Jurisdiction

Arbitration, Bribery, Corruption, Croatia, Investment Arbitration

(Georgetown University Law Center)/ /3 Comments

In the landscape of international investment arbitration the allegations of corruption have become more and more common. Confronted with investor’s claims before an arbitral tribunal, host states employ all possible legal arguments available to avoid potential liability and the subsequent payment of compensation. Investor’s corrupt acts have emerged as a potentially viable state defense in…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, CJEU, Intellectual Property Rights, Portugal

, (Linklaters LLP)/ /Leave a comment

It is fair to say that arbitration is already a widespread dispute mechanism in Portugal, broadly used not only for commercial disputes but also for disputes in other areas such as, for example, consumer, administrative and tax disputes. As for intellectual property, the possibility of submitting disputes to arbitration has been a reality in Portugal…

Arbitration, Lithuania, Public Policy

(Motieka & Audzevicius)/ /Leave a comment

Public policy remains one of the most popular grounds used by the parties to oppose the recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award. Its vague content also makes its application in court greatly challenging – academics still refer to public policy as the “unruly horse”. This creates a significant responsibility for the courts to find…

Annulment, Antitrust arbitration, Award Scrutiny, CJEU, Competition Law, Enforcement, Europe, European Law, European Union, Gas Supply Agreements, ICC Rules, New York Convention, Ordre Public, Review on the merits

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

A ruling of the Austrian Supreme Court, the Oberste Gerichtshof in Vienna, Austria, of earlier this year (see ruling of 18 February 2015, 2 Ob 22/14w) raises anew the much debated question of the type and intensity of supervisory court review of European Union (EU) competition law awards. Readers may recall that EU competition law…

Arbitration Act, India

(Arista Chambers)/ /2 Comments

The recently promulgated Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 (the “Ordinance”) marks a significant change in the arbitration landscape of India. Most significantly, the Ordinance (a statutory enactment in exercise of an extraordinary power granted to the President to act when the parliament is not in session) seeks to restrain judicial intervention in arbitration and…

Admissibility, Arbitration Proceedings, Germany, Seat of the arbitration

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /1 Comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

Drafted by HSF Partner, Mathias Wittinghofer, and Associates, Tilmann Hertel and Nils Kupka, from HSF’s Frankfurt office In 1999 Germany adopted the UNCITRAL Model law on International Commercial Arbitration (“ML”), but with a material addition: German law stipulates that prior to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal an application can be made to a German…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Enforcement, Poland, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award

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

Introduction On 1 January 2016, the Act on Promoting Amicable Dispute Resolution Methods (dated 10 September 2015, published on 13 October 2015, Official Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, item 1595), available in Polish here (“Amendment”), which was a subject of my previous post, will come into force. The Amendment is the first…

Arbitration, Russia

(Karimullin Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

The Russian company law is contained in three main sources: in Chapter 4 of the Russian Civil Code, and two special laws – on joint-stock companies (AOs) of 25.12.1995 and on limited liability companies (OOOs) of 08.02.1998 – both based on the Civil Code. The prevailing part of the company law contained in the Civil…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Award Scrutiny, Bulgaria

(Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.)/ /Leave a comment

One of the main and well known advantages of arbitration is the speed of the proceedings. In order to enhance their timeliness and efficiency, the Rules of some arbitral institutions (e.g. Art. 33 of the ICC Rules) provide for the so called “scrutiny of the award” – a procedure of formal examination of the draft…

Arbitration, Armenia

(Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes )/ /1 Comment
Three Crowns LLP

On July 18, 2014 the Cassation Court – the highest court in Armenia, in the case EKD/1910/02/13 delivered a decision (“Decision”) which paralyzed the whole arbitration system in the country. In the mentioned case the Cassation Court (“Court”) needed to answer a question whether an arbitral tribunal was entitled to decide the matter of invalidity…

Amparo, Arbitration, Mexico

(Haynes and Boone LLP )/ /Leave a comment

The New Amparo Law in Mexico introduced a revised concept of “responsible authority”, under which arbitrators might be considered as authorities for amparo claim purposes. Such new concept poses some interrogations: Does it threatens arbitration in Mexico? Would arbitration withstand the pounding? Would the parties’ agreement to arbitrate be enforced? Would the courts stand up…

Hong Kong, Third party funding, Uncategorized

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

On 19 October 2015, the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission published a Consultation Paper recommending that third party funding should be permitted for arbitrations in Hong Kong. The Paper invites public comment on the recommendation, and how third party funding should be adopted in Hong Kong. A link to the paper can be found here….

