Procedure, Costa Rica, Due process, Forwarding

(HDUARTE LEGAL)/ /Leave a comment

The Return of the Jedi is a 1983 science fiction movie set in 4 ABY, a year after the Imperial occupation of Cloud City, when Luke Skywalker and his friends travel to Tatooine to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. The Empire prepares to destroy the Rebel Alliance with a more…

National Arbitration Laws, National Courts, Switzerland

(Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 11 January 2017, the Swiss Federal Council issued a draft bill to revise chapter 12 of the Swiss International Private Law Act (“SPILA”) on international arbitration (as well as, to a lesser extent, the Federal Tribunal Act and the Civil Procedure Code (“CPC”)), which was the subject of a previous publication on this blog….

Corruption, Due process, Guerrilla Tactics, Public Policy, Singapore

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 April 2018, the Singapore High Court (“Court”), in China Machine New Energy Corp v Jaguar Energy Guatemala LLC and another [2018] – SGHC 101, has upheld an ICC award of a truly international nature. The case raised intriguing procedural questions in international arbitration: The impact of an “attorney-eyes-only order” (“AEO Order”), handling allegations…

BIT, Russia, Territory, Ukraine

(Asters)/ /Leave a comment

After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the new local “authorities” have taken a number of privately and state-owned assets in the peninsula.  Ukrainian companies have commenced at least eight investment arbitrations against the Russian Federation under the Russia-Ukraine BIT (the “BIT”), seeking compensation for the lost property in Crimea.1) NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine et…

Arbitrators, Independence and Impartiality, India

, (Nishith Desai) and (Trilegal)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Independence and impartiality of arbitrators are the hallmarks of arbitration. The amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (“Act”) in 2015, which adopted the international best practices from the International Bar Association Guidelines on Conflict of Interest (“IBA Guidelines”), aimed to bolster not only the neutrality of arbitrators, but also the perception of neutrality….

HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, HKIAC Rules, Hong Kong

and (Simmons & Simmons)/ /Leave a comment

2018 HKIAC Rules Come into Force 1 November 2018 marked 5 years from the date on which the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules came into force. 1 November 2018 was also the day on which the new 2018 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (“2018 Rules“) came into force. The 2018 Rules showcased the latest thinking in…

HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, Hong Kong

, (King & Wood Mallesons)/ /Leave a comment
HK45

Yesterday, participants at this year’s Hong Kong Arbitration Week came together to attend the centrepiece ADR in Asia conference.  The conference, titled “The Vision in Revision,” featured a veritable smorgasbord of speeches, panels and mocks and was held again at the Four Seasons Hotel. Welcome Address and Keynote Speech The conference was kicked off with…

Efficiency, HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, Hong Kong

, , (Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

Hogan Lovells hosted an event yesterday, 30 October 2018, at its Hong Kong office, as part of the Hong Kong Arbitration Week, titled “Making Arbitration Fit for the Future”.  The event was graced by the presence of Bernard Hanotiau as the keynote speaker, followed by speeches from HKIAC’s Sarah Grimmer and Hogan Lovells’ James Kwan,…

Asia, Asia-Pacific, Efficiency, HK Arbitration Week, Hong Kong

, and (Kim & Chang)/ /Leave a comment

The week-long series of events for Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2018 kicked off with a seminar hosted by Latham & Watkins entitled “Ensuring Efficiency in International Arbitration  Proceedings: Tips for Asian Users”. The seminar consisted of two roundtable discussions with practitioners and professionals in the field of international arbitration. The first roundtable featured Mr. Bernard…

Canada, Fork in the road, ISDS, Mexico, NAFTA, USMCA

(Hughes Hubbard & Reed)/ /3 Comments

Introduction: The Pro-State Orientation of the USMCA Chapter 14 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) presents a model of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) that fundamentally realigns the balance between investors and states in favor of the latter. This realignment consists in the USMCA’s structure and specific provisions. Structurally, the USMCA eliminates ISDS between Canadian investors…

Arbitration Act, Development, Latin America, UNCITRAL Model Law, Uruguay

, , , (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer)/ /Leave a comment

Uruguay’s long journey to approve an international commercial arbitration law has finally come to an end. Act Nº 19.636 (the “Arbitration Act”) was passed at the beginning of July, almost fourteen years after the Executive first sent a draft bill to Congress to regulate arbitration. The Arbitration Act largely incorporates the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, India, Institutional Arbitration

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YIAG

The lower house of the Indian Parliament recently passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2018 (“Bill”) to amend the arbitration law. If also passed by the upper house of Parliament, and upon receiving the President’s assent, this will become a law. It will then come into force when the Government so notifies. The Law…

ADR, Arbitration, Mediation, Taipei

(Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei)/ /2 Comments

Are litigation, arbitration and mediation competitive, collaborative or cooperative? Is litigation becoming an “alternative” to “alternative dispute resolution”, especially keeping arbitration on top of its game? Are mixed processes or combined regimes becoming the preference? These questions were part of the timely and timeless theme for this year’s Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation…

HKIAC, HKIAC Rules, Hong Kong

(Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre )/ /Leave a comment
HK45

In August 2017, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) launched a rules revision process to consider amendments to the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (“2013 Rules”), having regard to the latest trends in international arbitration, feedback from users and HKIAC’s past case management experience. The 2013 Rules have been widely regarded as one of…

Agency, Arbitration Agreement, Austria

(Konrad & Partners)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

In its decision 6 Ob 195/17w dated 17 January 2018, the Austrian Supreme Court decided that the form requirements for an arbitration agreement also apply to the authorisation to an agent to enter into an arbitration agreement (or a contract containing an arbitration agreement). I. Stopping the movement towards a liberalisation of form requirements Austria…