Jurisdiction

Brazil, Commercial Arbitration, Enforcement, Latin America, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

( King & Spalding LLP)/ /Leave a comment

For the past few years, Brazil has gained recognition as an “arbitration-friendly” seat when it comes to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. However, last year, in a groundbreaking decision, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (in Portuguese, “Superior Tribunal de Justiça” or “STJ”) denied recognition of two US arbitral awards. Abengoa has appealed from…

Brazil, Commercial Arbitration, Institutional Arbitration, public-private partnership, State entity

, (Andrade & Fichtner Advogados) and (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan UK LLP)/ /Leave a comment

This post summarises the key features of the Rio de Janeiro State Decree No. 46.245/2018, which regulates arbitrations between state-owned entities and private corporations and came into force on February 20, 2018. As a brief introduction, and to provide context of the enactment of the referred statute, it is relevant to set forth three pieces…

Austria, BIT, Canada, CETA, China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, China-Korea Free Trade Agreement, Corporate Social Responsibility, India, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, Norway, TPP

(Herbert Smith Freehills China International Business and Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre of UNSW Law)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In the context of the backlash against investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”), one of the main criticisms is the asymmetric nature of investment treaties, which impose numerous obligations on the States, but do not seem to hold corporations accountable for the social, environmental and economic consequences of their activities. Some recent developments reflect a redirection away…

CAFTA, Caribbean, Investment Arbitration, Latin America

(Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment

Cruising around investment cases against the Caribbean islands is not only a recreational journey.  It is also an informative one.  This article aims at presenting key observations made during this journey. As mentioned in a previous publication, since 1973, the sovereign islands of the Caribbean Sea, have concluded over 140 international investment agreements.  The ICSID…

Arbitration, Belgium, Document Exchange, International arbitration, Technology, Uncategorized

(Hanotiau & van den Berg)/ /Leave a comment

With the focus of the arbitral community being taken over by the recent discourse surrounding an important branch of international arbitration, i.e., investor state dispute settlement, after the 6 March 2018 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-284/16, Slowakische Republik v Achmea BV, there may be a risk today,…

Admissibility, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, Latin America

(Bottega Di Bella)/ /2 Comments

This post gives a bird’s eye view of an   imminent investment arbitration and forecasts procedural and/or jurisdictional hurdles to the case, by analyzing the dispute resolution provision and relevant precedents, with the intention of highlighting recurring inconsistencies on a key procedural issue and urging for more predictable outcomes for the benefits of the stakeholders in…

Enforcement, Pakistan, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

/ /4 Comments

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“Convention”), 1958 was adopted by Pakistan on 14 July 2005 through the Recognition and Enforcement (Arbitration Agreements and Foreign Arbitral Awards) Ordinance, 2005. This was re-promulgated in the years 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010 until it was finally enacted in 2011 (“2011 Act”).  …

Adverse Inference, Algeria, Arbitration, Canada, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Good Faith, IBA Rules of Evidence, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration, Poland, Venezuela

/ /Leave a comment

Principles of adverse inferences are applied universally. International law endorses the arbitrator’s inherent authority to draw adverse inferences against a party for unjustified non-compliance with an order to produce information. Moreover, arbitrators can rely on general principles of law when applying adverse inferences as a basis for decisions. The general principle of good faith imposes…

Achmea, Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Investment Arbitration, Poland, Rule of Law

(Kancelaria Adwokacka Adwokat Marcin Orecki)/ /Leave a comment

On 6 March 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in the case no. C‑284/16 Slovak Republic v. Achmea BV (“Achmea case”) (available here) stated that arbitration agreements concluded between the Member States of the European Union (“EU”) in the so-called intra-EU BITs have an adverse effect on the autonomy of EU…

Africa, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, ICCA Sydney 2018, ICSID Convention, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Corrs Chambers Westgarth)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The morning session of the last day of the ICCA Sydney 2018 Conference on “Potential of Arbitration Involving New Stakeholders” was moderated by Ndanga Kamau and had the insightful contributions of Dr. Campbell McLachlan QC, Prof. Makane Moïse Mbengue and Silvia Marchili. Ndanga Kamau opened the final plenary session by asking the following question: why…

Arbitration, Belt Road Initiative, China, ICC, ICC Arbitration, ICC Rules

(ICC) and , (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

On 5 March 2018, the ICC Court announced the establishment of a commission to address dispute resolution in relation to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The commission will drive the development of ICC’s existing dispute resolution procedures and infrastructure to support Belt and Road disputes. The Belt and Road The Belt and Road is China’s…

Arbitration, BIT, European Law, European Union, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Interviews with Our Editors, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

