The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns have the legal community debating and exploring force majeure. That, however, does not rule out the imminent likelihood of international arbitration locking horns with domestic insolvency law. Arbitration agreements and subsequent awards may possibly be left redundant and award-holders remediless where insolvency proceedings are commenced in respect of…

On September 4, 2019, Esso, a subsidiary of the Exxon Mobil Corporation, and Shell Nigeria, a subsidiary of the Shell Oil Company (collectively “Esso”), attempted to enforce a $1.799 billion arbitral award in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York after it had been annulled in the courts of Nigeria (Esso Opinion)….

Most of the contemporary discourses on pre-arbitral judicial interference in India entail the scope of the judicial enquiry required before the constitution of an arbitral tribunal. As it currently stands, Section 8 (for arbitrations seated in India) and Section 45 (for foreign-seated arbitrations) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“1996 Act”) have the potential…

2019 was an important year for international arbitration developments in the United States, both in the commercial and investment context.  Some of the more far-reaching developments included the deepening circuit court split on whether “manifest disregard” of the law is a grounds to refuse enforcement of an award, the first U.S. Court of Appeals decision…

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (the “District Court”) put the problem with emergency arbitration front and center: it refused to confirm and enforce an emergency interim arbitration award (the “Emergency Award”) awarded by an emergency arbitrator (the “Emergency Arbitrator”) under Article 6 of the American Arbitration Association’s International Center…

Interesting developments in disputes involving Venezuela and its national oil company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) took place after Juan Guaidò, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, took the interim Presidency of the State in January 2019. Since then, he has adopted a series of measures and intervened in a series of proceedings involving…