Introduction On 8 October 2018, the Ministry of Justice (the “MoJ”) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“Saudi Arabia”) announced that in the last 12 months its enforcement courts received a record-breaking 257 applications for enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards rendered outside Saudi Arabia, which were appraised at SAR 3.6 billion or “nearly one…
Jay-Z changed the rap game. Can he change the arbitration game? In a new lawsuit, the rap star (legal name: Shawn C. Carter) seems to be trying. Carter has recently won a temporary order staying arbitration for a dispute in New York. The memorandum of law in support of the petition for a stay (filed…
The arbitrator’s duty of disclosure is often subject to misunderstandings, particularly in regards to its content and scope, as well as its relationship with the independence and impartiality of the arbitrator. That is why for almost a decade I have been raising in my publications, both on international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, various criteria…
Two initiatives concerning arbitration costs have filled a few column inches over the past several months. The first of these is a fairly straightforward cost-cutting initiative with immediate tangible benefits, while the second is likely to be something of a slow burner. Starting with the first, more simple example, the American Arbitration Association (‘AAA’) has…
For AfricArb It is twelve years since an ICSID tribunal dismissed World Duty Free’s claim against the Republic of Kenya for breach of a lease agreement signed in 1989. As is well known, the claimant obtained the contract with a $2 million bribe to former President Moi, and the tribunal held, inter alia, that it…
“Mediating is, in the end, service. Humility is its fertile soil.” Bill Marsh in “David Richbell – Lessons in Life and Mediation” The last couple of months have offered a collection of compelling posts on the Kluwer Mediation Blog. From the analysis of court decisions in Canada and Singapore on the enforcement of mediated settlement…
This year ArbitralWomen (AW) celebrates its 25th Anniversary. Founded in 1993, AW is a network of women from diverse backgrounds and legal cultures active in international dispute resolution in any role, including, arbitrator, mediator, expert, adjudicator, surveyor, facilitator, lawyer, neutral, ombudswoman or forensic consultant. With close to a thousand members from over 40 countries, AW has…
Over the last century, arbitration has established itself as one of the most popular means for resolving commercial disputes1) Gary B. Born, ‘Chapter 1: Overview of International Commercial Arbitration’, International Commercial Arbitration (2nd edition, Kluwer Law International 2014), 6–224, at 93-97; Queen Mary University London, 2015 International Arbitration Survey: Improvements and Innovations in Arbitration. and…
International investment agreements (IIAs) are divided into two types: (1) bilateral investment treaties and (2) treaties with investment provisions. I would primarily focus on the first category i.e. bilateral investment treaties. A bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is an agreement between two countries regarding the promotion and protection of investments made by investors from one country…
Introduction On November 21, 2018, the Swedish Parliament adopted revisions to the Swedish Arbitration Act with the aim of modernizing it to further facilitate effective and attractive international and domestic arbitration in Sweden. The welcomed revisions will become effective for arbitrations commenced from March 1, 2019,1) The exceptions for application to arbitrations commenced after…
The 8th edition of the Herbert Smith Freehills – SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture, jointly organised with the Centre for Cross-border Commercial Law at the Singapore Management University, took place on 18 October 2018. The distinguished event, graced by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, hosted a panel comprising: Sir Christopher Greenwood, DAG Lionel Yee, Judith Gill QC…
After introduction by the French Arbitration Committee’s (Comité Français de l’Arbitrage or “CFA”) President, Mr. Laurent Jaeger, Mr. Yves Derains started his speech on “The Professionalism of the Arbitrator” by saying that arbitration has become the natural way to resolve international disputes.1) This note was based on Mr. Yves Derains’ speech at the 10 October 2018 Conference of the French…
India signed the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, 1958, commonly known as the New York Convention (“the Convention”), on 10th June, 1958 and ratified it on 13th July, 1960. Often criticised as a “non-friendly” arbitration jurisdiction by the international community, this post analyses how India has fared in its obligations under…
In this continuing series of blog posts, we have been using Dispute Resolution Data (DRD)’s growing repository of international arbitration case data to analyze the extent to which such cases reach various outcomes, whether it be an award being rendered, administrative closure, dismissal, impasse, or settlement/withdrawal (which we treat as a single, distinct outcome). Our…
In February 2018, the Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court of the City of Moscow issued a ruling1) Ruling of the Arbitrazh (Commercial) Court of the City of Moscow dated 8 February 2018, case No. A40-176466/17-83-1232. denying the recognition and enforcement of an ICC award issued in favor of Dredging and Maritime Management SA (Luxembourg) against JSC Inzhtransstroy…
This blog previously carried a post (“previous post”) on the Indian Supreme Court’s (“SC”) progressive approach to binding non-signatories to an arbitration agreement in Ameet Lalchand Shah and Others v Rishabh Enterprises and Another (“Ameet Lalchand”). The present post briefly discusses another aspect of this approach in context of Cheran Properties Limited v Kasturi and…
With development in the African continent on the rise, the region is seeing the introduction and/ or revamping of its arbitration centres. One such development is the establishment of the China Africa Joint Arbitration Centre (CAJAC) to resolve commercial disputes between Chinese and African parties. Not an unsurprising development given China’s commitment to invest $60…
The advent of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force on 25 May 2018 within the EU and the European Economic Area, has sparked a renewed debate within the arbitration community about importance of adequate consideration being given to the collection, preservation and protection of data in arbitral proceedings. The GDPR…
The proposed amendments (“Bill”) to the Indian arbitration law may soon get the force of law. The Bill is based on the report (“Report”) of a High Level Committee and suggests several changes which may have far-reaching negative effect. In my earlier post, it was argued that the Report and the Bill have some…
The debate around the ‘extension’ of arbitration agreements has, once again, been placed under the spotlight in Brazil. The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (‘SCJ’) recently considered the issue in disputes involving groups of contracts between the same parties. The SCJ ruled in favour of the ‘extension’ of the arbitration agreement contained in the main…
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…
Background The Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”) provides, in Section 37(2)(b), for an ‘appeal’ from an arbitral tribunal’s order on interim/provisional measures (“interim order”). It, however, does not stipulate the standard of review that the court must apply while reviewing an interim order. Sans any prescribed legislative standard, courts have two alternatives available: test…
The last decade has seen multiparty arbitration emerge as a contentious issue in investment treaty arbitration. Beginning with Abaclat v Argentina, investment tribunals have grappled with whether similarly-situated, but otherwise unrelated investors with distinct investments, can bundle their claims in a single arbitration. While decisions on this issue continue to evolve, a new ground for…
The Supreme Court of India (“SC”) in its recent decision M/s Lion Engineering Consultants v. State of M.P. & Ors. (“Lion”) has held that a party that had failed to raise a jurisdictional challenge before the arbitral tribunal under Section 16 of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”), would yet be permitted to raise such…