Arbitration institution, Emergency Arbitrator, North America, United States

(Young International Arbitration Practitioners of New York) and (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

In September 2015, the Young International Arbitration Practitioners of New York (YIAP-NY) was officially launched. Initiated by the International Arbitration Group at Herbert Smith Freehills New York LLP, YIAP-NY’s membership is comprised of young lawyers from more than 14 law firms in the city, as well as young practitioners from arbitral institutions such as the…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Asia, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Enforcement, HKIAC Rules, International arbitration, Russia

(Harbour Litigation Funding Limited)/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with William Kenny, Intern at HKIAC A View from Inside A foreword by Victor Dumler, Dumler and Partners Law Offices, St Petersburg. Over the last two decades, Russia-related disputes have become a considerable part of “Russia’s export” into Western Europe. Yet, after more than a year living under the sanctions regime, the situation is…

Arbitrability, Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Corporate disputes, Investment Arbitration, Russia, Uncategorized

(Karimullin Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

Under sec 1 of the RF Law on International Commercial Arbitration 5338-1 of 07.07.1993, disputes arising from civil, including corporate, relationships may be referred to international commercial arbitration, unless otherwise provided by law. However, there is no such restriction provided. In some cases, such as Novolipetsk Still Mill (NLMK) v. Nikolay Maksimov (Decrees of the…

Arbitration, Greece, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(School of Law, University of Westminster)/ /Leave a comment

While everyone has been watching with fascination the ups and downs of the Greek crisis, colleagues have been busy in the background trying to unravel some core components of the Greek Bailouts. The PSI deal, which is largely responsible for passing the burden of any potential Greek default from private hands onto public coffers, has…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrator's Fees, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, Sweden

(Climate Change Counsel)/ /Leave a comment

The Swedish Arbitration Act [“Act”] is currently under review. In 2014, 15 years after the Act first entered into force, a committee was given the task of assessing how well it has worked in practice and how it measures up internationally. According to the committee’s terms of reference, the primary motivation behind the review is…

China, CIETAC, SHIAC

(Ghent University)/ /Leave a comment

China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and China Maritime Arbitration Commission (CMAC) are the best-known international arbitration institutions in China that deal with the resolution of international commercial disputes. There are, however, other arbitral institutions in China that are also empowered to resolve international commercial disputes, by virtue of the Notice of the…

BIT, India

(Stephenson Harwood LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The engines of economic growth in India are moving towards full throttle. In this resurrection of India as an economic giant, foreign investors are keenly looking at safeguards the Government of India is prepared to offer to ensure that the commercial bases of their investments are protected. The corner stones of investor confidence have always…

Canada, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Italy, Nationality requirement in arbitration clauses, UNCITRAL, Venezuela

(Covington and Burling LLP)/ /Leave a comment

For natural persons, possession of the nationality of the host state is an absolute bar to becoming a party to ICSID proceedings against that state. Article 25 of the ICSID Convention delimits the scope of arbitral jurisdiction to investment disputes between a ‘Contracting State’ and a ‘national of another Contracting State’, defined as ‘any natural…

Brazil, New York Convention

(Ferro, Castro Neves, Daltro & Gomide (FCDG))/ /Leave a comment

In 1996, when the Brazilian Arbitration Act (“BAA”) came into force, the New York Convention (“NYC”) was still facing considerable resistance from the Brazilian Executive and Legislative branches. At that time, there were few indications that the NYC would be ratified in the near future. This is why the draftsmen of the bill (a bill…

Russia, Sanctions

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP), (Herbert Smith Freehills), and (Linklaters)/ /Leave a comment

Financial, trade and political sanctions have long been used by states as a tool of foreign policy. This is no less true today, where high profile sanctions regimes have been imposed against Iran, Myanmar, Sudan, North Korea, and Zimbabwe amongst many others. See, for example, the lists of sanctions maintained by the EU (see here),…

Iran, Legislation, Sanctions

(VINCI Construction Grands Projets)/ /Leave a comment

In international arbitration, the effect of international sanctions regulations usually arises at two key stages. First, at the commencement of arbitration, where arbitral institutions, arbitrators and counsel involved in the proceedings must consider if they are potentially in breach of such regulations. Secondly, at the enforcement stage, if an award is challenged under the New…

Arbitration Agreements, Russia, Unilateral Clauses

(Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners)/ /2 Comments

The issue of a unilateral (optional, alternative, hybrid) arbitration clause is highly controversial in commercial arbitration. The approach to these clauses varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In 2012, the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia (a state court), in Russian Telephone Company v. Sony Ericsson, declared a unilateral arbitration clause invalid. The decision attracted attention of…