As part of Canadian Arbitration Week, the 2021 ICC Canada Conference, titled Leaning into the Future, was designed to facilitate critical thinking and debate on several important topics in international arbitration. The focus of the conference was decidedly post-pandemic, exploring fault lines and cleavages in the system of international arbitration as we know it today,…
Canadian Arbitration Week ran online from September 20 – 24, 2021 under the theme of adaptation and acceleration. A timely focus as the pandemic continues to accelerate sweeping changes in the legal world. The 2021 YCAP Fall Symposium titled “New World, New Rules” took place on September 23 and addressed the theme in a session…
What does the future hold for investment protection in Europe? A colossal question that resonates across board rooms and government halls on both sides of the Channel. With a consortium of investment law experts including Nikos Lavranos (NL Investment Consulting), Ayse Lowe (Bench Walk), Gordon Nardell QC (Twenty Essex), and Laura Rees-Evans (Fietta LLP) joining…
Calls for investor-State dispute settlement (“ISDS”) reform have persisted for some time (see blog coverage here). Competing calls for retaining the status quo, modifying the system, or abandoning the system altogether have each gained traction. With a drastic increase in the number of investment cases being brought, accompanied by the “mega” awards, the international community…
The economic turmoil brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly give parties pause in weighing the potential benefits of pursuing an arbitration claim, no matter how strong it is believed to be.1)The author thanks and acknowledges Mr. Akihiro Hironaka and Mr. Mihiro Koeda for their comments on this piece. Yet international disputes and arbitration…
Hong Kong currently prohibits lawyers from using outcome related fee structures (“ORFSs”), including “No-Win, No-Fee” type arrangements, for arbitrations and other contentious matters. This looks set to change for arbitrations, however, following the publication late last year of a compelling Consultation Paper by the Outcome Related Fee Structures for Arbitration Sub-committee of the Law Reform…
Third-party funding (TPF) has come a long way from its humble beginnings at the fringes of various jurisdictions, where it was historically a tort and even a crime. Today, the doctrines of champerty and maintenance have been decriminalized and in most jurisdictions no longer fall foul of public policy considerations. TPF is now perceived as…
The first edition of Washington Arbitration Week or WAW, took place on-line from November 30 to December 4, 2020, hosting 15 panels with over 4,000 registrations and 1,476 attendees. This post aims to provide a flavor of the first day of programming. The Co-Chairs of WAW, Ian Laird and Dr. Jose Antonio Rivas, opened the…
Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller raises questions on the possibility of third-party funding limiting unconscionable arbitration agreements. This post examines (I) how third-party funding could reduce the amount of unconscionable arbitration clauses and (II) how it could promote more specific criteria for the doctrine of unconscionability. Finally, this post offers some concluding remarks. I. Third-Party Funding…
The COVID-19 pandemic has already created market volatility and adversely affected the financial position of companies and individuals around the world. This post explores two main ideas: (1) whether the pandemic is likely to result in an upturn in recourse to third party funding arrangements; and (2) whether arbitrating parties should anticipate increased exposure to…
While Hong Kong and Singapore legislated in 2017 to allow third party funding of arbitrations (“TPF”),1)In Hong Kong, the amendments to the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) ultimately took effect in February 2019. both jurisdictions presently still bar “No-Win, No-Fee” and other outcome related fee arrangements between parties to arbitration and their lawyers. This is out-of-step…
In a recent post, we were told to ‘Roll Out the Red Carpet’ for the Hague Rules on Business and Human Rights Arbitration (the “Rules”). Indeed, the Rules are a new development within the field to assist with disputes relating to human rights and their violations. Following a process of draft reports and public consultations,…
Gong Xi Fa Cai! The Year of the Earth Pig has drawn to a close. In what was certainly an auspicious and lucky year for arbitration developments in East and Central Asia, we take a closer look at five key developments: 1. Initiatives in PR China to boost arbitration In southern coastal China, the…
On 1 March 2019 the Milan Chamber of Arbitration issued its amended Arbitration Rules (the “2019 Rules’”) with the aim of improving “the efficiency and the rapidity of arbitral proceedings [while] ensuring the necessary guarantees.” This objective follows the current international trend. Indeed, in the last decade, several arbitral institutions have revised their rules in…
As part of International Investment Law and Policy Speaker Series, on November 14, 2019, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment hosted Dr. Mouhamadou Kane, Project Lead and Manager for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (“OIC”) Investment Dispute Settlement Organ. During the program, Dr. Kane explained the text of a draft investment protocol for the OIC…
It is well known that disputes arising from the realisation of major energy and infrastructure projects are often exceptionally complex, long, and expensive. They are of high factual and technical complexity with a great volume of evidence, witnesses and experts and involve multiple parties with the fragmentation of responsibilities. As such, one of the main…
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…
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…
On April 29, 2019, an ICSID annulment committee broke new ground by upholding a tribunal’s order that a party post security for costs. This decision, in the case RSM Production Corp v. Saint Lucia, is the first time that an ad hoc committee has addressed whether the ICSID Convention and Rules grant tribunals such a…
Matters Arising on Proposed Changes to Arbitration Law in Nigeria In February 2018, the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria passed the much-anticipated Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill 2017 (‘Bill’). Since then, the Bill has been pending before the House of Representatives (HoR) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the second…
Introduction This post addresses the topical issue of Third-Party Funding (“TPF”) in relation to Nigeria-seated arbitrations, and posits in variance with recent work on the subject that there is no extant law prohibiting TPF in Nigeria-seated arbitrations. This post points out that there has been an apparent misapplication of the common law principles of champerty and…
As an arbitration hub, Hong Kong has an enviable pedigree. The territory boasts a modern workable arbitration law, robust legal system, and a cohesive arbitration community. It is routinely ranked highly in indices of economic freedom; judicial independence; and perceived arbitration friendliness. In the Year of the Dog, Hong Kong’s authorities and institutions have continued…
As 2019 dawns the arbitration community looks forward to the Hong Kong Code of Practice for Third Party Funding in Arbitration coming into force on 1 February 2019. In this article we look at the impact of the Hong Kong Code on Hong Kong seated arbitrations and draw comparisons with the voluntary Code of…
Hong Kong’s legislative regulations On 7 December 2018, the Hong Kong government published its eagerly awaited Code of Practice for Third Party Funders and confirmed that from 1 February 2019, Hong Kong’s Arbitration Ordinance, as amended, will be fully in force (save for provisions which relate to third party funding of mediation). The sections which…
