Jurisdiction

Arbitral seat, Arbitration, International arbitration, Middle East, New York Convention, Seat of the arbitration

(Mechantaf Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 14 October 2012, Justice David Williams of the DIFC Court of First Instance (Dubai International Financial Centre) applied a course correction by issuing a decision confirming the jurisdiction of the DIFC Courts to grant a stay in the presence of a valid arbitration agreement providing for a seat of arbitration outside the DIFC. Justice…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, International arbitration, Latin America

(Linklaters)/ /1 Comment

A few months ago I wrote a post on this Blog about what I saw as “work left to do” in the Spanish arbitration system. I started with the need to build a regional court of arbitration on a par with those well-known centres in other jurisdictions, with the fundamental aim of taking advantage of…

China, CIETAC, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Provisional measures

(Eversheds)/ /Leave a comment

The recent revisions to the Chinese Civil Procedure Law (the “CPL”) made some significant amendments to the arbitration law in China. In particular, the new CPL for the first time provides for pre-arbitration preservation measures to be available from the Chinese courts. The revisions will come into force on 1 January 2013. Under the existing…

Asia-Pacific, Enforcement, Hong Kong, Jurisdiction, New York Convention, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /2 Comments
YSIAC

In Astro Nusantara International BV v PT Ayunda Prima Mitra [2012] SGHC 212, the Singapore High Court set out the available recourse against an international arbitration award made in Singapore. This case has significant implications for Singapore as a seat of arbitration, and this note contrasts the position between Singapore and Hong Kong against the…

Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Middle East, New York Convention, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent ruling of 18 October 2012, the Dubai Court of Cassation, the highest court in the Emirate of Dubai, against whose judgments lies no further appeal, confirmed the enforcement of a trilogy of DIFC-LCIA awards – one on liability and two on costs (all forming part of the same reference) – rendered by…

China, CIETAC

(Taylor Wessing)/ /1 Comment

by Peter Bert and Joachim Glatter Disputes between the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) and its sub-commissions in Shanghai (“CIETAC Shanghai”) and Shenzhen (“CIETAC South China”) currently cause significant legal uncertainty. These internal issues at CIETAC create risks for parties that have agreed arbitration proceedings with these local sub-commissions in their contracts,…

Arbitration Awards, Domestic Courts, Eastern Europe, Enforcement

(CAI & Lenard )/ /Leave a comment

Arbitration practitioners often put Ukraine below the average ranking of countries in terms of recognition of arbitration. Ukraine’s image of a not entirely arbitration-friendly jurisdiction is “promoted” with common thought about problematic enforcement of arbitral awards in Ukraine. In well-known case “Regent Company v. Ukraine”, the European Court of Human Rights (in its decision of…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Domestic Courts, Jurisdiction, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /1 Comment

In a recently published decision dated 6 August 2012 (4A_119/2012), the Swiss Federal Supreme Court confirmed its own jurisprudence according to which state courts facing a jurisdictional defense based on an alleged arbitration agreement must not assess in full the validity of the arbitration agreement. In such cases, the state court must limit itself to a summary examination of whether or not a valid arbitration agreement exists.

Asia-Pacific, Costs, Set aside an arbitral award

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

By Justin D’Agostino, Tracy Wu and Briana Young The Hong Kong Court of Appeal recently awarded indemnity costs against an applicant who attempted unsuccessfully to set aside an arbitral award. In a decision that many will welcome, the Hong Kong court has sent another strong message of support for the finality of the arbitral process….

Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Latin America, Provisional measures

(Clyde & Co. LLP)/ /1 Comment
Clyde & Co.

A recent decision of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (“STJ”) has ruled, for the first time, on the issue of the concurrent jurisdiction of national courts and arbitral tribunals with respect to the making of interim measures (Itarumã Participações S.A. v Participações em Complexos Bioenergéticos S.A. – PCBIOS, Resp no. 1,297,974-RJ). The decision is…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitrators, BIT, Costs in arbitral proceedings, ICSID Convention, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Jurisdiction

(International Moot Court Competition Association (IMCCA))/ /15 Comments

“Research is formalized curiosity…” – Z. Hurston In what follows I have tried to gather information from publicly available sources regarding some of the questions which have troubled my mind lately. It is hoped that the results would be of interest to the readers. For me, this proved to be one of my most exciting…

Enforcement of an arbitration clause, English Law, Jurisdiction, New York Convention

