Switzerland

Africa, New York Convention, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Reciprocity, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Republic of Seychelles, Switzerland

(Taylor Wessing) and (University of Konstanz, Germany)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

On 3 February 2020, the Republic of Seychelles became the 162nd Contracting State of the New York Convention (already followed by Palau as number 163, reported here). The New York Convention thus comes into force for the Seychelles today (Article XII(2) New York Convention). The Cabinet and the National Assembly had approved the accession on…

Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrators, Austria, Impartiality, Independence and Impartiality, Public Policy, Revision of Award, Set aside an arbitral award, Switzerland

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Like virtually all arbitration laws, the Austrian Arbitration Act is silent on whether the lack of impartiality and independence of an arbitrator may be invoked for the first time in setting aside proceedings in cases where a party becomes aware of the relevant circumstances only after the award was rendered. The Austrian Supreme Court has,…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, International arbitration, New York Convention, Switzerland

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In 2019, the Swiss Supreme Court (“Supreme Court”) seized two opportunities to confirm and develop its existing case law in relation to the personal scope of arbitration agreements and their possible extension to non-signatories.   Extension to Non-Signatories under the New York Convention In a first decision, ATF 145 III 199, dated 17 April 2019,…

Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, International arbitration, International Commercial Arbitration, Lex Arbitri, Party autonomy, Swiss Civil Procedure Code, Swiss Private International Law Act, Switzerland

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Introduction The lex arbitri of Switzerland is well-known for affording parties maximum autonomy and procedural flexibility. In line with these principles, parties to international arbitration proceedings have the possibility to opt out of the otherwise applicable Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Act (“PILA”) and to opt into the statutory rules governing Swiss-seated…

Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Commercial Law, English Law, Hybrid arbitration clause, Insolvency, party-appointed, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Third party funding

, (Gabriel Arbitration AG) and (Walder Wyss Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 7-8 June 2019, the ninth (Romanian) National Conference on Commercial Law in Cluj-Napoca was organized by the Department for Company Law and Corporate Governance of the Law Faculty of the University Babeş-Bolyai in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), together with the Center for Commercial Law of the West University of Timişoara (Romania), supported by the Romanian National…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Switzerland, Third party funding

(Gabriel Arbitration AG) and (University of Belgrade)/ /Leave a comment

Prof. Dr. Jelena Perović, from the University of Belgrade (Serbia) and Dr. Nataša Hadžimanović, from Gabriel Arbitration (Zurich, Switzerland), launched the Round Table on Arbitration in 2018 as a forum to discuss controversial issues, share experiences and highlight new trends in arbitration. The 2nd Round Table on Arbitration took place in the magnificent rooms of…

Arbitration, arbitrator-party relationship, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Lex Arbitri, Liability, Switzerland

(Ellex Valiunas )/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Without any doubt, international commercial arbitration found its place in the system of international dispute settlement. Many natural and legal persons choose to solve their disputes via the means of arbitration and in most of the cases arbitration is international in many aspects: Parties are from different countries, arbitrators are of different nationalities, sitting in…

Crimea, Investment, Investment protection, Investor, Russia, Switzerland, Territory, Ukraine

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Young ICCA

Since the annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, a substantial number of investment claims, in particular expropriation claims, have been raised by Ukrainian nationals against the Russian Federation in relation to investments made in Crimea prior to the annexation. In this regard, a fundamental legal issue concerns the applicability of the Agreement…

Germany, Public Policy, Res Judicata, Switzerland

(Akıncı Law)/ /Leave a comment

The principle of res judicata is a universal principle recognized by the legal systems of all civilized nations. The res judicata principle should be applied by arbitral tribunals as the arbitral tribunals are alternative to the courts and when an award is enforced it becomes a part of the legal order of the country where…

Appeal, Arbitration, BIT, Crimea, India, ISDS, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

In a marked departure from its usual closed-doors policy, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) recently held public deliberations in two separate appeal proceedings concerning foreign investment arbitrations. In both cases, a public deliberation by all five judges of the first civil chamber was necessitated due to the lack of unanimity among the…

National Arbitration Laws, National Courts, Switzerland

(Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 11 January 2017, the Swiss Federal Council issued a draft bill to revise chapter 12 of the Swiss International Private Law Act (“SPILA”) on international arbitration (as well as, to a lesser extent, the Federal Tribunal Act and the Civil Procedure Code (“CPC”)), which was the subject of a previous publication on this blog….

