Jurisdiction

Arbitration, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Pre-arbitral procedure, Set aside an arbitral award, Supreme Court, Switzerland

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

In a recent decision, the Swiss Supreme Court examined whether contractual provisions contemplating certain procedural steps before initiating arbitration proceedings impacted the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal (Case no. 4A_46/2011 of 16 May 2011, to be published in ASA Bulletin, 2011. English translation to be published in Swiss International Arbitration Law Reports, 2011). The contract,…

Asia-Pacific

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

The Singapore Court of Appeal issued a decision recently articulating a principled framework for the arbitrability of insolvency-related claims. It provides useful guidance on when an insolvency-related claim would be considered non-arbitrable under Singapore law. In seeking to strike the delicate balance between its robust pro-arbitration stance and its insolvency regime, the Court’s underlying philosophy…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Middle East

(Conway & Partners)/ /4 Comments

January 28, 2011 – violent protests rocked Egypt; February 2, 2011 – political anxiety and ongoing unrest in Egypt threaten to shake other economies; February 11, 2011 – Mubarak resigned. March 22, 2011 – fire at Egypt interior ministry; April 17, 2011 – ex-ministers to be tried. Recently, a significant amount of unrest has occurred…

Arbitration, Costs, Europe, Switzerland

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

According to the rules governing domestic arbitration (Art 30 of the Concordat on Arbitration, and, as of 1 January 2011, Art. 378 of the Swiss Federal Code on Civil Procedure), a party that does not pay its share of the advance on the arbitration costs requested by the arbitral tribunal risks to lose the benefit…

International arbitration, New York Convention, North America, United States

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /3 Comments
WilmerHale

The recent decision of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (an intermediate state appellate court) in Sojitz Corp. v. Prithvi Information Solutions Ltd., 2011 N.Y. Slip Op. 1741; 2011 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1709, bolsters New York’s reputation as a jurisdiction friendly to international arbitration. In this case, which involved two non-U.S. parties in…

Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Jurisdiction, National Arbitration Laws

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /1 Comment

According to article 7 of the Swiss Private International Law (PILA), if the parties have entered into an arbitration agreement, the Swiss Court before which the action is brought shall decline its jurisdiction unless it finds that the agreement is null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed. An initiative to amend article 7…

Inter-American Conventions, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, South America

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

On 11 March 2011, the UNASUR treaty entered into force. UNASUR (the Union of South American Nations) is a regional organisation that comprises all twelve South American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela. The entry into force of the treaty is an important development for the international arbitration community given some of the proposals that UNASUR is advancing, particularly in the field of investor-State arbitration.

Arbitration, Europe, Sanctions, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /2 Comments

Introduction: Many international commercial contracts (such as e.g., construction, distribution, sale and purchase) are governed by Swiss (substantive) law as per a choice of law provision. Often the choice of law is made in combination with an arbitration clause referring disputes to arbitration in Switzerland. The effect of international sanctions on commercial contracts has become…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Canada, Consumer contracts, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, North America

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

Anyone considering Canada as the seat of an arbitration or as one among several jurisdictions where recognition and enforcement proceedings could be commenced should pay close attention to the Supreme Court of Canada’s March 18 decision in Seidel v. TELUS Communications Inc., 2011 SCC 15, which appears to mark a philosophical shift in Canadian arbitration…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings, Asia-Pacific, English Law, Jurisdiction, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Will a court injunct arbitral proceedings if parties, before an arbitration hearing, allegedly reach a settlement agreement and a dispute subsequently arises over the existence of such an agreement? Is the tribunal functus? Recently, the Singapore High Court in Doshion Ltd v Sembawang Engineers and Constructors Pte Ltd [2011] SGHC 46 (“Doshion”) rightly held that…

Due process, Europe, Sport arbitration

(Perréard de Boccard)/ /Leave a comment

Sports arbitration is becoming an increasingly important field. In Switzerland, where the Court for Arbitration for Sports is located, the Swiss Supreme Court is seeing lately nearly half of its cases coming from the CAS. Sports arbitration, however, gives rise to a specific concern with respect to the issue of consent. Often, athletes find themselves…

Arbitration clause, Arbitrators, Disclosure, Domestic Courts, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Jurisdiction, LCIA Arbitration, Provisional measures, Russia