(Linklaters)/ /1 Comment

A recent Australian case has resulted in a ruling that arbitration clauses, jurisdiction clauses and choice of law clauses in charter parties involving shipments to or from Australia are now unenforceable if such clauses seek to limit the jurisdiction of any Australian court. On 6 October 2009 the Claimant ship owner, Dampskibsselskabet Norden A/S (“DKN”),…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Europe

(Budin & Associés Avocats)/ /4 Comments

On a recent brief holiday in Valencia, I was able to attend a session of the Tribunal de las Aguas de la Vega de Valencia, the “Water Court” or Tribunal de les Aigües, in Valenciano dialect used by that Court. The Tribunal convenes in public at noon every Thursday at the “Door of the Apostles”…

Arbitration Act, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

On 27 September 2012, the Swiss Parliament adopted a motion that had been introduced earlier this year tasking the Government to prepare a report on the Swiss Arbitration Law (chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA)).  The objective of the report is to further enhance the attractiveness of Switzerland as a…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration clause, Brazil, Domestic law, English Law, International arbitration, Law governing the arbitration agreement, Seat of the arbitration, UNCITRAL Model Law

(McGill University Faculty of Law)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The English Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Sulamerica CIA Nacional De Seguros SA v Enesa Engenharia SA [2012] EWCA Civ 638, which is discussed in a recent post by Guy Pendell, underscores an important weakness in the international arbitration system’s legal framework. While everyone accepts that the arbitration agreement is the foundation of an…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Russia

(Clifford Chance LLP)/ /1 Comment

and Julia Popelysheva, Clifford Chance LLP Introduction On 19 June 2012 the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation (“SAC RF“) issued a decree (“Decree“) in case No. VAS-1831/12 in which it examined the validity of an optional jurisdictional clause. The full text of the Decree setting out the rationale for the…

Arbitration, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Middle East, New York Convention, Public Policy, Review on the merits

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

As explored in some detail in Part I of this blog post, recent UAE supervisory court case law has heralded a new era of enforcement of international awards in strict compliance with the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards (the “New York Convention”). To recap, the Maxtel line of…

European Law, Investment Arbitration, Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal

(Linklaters)/ /1 Comment

Investment arbitration under intra-EU investment treaties has been a controversial topic for years. The European Commission has repeatedly expressed the view that arbitration clauses in bilateral investment treaties between EU Member States are in conflict with EU law and therefore inoperative, while arbitral tribunals have, on several occasions, assumed jurisdiction on the basis of such…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Proceedings, Asia-Pacific

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

In Shanghai Construction (Group) General Co. Singapore Branch v Tan Poo Seng [2012] SGHCR 10, the Singapore High Court granted a temporary stay of proceedings in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction. The stay was granted on the ground that there was an arbitration which was intended to take place and the outcome of that arbitration…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration Agreements, Brazil, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, English Law

(CMS Cameron McKenna LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

On 16 May 2012, the Court of Appeal of England & Wales (“CA”) dismissed an appeal against an anti-suit injunction restraining three insured entities from pursuing proceedings in the Brazilian courts against their insurers (Sulamerica CIA Nacional De Seguros SA v Enesa Engenharia SA [2012] EWCA Civ 638). This is the latest in a series…

Arbitration, Arbitration clause, Arbitration Proceedings, Canada, Consumer contracts, Domestic Courts, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, Pro arbitration

(www.marcgold.ca)/ /1 Comment

In recent years, Canada has an enjoyed a reputation as an arbitration-friendly country. This is due to a number of factors, including the incorporation or adaptation of the Model Law into the arbitration legislation at the provincial and federal level, a sophisticated arbitration community well versed in both the common and civil law traditions, and,…

ICSID Convention, International arbitration, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Latin America

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent blog post, Gary Born highlighted the current role of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in administering state-to-state arbitrations. Given that the PCA has recently released its Annual Report for 2011, I thought I’d complement Gary’s post with some further information about the PCA’s role in administering investor-to-state arbitrations. It’s useful to set…

Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, Middle East, New York Convention

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /1 Comment

International award creditors can now look with some measure of optimism to enforcing their awards against Middle Eastern stakeholders in the UAE. This is so following a recent spate of judgments of the UAE courts that have confirmed enforcement of foreign awards under the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign…

BIT, Costs, Europe, European Law, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration

(Linklaters)/ /1 Comment

With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty on 1 December 2009, control of foreign direct investment became an exclusive area of EU competence, or such is the view of the European Commission, a view which is not shared by all EU member States. Since that time, the Commission has embarked upon what it…