ICC Arbitration, Public Policy, Set aside an arbitral award, Switzerland

(von Segesser Law Offices) and (Rihar & Thouvenin Dispute Resolution)/ /1 Comment

In a decision dated 26 July 2018 and published on 29 August 2018, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (the “Supreme Court”) dismissed an appeal to set aside an arbitral award as it found that Swiss public policy was not violated by a sole arbitrator’s confirmation of a success fee owed to a Swiss law firm…

Court of Arbitration for Sport, FIFA, Jurisdiction, Public Policy, Switzerland

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Young ICCA

Over the last few years, third-party ownership of soccer players (“TPO”) has become controversial. TPO is a mechanism through which a soccer club assigns a player’s economic rights, including the right to benefit from transfer fees every time the player is transferred to another club, to third-party investors in return for a financial counterpart. Considering…

Court of Arbitration for Sport, Independence, Sport arbitration, Switzerland

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In a recent case, the Swiss Federal Tribunal (“SFT”) has once again been called to consider the question of independence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) vis-à-vis its funders and users. This note introduces the issue of funding and independence of CAS in the context of the SFT’s prior case law and discusses…

Code of Ethics, Evidence, Germany, Greece, IBA, IBA Rules of Evidence, Privilege, Switzerland

(Shehata & Partners, Maastricht University)/ /1 Comment

The concept of attorney-client privilege is a unique creation of common-law jurisdictions which has influenced all types of legal regimes over the world. Common-law regimes developed such a concept to curb the wide sphere of document production and discovery in litigation. As the name of the concept entails, it was created as a privilege for…

BIT, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment Arbitration, Public Policy, Switzerland

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

The Swiss Federal Supreme Court, in a rare appeal against an award in a bilateral investment treaty arbitration, confirmed its statutory restraint in reviewing arbitral awards pursuant to article 190 of the Private International Law Act (“PILA”) and rejected the host state’s request to set aside the award for violating substantive public policy. (Case 4A_157/2017,…

Annulment, Bias, Conflicts of interest, Disclosure, Duty to investigate, England, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Impartiality, Independence, Japan, Non-disclosure, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, Switzerland

(City-Yuwa Partners) and (Independent Attorney at Law)/ /Leave a comment

On December 12, 2017, the Supreme Court of Japan rendered its first decision on the setting aside of an arbitral award based on an arbitrator’s failure to disclose facts allegedly constituting a conflict of interest, reasoning that, in order for the award to be set aside on this ground, it is necessary that the arbitrator…

Arbitral Award, Switzerland, Waiver

, (Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 17 October 2017, the Swiss Federal Tribunal (Switzerland’s highest jurisdiction) rendered a decision (4A_53/2017) on the challenge of an award rendered in the context of an international arbitration where the arbitration clauses of the disputed contracts both contained a wording whereby the parties renounced challenging any possible future arbitral award. I. Relevant Facts In…

Arbitration, Eastern Europe, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, Switzerland

(Bottega Di Bella)/ /6 Comments

In the 2000s, mortgages in Swiss Franc (CHF) were very popular among consumers in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe for the acquisition of both private and commercial properties, as the CHF was a stable and reliable currency and offered lower interest rates than loans in Euro or in local currencies. When on 15 January 2015…

Arbitral Award, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitrators, Seat of the arbitration, Summary procedure, Switzerland

(Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 11 January 2017, the Swiss Federal Council proposed a revised version of the Swiss International Private Law Act (“SPILA”) relating to international arbitration (art. 176 et seq.) with a view to increasing the attractiveness of Switzerland as a place of arbitration while preserving the concise, liberal and flexible traits of the SPILA. More precisely,…

Annulment, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Switzerland, Uncategorized

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

Switzerland is a global hub for commodity traders, and therefore also a significant jurisdiction for disputes arising in the commodities sector. A recent decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (Decision 5A_441/2015 of 4 February 2016 (ASA Bull. 2/2016)) addresses important issues relating to commodity sales contracts and Swiss enforcement proceedings. The case involved arbitral proceedings…

Arbitral Award, Arbitration Agreements, European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Switzerland

(Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd, Switzerland) and (Schellenberg Wittmer )/ /Leave a comment
Schellenberg Wittmer

On 1 March 2016, the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR” or the “Court”) rendered a decision in the case of Tabbane v. Switzerland (application no. 41069/12). In that decision, which was published on 24 March 2016, the Court, for the first time, examined the compatibility of a waiver of recourse against an arbitral award…

Applicable Law, Jura Novit Curia, Switzerland

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /1 Comment

and Katherine Bell, Schellenberg Wittmer In decision 4A_554/2014 dated 15 April 2015, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court considered an application to set aside an award on the ground of violation of the right to be heard where the sole arbitrator had based her award on a legal concept that had not been explicitly pleaded by…

Arbitration, Good Faith, Group of Companies Doctrine, Non-signatory, Switzerland, Third Party

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /1 Comment

and Katherine Bell, Schellenberg Wittmer In 2014, the Swiss Supreme Court rendered 32 decisions on petitions to set aside international arbitral awards. Consistent with a traditionally low success rate, the Supreme Court granted only 4 of the 32 petitions. One of these four petitions was considered in a French-language decision dated 7 April 2014 (Decision…