The nation states of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have long been active participants in the world of international investment protection and arbitration. Pakistan was a signatory to one of the first ever Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)1)BIT between Pakistan and Germany dated 25 November 1959. and of the estimated 2,750 BITs that exist today,…
‘By putting its head in the sand, the ostrich can see no problems, and if it can’t see any problems, they don’t exist”[1] To what extent can legal systems differ? Can these differences be legitimate enough to collapse a “conflictive” legal system? These two ambitious questions are difficult to be answered in one go, and…
The new Slovak Arbitration Act (“SAA”) was adopted by the Parliament (Act. No. 336/2014 Coll.), and is in force as of January 1, 2015. In order to see whether the SAA will promote Slovakia as an arbitration venue, main novelties and amendments brought by this new act are analysed in this blog entry. Arbitrability: Under…
The Dubai Court of Cassation stays firmly on course in its enforcement of foreign arbitration awards under the 1958 New York Convention for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards (NYC) and hence keeps consolidating its pro-NYC enforcement practice. This has most recently been demonstrated by the Court’s pro-Convention approach in Case No. 434/2014…
and Rute Alves, PLMJ Sociedade de Advogados 1. Legal and practical background Pursuant to Article 17(3) of the Portuguese Voluntary Arbitration Law (Law no. 63/2011 of 14 December – hereinafter “LAV”), any party may request the competent state court to reduce the amount of the fees fixed by the arbitrators if they were not agreed…
In the Dubai Court of Cassation Case No. 434/2014 (Al Reyami Group LLC v. BTI Befestigungstechnik GmbH & Co KG) judgment issued on 23 November 2014, the Dubai Court of Cassation confirmed the Court of Appeal’s decision and, inter alia, granted recognition of a foreign arbitral award pursuant to the provisions of the 1958 New York…
If the Canada-China BIT is any guide, then the US-China BIT may prove to be profoundly state-friendly. Unlike Canada’s 2004 model investment agreement and the investment chapter of the 2014 Canada-European Union Comprehensive Trade and Economic Agreement (CETA), the Canada-China BIT offers only negligible establishment-phase protections and lacks disciplines on state-owned enterprises. With such provisions,…
Notwithstanding 2014’s political and constitutional upheavals, arbitration in Hong Kong has continued its successful trajectory as a popular and well-regarded means of alternative dispute resolution. Recent Hong Kong court decisions and developments at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) reinforce the pro-arbitration attitude of the courts and HKIAC’s position as a world-class arbitral institution….
In recent years, international arbitration has increasingly been recognised as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism for cross-border derivative transactions, particularly those involving parties from emerging markets. The key reasons for this popularity include the growing diversity of counterparties and jurisdictions involved in derivatives trading, worldwide enforceability of arbitral awards against assets located in over 150…
In November 2014, a new arbitration center was established in Bulgaria – the KRIB Court of Arbitration (KRIB – Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria). The establishment of this institution was awaited by the Bulgarian business. The establishment of a new arbitral institution in Bulgaria is an important step, since arbitration is a widely…
In the Swedish case Profura v. Blomgren (T 2863-07, Court of Appeals for Western Sweden), from 19 March 2008 known as Profura v. Stig Blomgren, an appeal was brought against award according to which the arbitral tribunal had rejected its jurisdiction.1)Case also commented in Hobér, Kaj, International Commercial Arbitration in Sweden, 2011, p. 110. The…
The terms ‘variable interest entity’ (‘VIE’), ‘valuation adjustment mechanism’ (‘VAM’) and ‘public (social) interest of China’ (otherwise, Chinese ‘public policy’) each entail complex legal issues. They have in the past caused heated debate in China as to their legality (in the cases of VIE and VAM) and their boundaries in the context of enforcement of…
On 29 September 2014, the Calcutta High Court in Board of Trustees of the Port of Kolkata v. Louis Dreyfus Armaturs SAS & Ors delivered the first decision by an Indian Court on a case directly arising from an investment treaty arbitration. The case concerns an anti-arbitration injunction sought against Louis Dreyfus Armateurs SAS (“LDA”),…
The Higher Regional Court Frankfurt (OLG Frankfurt) has recently strengthened the efficiency of parties’ wills embodied in arbitration agreements. In a crucial decision (OLG Frankfurt am Main, 26 Sch 3/13, Ruling, 18 December 2014), the judges have added clarity to the practical problem of how to resolve friction between an increasingly dense net of treaty…
The availability of expedited procedures providing for fast-track arbitration is by now commonplace under many modern institutional rules; however, the effectiveness of these mechanisms lies ultimately in enforcement and set-aside proceedings before national courts. In AQZ v ARA,1)(2015) SGHC 49. the Singapore High Court recently had to consider, for the first time, a challenge to…
The 2014 case of Application for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards between Beijing Chaolaixinsheng Sports and Leisure Co Ltd and Beijing Suowangzhixin Investment Consulting Co Ltd. The Beijing Chaolaixinsheng case is the first occasion on which China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has confirmed that arbitral awards are unenforceable in China where purely domestic…
Could protectionism turn into interventionism? There is a fine borderline between helpful assistance of the courts and abuse of the available judicial remedies within arbitration. If crossed, the entire purpose of opting for such an institution is undermined and its essentialness is jeopardised. The title of this post refers to an uncommon practice that has…
Dispute resolution provisions in banking and finance transaction documents in the UAE sometimes include a unilateral option provision which, where a dispute arises, purports to reserve to the contracting bank, investment fund or lender, the right to choose arbitration or litigation, or sometimes litigation in a different forum to the local courts. The rationale for…
SIAC ended speculation as to who would succeed Dr Michael Pryles as the next President of the SIAC Court of Arbitration by announcing, at the SIAC Annual Appreciation Event on Monday 2 March 2015, the appointment of Mr Gary Born of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, with effect from 1 April 2015. At…
Germany’s position on international investment law and investor-State arbitration is attracting increasing attention since the signing of the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) in September 2014 has been deferred, inter alia, because of opposition from Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy. Is Germany, the country that not only has…
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors alone and should not be regarded as representative of, or binding upon ArbitralWomen and/or the authors’ law firm. 1. Introduction In this overview, the highlights of the New Dutch Arbitration Act will be discussed. The New Act entered into force on 1 January 2015…
It is nearly a trite truism that New Zealanders are, in proportion to New Zealand’s size, over represented in international arbitration. A truism confirmed by John Beechy during an address at the AMINZ International Arbitration Day in Auckland on 18 February. The theme of the Day was how New Zealand could play a more prominent…
Arbitrating in the Gulf The oil and gas sector constitutes one of the most important and competitive market in Gulf countries and despite the recent slide in oil prices, the majority of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members have reserves and savings from the boom period of 2003-2014 that can underpin spending programmes. It is…
The question of what constitutes an “arbitration” is unlikely to be one that arbitral practitioners have cause to ponder on a daily basis. In fact, such a question might appear at first to be purely theoretical or academic. A recent case (ASADA v 34 Players) from the Victorian Supreme Court in Australia, however, shows the…
