In the beginning of 2023, a diplomat told the Economist that the Middle East was tired of conflict and that de-escalation and diplomacy would be the orders of the day. While this did not hold true on the political side, it did hold true for the arbitration world. The MENA region witnessed the coming together…
In April 2023, Libya took a significant step forward in developing its legal system by issuing Law No 10 of 2023 on Commercial Arbitration (“New Arbitration Law”). The New Arbitration Law establishes a comprehensive legal framework for commercial arbitration in Libya, taking inspiration from the UNCITRAL Model Law and arbitration laws in neighbouring countries. Until…
Under Article 10(1) of the ILC Articles on State Responsibility, acts committed by rebels (or any other type of ‘insurrection movements’) during a successful insurgency aimed at establishing a new government are attributable to the State after their victory. After the civil war, and once the rebels have formed a new government, the State will…
The dispute involving the State of Libya and French company SORELEC was heard by the Paris Court of Appeal in the context of a much lower tolerance for bribery and corruption in domestic and international affairs than ever before. France has indeed significantly strengthened its anti-corruption framework since adopting the so-called “Sapin II” law in…
In a ‘ground-breaking’ precedential decision, Al-Kharafi v Libya (Judgment No. 39 of 130 JY, 3 June 2020), the Cairo Court of Appeal in Egypt ruled that it can review an arbitral award for fundamental errors of law that amount to a violation of public policy or equity and justice notions. The decision relates to an…
A widespread debate on the legitimacy of (and backlash against) investor state dispute settlement (ISDS) has been on-going for several years now. Put colloquially, this debate asks essentially whether ISDS in its current form is capable of handling international investment disputes, generally, and such disputes that implicate a public interest element, in particular. Moreover, it…
On 27 March 2017, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA“) designated an appointing authority in an OIC arbitration by applying the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, despite the absence of any reference to these Rules in the OIC Agreement. This decision, which concerns a pending case, DS. Construction v. Libya , could mark the…
Two things are currently unfolding in Africa: significant economic progress and profound political transformation. On the economic front, in the last decade, Africa has been one of the fastest growing continents in the world. Indeed, according to the International Monetary Fund, in the next five years, Africa is expected to be the fastest growing continent,…
My former Pepperdine colleague, Kathryn Lee Boyd, has just filed a fascinating complaint relating to the distribution of funds secured by a treaty between the United States and Libya on behalf of U.S. victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism.
