Unlike some Western arbitration institutions which enacted institutional arbitration rules dedicated to construction disputes, such as the 2015 American Arbitration Association (AAA) Construction Industry Arbitration Rules, to date, the leading Russian arbitration providers have not developed any specific rules for construction-related disputes. However, such disputes hold rather high positions in the caseload, with a peak…
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…
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…
Overview On 11 February 2019, Beijing Arbitration Commission/Beijing International Arbitration Center (‘BAC/BIAC’) launched its draft of ‘Beijing Arbitration Commission/Beijing International Arbitration Center International Investment Arbitration Rules’ (the ‘BAC Rules’) for public comments, comprised of its main text and six appendixes. The BAC Rules are the second investment arbitration rules promulgated by a Chinese international arbitration…
Introduction Each spring, the global international arbitration community arrives in Vienna for the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot and in Hong Kong for its younger counterpart, the Vis Moot East. Students, after many months of research, drafting, and practice, are eager to present the fruits of their hard work through oral advocacy. Practitioners,…
Mr. Hanft, welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog! I appreciate the opportunity to share your perspective with our readers at an exciting moment, where conversations about politics, diversity, and technology are intersecting and transforming the way globalized corporations and their lawyers conceive of and approach dispute resolution. Before we delve in, can you briefly introduce…
Much ink has been spilt on the legal consequences of remitting an award back to an arbitral tribunal vis-à-vis setting it aside. The Singapore Court of Appeal in the seminal decision of AKN v. ALC [2015] SGCA 63 has settled that remission is not possible after an award has been set aside. Rather, remission is…
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…
The X CAI Costa Rica held by the Costa Rican Chapter of the ICC and its Arbitration Commission, took place in San Jose, Costa Rica between February 24 and 27, 2019. Ten years have led to its consolidation as one of the most important ICC events in the region. This year’s intensive program included several…
Investment arbitrations with respect to Ukrainian assets in Crimea have been in the spotlight of the international arbitration community for some time now1)E.g., see here . After the Claimants in Everest Estate LLC et al. v. the Russian Federation (“Everest”) obtained the merits award in their favour in May 20182)See this post by Mykhaylo Soldatenko., the…
The Italian Republic – for better or for worse – is cracking down on hydrocarbon explorations and extractions. Kicking off with the regulatory changes recently brought about by the Italian Government, this post gauges their possible consequences for the stakeholders by going through a pending arbitration which may be ripe enough to become a benchmark…
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…
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…
Introduction The United Arab Emirates (the “UAE”) is a signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (the “NYC”), which was adopted into UAE law by Federal Decree No. 43 of 2006. However, there have been instances where the lower courts of the UAE have come…
Arbitration of IP disputes has inherent advantages of saving time and costs and ensuring confidentiality while also maintaining long-term business relations (see here). In India, arbitration will be especially useful in light of the enormous pendency of judicial cases. However, arbitrability of any subject-matter is dictated by a country’s public policy. In India, what forms…
United States Code Section 1782 has become the weapon of choice for international litigants seeking discovery in aid of foreign proceedings. Section 1782 allows an “interested person” (such as a foreign litigant) to apply for discovery over a person or entity “found” in the U.S. “for use” in a proceeding “in a foreign or international tribunal.”…
ICC’s updated guidance to parties On 20 December 2018 the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) published an updated Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of the Arbitration under the ICC Rules of Arbitration (Note). The Note, which came into effect from 1 January 2019, introduces a…
A 2018 study commissioned by the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs concluded that the EU should seek to establish a “European Commercial Court” at the level of the EU1) Study for the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs (JURI Committee), Building Competence in Commercial Law in the Member States, authored by Prof. Dr. Giesela…
A legal regime which asks the victim of a frivolous legal proceeding to subsidise the costs of the perpetrator is unjust and is bound to provide incentives for more frivolous proceedings. For a long time, Indian arbitration law had been providing such incentives for a party to make frivolous objections to the arbitration agreement or…
In recent years, the combination of arbitration and technology has raised great concerns among international arbitration community. Much discussion has centred on online arbitration and use of artificial intelligence in arbitration. In China, the rapid growth of electronic business (including but not limited to internet consumer applications and mobile financial services) has posed challenges to…
The different approaches to arbitration between courts in Australia and Singapore have been illustrated in two cases in the last 2 years – KVC Rice Intertrade Co Ltd v Asian Mineral Resources Pte Ltd [2017] SGHC 32 and Hursdman v Ekactrm Solutions Pty Ltd [2018] SASC 112. The Singapore approach typified by KVC is to…
On December 2018, the Prague Rules on the Efficient Conduct of Proceedings in International Arbitration (“Prague Rules”) were released. (For related posts on the Prague Rules on Kluwer Arbitration Blog click here, here, here, and here.) The Prague Rules aim to increase efficiency and reduce costs in arbitral proceedings. The project arose from a general…
In this post, I will compare and discuss the expedited procedure rules (“EP Rules”) used by various arbitral institutions in deciding on a default number of arbitrator(s) for such expedited procedure. A core concern of Article V(1)(d) of the New York Convention is how to weigh between party autonomy and institutional control in arbitration proceedings….
In November 2018, the former director of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) in Kuala Lumpur resigned from his role after being arrested on suspicions that he paid past and present ministers bribes to renew his role at the AIAC. His lawyer argued before Malaysian courts that, by virtue of his role at AIAC, he is…