(Enyo Law LLP)/ /2 Comments
Herbert Smith Freehills

While Russia is a signatory to the New York Convention, there is a perception amongst some practitioners and arbitration users that Russia is not an arbitration friendly jurisdiction. This viewpoint is, no doubt, due to a perceived scepticism of the Russian courts and is the driving force behind many foreign investors doing business in Russia…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Commercial Arbitration, Europe, International arbitration, Legislation, National Arbitration Laws

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment
White & Case

The new French arbitration law, published on 14 January 2011, further reinforces Paris’ position as a leading arbitration centre. The new law, which comes thirty years after the previous 1980 law regarding domestic arbitration and the 1981 law dealing with international arbitration, maintains the distinction between domestic and international arbitration. It clarifies and enhances an…

Asia-Pacific, Expedited arbitration, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

(King & Spalding)/ /Leave a comment

The SIAC dispenses hospitality to the legal profession in Singapore on a regular basis, as part of its “outreach” efforts to what I suppose we can describe as its local client base. The latest of these events took place at the end of January at the Helipad — a dimly lit bar with, disappointingly, no…

draft Restatement, New York Convention, North America, United States

(Wayne State University)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

On March 23, in Washington, DC, the Institute for Transnational Arbitration and the American Society of International Law will co-host a conference on “Fault Lines in International Commercial Arbitration.” Building on the American Law Institute’s draft Restatement of the U.S. Law on International Commercial Arbitration, Gary Born, Jan Paulsson, J. William Rowley, QC, Linda Silberman,…

Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, BIT, Investment Arbitration, Jurisdiction

(White & Case LLP)/ /1 Comment
White & Case

On December 1, 2010, an ICSID tribunal composed of Sir Franklin Berman (President), Prof. Emmanuel Gaillard, and J. Christopher Thomas, QC, in Global Trading Resource Corp. and Globex International, Inc. v. Ukraine [Disclosure: White & Case LLP was counsel to Ukraine in this case], became the first tribunal ever to dismiss a case under the…

BIT, Foreign Investment Law, Investment Arbitration, South America, Venezuela

(University of Victoria Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

Two ICSID tribunals have now weighed in on the much-debated question of whether Art. 22 of Venezuela’s Foreign Investment Law provides Venezuela’s consent to ICSID arbitration. In Decisions on Jurisdiction dated June and December 2010, the Mobil and Cemex tribunals (both presided by the former president of the ICJ, Judge Gilbert Guillaume), rejected investors’ submissions…

Annulment, Appeal, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Enforcement, Estoppel, France

(ArbBoutique & Queen Mary University of London)/ /1 Comment

On Thursday, 13 January 2011, France revealed its long-awaited new arbitration law. The décret n° 2011-48 portant réforme de l’arbitrage, was published in France’s Official Journal, alongside a report commenting on the reform. The new law can be found here, as well as the accompanying commentary here. The reform concerns both domestic and international arbitration…

Arbitration Act, Asia-Pacific

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

Hong Kong has unveiled its new Arbitration Ordinance. We take a look in this blog at how this is likely to affect parties and practitioners dealing with, or considering, arbitration in Hong Kong. After a lengthy and detailed consultation process, the Hong Kong Legislative Council has passed the new Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (‘new Arbitration…

Africa, Asia-Pacific, BIT, Canada, Energy Charter Treaty, Europe, International arbitration, International Law, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, NAFTA, North America, Russia, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, South America

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /Leave a comment

Last year, around this time, I offered a list of 10 investor-state arbitral awards I hoped to see in 2010. If time permits, I may do another list for 2011. But, first I thought I’d take a look back at last year’s list and offer a brief update on those cases. Rather, than do all…

Arbitration Awards, Manifest disregard, North America, United States

(Conway & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

On Monday, December 13, 2010, the United States Supreme Court denied cert for Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s, London v. Lagstein, and in so doing denied the opportunity to further clarify the debate surrounding manifest disregard. The central issue is whether this doctrine survived after Hall Street Associates LLC v. Mattell, Inc. In Lloyds v. Lagstein,…

BIT, European Union, Investment Arbitration

(The London School of Economics and Political Science)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

In July this year, the European Commission published its communication “Towards a comprehensive European international investment policy” (COM(2010) 343 final) and a draft Regulation “establishing transitional arrangements for bilateral investment agreements between Member States and third countries” (2010/0197 (COD)). This initiative is based on the still controversial change brought about by the Lisbon Treaty, by…