With a feature presentation on “Major Milestones in Canadian Arbitration Law”, the Canadian Journal of Commercial Arbitration launched last week before an online audience of several hundred arbitration practitioners, scholars, and students from around the world. “Our aspiration for the Journal is to contribute materially to bringing together, and strengthening the professional bond, among all…

On June 26, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) released a decision with significant implications for international businesses by placing significant limits on the application of arbitration clauses.   Background The case, Uber Technologies Inc. v Heller (2020 SCC 16 ) (“Heller”), involved a challenge to Uber’s standard agreement with drivers requiring disputes to…

In a recent decision in XPL Engineering ltd. v. K & J Townmore Construction ltd. [2019] IEHC 665, the Irish High Court decided to refer a construction dispute to arbitration on an application by the defendant, K & J Townmore Construction Ltd, for an order under Article 8 (1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law referring…

On 9 October 2019 the Supreme Court of Ukraine 1)This article refers to the Supreme Court created in the course of the judicial reform of 2016 in Ukraine. (Supreme Court) rendered a decision in a case on setting aside an arbitral award that goes completely against Article 3 of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International…

Two and a half decades have passed since Hungary harmonised its arbitration law with UNCITRAL Model Law (‘Model Law’) in 1994. This marked a giant leap forward, especially as the adopted provisions were made applicable not only in international, but in purely domestic arbitrations as well. This post analyses the Hungarian case law on setting…

The year 2019 was a milestone year for alternative dispute resolution (“ADR“) in the Philippines. It saw the inaugural Philippine Arbitration Convention organized by the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators (“PIArb“) on 25 November 2019 (the “Arbitration Day“), the signing of the Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (the “Singapore Convention“), the implementation of…

An asymmetrical arbitration clause is one where only one party can choose the method of resolving disputes between the parties. A slightly varied form of such a clause is usually contained in statutory arbitrations, which involve lop-sided arbitration clauses where only one party has the right to appoint the arbitrator. At first brush, these clauses…

This post covers an interesting discourse during the Singapore International Arbitration Centre’s Summit in New Delhi on 30 and 31 August 2019. In particular, the post focuses on the discussions during Panel Session 1: ‘Masterclass on the use of Institutional Procedures in Arbitration’ held on the second day of the summit. This session was moderated…

Introduction The United States and its neighbor to the north, Canada, share the world’s longest border, a common language, and similar values, resulting in one of the most stable and mutually beneficial international business relationships in the world. Indeed the United States is Canada’s largest trading partner, and Canada is the United States’ second largest…

Art 16(3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (“Model Law”) provides that if a tribunal issues a preliminary ruling that it has jurisdiction, a respondent may appeal the tribunal’s ruling to the relevant court within 30 days. Can a party who loses a jurisdictional challenge still set aside the final award for…

The Finnish Minister of Justice announced at the end of January this year that the revision process of the 1992 Finnish Arbitration Act would be launched during the current government term. Finnish business and arbitration communities greatly welcomed the statement, as it mirrors their long-time efforts towards this goal. The Ministry of Justice has begun…

I address the regulation and practice of arbitration in Azerbaijan, a topic which has not been discussed widely on an international level. While there is a significant uniformity in international arbitration legislations around the world due to the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (hereinafter the “New York Convention”) and…

Background The Dutch-speaking division of the Brussels Enterprise Court has been understaffed in recent years. On 5 February 2019, the Court’s president issued a press release (here) revealing rather troublesome news that, imminently, the Court will comprise only six full time judges and hearings will be delayed by some two years. The Brussels Enterprise Court is…

The Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) is an international financial free zone and an important emerging seat of arbitration in the GCC region. The ADGM’s arbitration law is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, with a number of significant enhancements relating to the confidentiality of proceedings, the joinder of third parties, and the waiver of the…

Consent has long been accepted as the cornerstone of arbitration, until recently. The evolution and expansion of arbitration brought about diverging opinions on the consensual character of arbitration. For example, Stavros Brekoulakis suggested that “[w]hile … a functional concept of consent may enhance the effectiveness of arbitration clauses in complex transactions, it is very difficult…

In December 2017 South Africa brought into law its first piece of legislation dedicated to international arbitration, the aptly named International Arbitration Act of 2017 (the New Act).   The New Act The New Act incorporates the provisions of the UNCITRAL Model Law and further aligns the country’s national law with the New York Convention….

On 6 November 2018, the ICC, in collaboration with Al Tamimi & Company, hosted the first Kuwait Arbitration Day. This involved practitioners from across the Middle East and beyond coming together and discussing the latest developments and trends within arbitration. The event attracted over 100 participants who attended despite the day being announced as an…

Participants at this year’s Dubai Arbitration Week gathered for the ICC conference hosted by Al Tamimi & Co on 14 November 2018. The conference featured a lively roundtable discussion on the subject of “Arbitrator Disclosure – Local Flavour or International Standards?” chaired by Nadia Darwazeh. The panel comprised practitioners from across the MENA region and…

Since the inaugural programme in 2014, arbitration practitioners from the MENA region and beyond have come together to share and discuss recent developments in the field of international arbitration during the Dubai Arbitration Week, an annual event that takes place in November. Dubai Arbitration Week 2018 was no exception. It was full of seminars, conferences,…

Arbitration in the UAE is governed by the Federal Arbitration Law No. 6 of 2018 (“UAE Arbitration Law”). The UAE Arbitration Law, which entered into force in June 2018, repealed Articles 203 to 218 of the UAE Civil Procedures Law No. 11 of 1992 (“CPC”), which previously governed arbitration in the UAE. Unlike the former…

Uruguay’s long journey to approve an international commercial arbitration law has finally come to an end. Act Nº 19.636 (the “Arbitration Act”) was passed at the beginning of July, almost fourteen years after the Executive first sent a draft bill to Congress to regulate arbitration. The Arbitration Act largely incorporates the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law…

On 4 July 2018, the Argentine National Congress passed a new arbitration act modernizing the framework for the conduct of international commercial arbitrations in Argentina (the Arbitration Act or the Act), based on the UNCITRAL Model Law and its 2006 amendments (the Model Law). The development comes in response to calls from the arbitral community…

It is not uncommon for practitioners acting for claimants in an arbitration to encounter a respondent who chooses to boycott the arbitral process.  In cases involving such ‘non-participating’ respondents, what are the rights and obligations of each party? Specifically, insofar as Model law jurisdictions are concerned, if a Tribunal decides on jurisdiction as a preliminary…

In what should be deemed as an authentic legislative milestone, on July 4, 2018 the Argentine House of Representatives approved the International Commercial Arbitration bill (previously passed by the Senate in 2017). The bill became a law and entered into force as Act 27,449 after its publication in the Official Gazette on July 26, 2018….