In the midst of challenges to the very legitimacy of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) celebrated its 50th anniversary and embarked on the fourth ICSID Rules amendment process in ICSID history. The previous amendment processes brought notable additions to the ICSID Rules, such as enhanced transparency in…

Africa, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Ethics, Ethiopia

/ /2 Comments

If you are a counsel in an ongoing arbitration, you have two obligations: 1) navigate your ways through provisions of the applicable law so that you can litigate as a professional; 2) satisfy your client with your service and make sure that all his questions are answered properly. Especially, if an arbitrator (whether or not…

Albania, Arbitration, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, United States

(Chaffetz Lindsey LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The recent decision by an intermediate New York appellate court in AlbaniaBEG Ambient Sh.p.k. v. Enel S.p.A.1)A.D.3d, No. 152679/14, 2018 WL 755355 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t Feb. 8, 2018). has sharply curtailed “a procedural loophole in Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act”2)Commissions Imp. Exp. S.A. v. Republic of Congo, 916 F. Supp. 2d…

Achmea, CJEU, European Law, European Union

/ /6 Comments

Many arbitration lawyers’ initial reaction to the CJEU’s Achmea judgment resembles the first three of the famous “five stages of grief” (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance). Some deny Achmea’s relevance under international law, others angrily dismiss it as unreasoned and politically motivated, while many attempts to “bargain” a way out for intra-EU arbitrations under…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Set aside an arbitral award, Sweden

(Mannheimer Swartling)/ /Leave a comment

After almost 20 years, the Swedish Arbitration Act (“SAA” or “Act”) may be getting a well-deserved face lift. In February 2014, the Swedish Government decided to take definitive steps to begin modernising the Act. The purpose of the reform was to bring Swedish arbitration law more in line with certain advancements in arbitration and to…

Argentina, IBA, International Commercial Arbitration, Latin America

(Permanent Court of Arbitration)/ /2 Comments

At a time when Argentina is looking to modernize its arbitration culture and attract foreign investment, the IBA Arbitration Day held in Buenos Aires could not have been more opportune.  Gathering more than 400 arbitration experts from more than 45 countries, the venue and the event proved to be up to the challenge.  While arbitration…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Austria, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Security for Costs, VIAC

(Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich)/ /1 Comment

Since their inception in 1975, the Vienna Rules (Rules of Arbitration and Mediation of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre) have undergone a number of major reforms keeping them abreast of the fast-moving tides of legal development in international arbitration. The latest revision of the Rules as from 1 January 2018 (previously covered in this blog)…

Energy, foreign direct investment, Foreign Investment Law, ICSID, Iraq, ISDS, Oil & Gas

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

The 4th Iraq Energy Forum (IEF), coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Iraq Energy Institute, took place this year on 28-29 March at the Rasheed Royal Tulip Hotel. Politically and economically, the context of this IEF was important. The context was that the global reconstruction package in Kuwait had been agreed with the IMF and…

Arbitral Award, Awards, Consent awards, United States

(Ava J Borrasso P.A.)/ /1 Comment
ArbitralWomen

The importance of memorializing a settlement agreement into a consent award was recently highlighted in Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea Vii v. Erin Energy Corp., Case No. H-17-2623 (S.D. Tex. March 12, 2018). There, a Texas district court addressed whether a consent award is subject to confirmation in the United States pursuant to the New…

Domestic Courts, Domestic law, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States

(Durham Law School)/ /Leave a comment

The central point of this note is that the U.S. law of arbitration is not clear from the text of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The FAA is archaic and in need of updating. The FAA is the oldest – but still functioning – arbitration statute in the world. Case law has rewritten much of…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Expedited arbitration, SCC, SCC Rules, Sweden

(Climate Change Counsel)/ /Leave a comment

“In its origins, the concept of arbitration as a method of resolving disputes was a simple one . . . . Two traders, in dispute over the price or quality of goods delivered, would turn to a third whom they knew and trusted for his decision.” (Redfern & Hunter 2014 at 1-03) Arbitration has strayed…

Arbitration, Energy, Investment Arbitration, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda

(EnVantage Law)/ /Leave a comment

The countries of Africa are nascent economies, some with well developed, and most with burgeoning energy and natural resources (ENR) sectors. With the vast resource of wealth comes a greater expectation of economic development and a greater interest in ENR and infrastructure investment. Disputes are often inevitable, considering the vested interests involved. Navigating ENR arbitration…

BIT, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment Arbitration, Public Policy, Switzerland

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court, in a rare appeal against an award in a bilateral investment treaty arbitration, confirmed its statutory restraint in reviewing arbitral awards pursuant to article 190 of the Private International Law Act (“PILA”) and rejected the host state’s request to set aside the award for violating substantive public policy. (Case 4A_157/2017,…