National Courts, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Russia

(Russian Arbitration Association)/ /2 Comments

The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958 (New York) celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2018 (“Convention”). Since its inception, 159 Contracting States have joined the Convention. The USSR ratified the Convention on 22 November 1960. The Russian Federation, as a successor of the USSR, continues to be a Contracting State….

England, Hong Kong, Third party funding

, (Clyde & Co.)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

  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…

Achmea, CETA, EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement, European Union

(OP Jindal Global University, India)/ /Leave a comment

With the proposed investment court system, the European Commission aims to limit criticism revolved around Investor-State Dispute Settlement due to its lack of legitimacy, transparency and appellate mechanism. The investment regime under Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement with Canada (hereinafter “CETA”) and European Union-Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (hereinafter “EUVFTA”) could be a solution by…

2018 In Review, Abu Dhabi, Arab World, Dubai, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law, United Arab Emirates

, (University of Aberdeen ), and (Dentons & Co, Dubai)/ /Leave a comment

The year of 2018 brought a wave of important arbitration events, developments, precedents and legislative reforms in the Middle East.  Join the Kluwer Arbitration Blog’s (KAB) regional editorial team (Dalal Al Houti, Zahra Rose Khawaja, and Gloria Alvarez) as we reflect on a few of these developments and thank the authors who enabled us to provide…

Hong Kong, Practice code / note / guideline, Third party funding

(LCM Finance)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Banking and Finance, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, EU Law, Institutional Arbitration

(General Editor International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; Queen Mary University of London), (Queen Mary University of London), (Three Crowns), and (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators)/ /Leave a comment

Indicating signals of the evolution of international arbitration, as a response to the need to keep up with a globalised legal and financial market, is not an easy task. It is not an easy task because of the different ways evolution is perceived by different circles. For some, a wind of change in international arbitration…

2018 In Review, Argentina, Belt Road Initiative, BIT, Bolivia, Brazil, Cooperation and Facilitation Investment Agreements, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Franchising Contracts, ICSID Arbitration, Latin America, Mexico, Model BIT, NAFTA, Public Procurement, São Paulo, South America, Uruguay, USMCA

(University of Aberdeen ), (Herbert Smith Freehills), and (Locke Lord LLP)/ /Leave a comment

        [Source:Google] In this post the Kluwer Arbitration Blog’s Latin American editorial team (Associate Editor Gloria Alvarez and Assistant Editors Daniela Páez  and Enrique Jaramillo) joins us in an adventure to reflect on the Blog’s 2018 coverage of arbitration developments in the region. First, it is worth recapping the environment and circumstances…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Industry, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Investment Arbitration

(Bird & Bird)/ /Leave a comment

Over the last couple of decades, arbitration, its practical aspects, but also its very notion, have faced severe attacks from a variety of critics: politicians, members of civil society, users, etc. While arbitration practitioners are actively tackling many areas of reform, the majority of these denunciations appear, for the most part, biased and overly simplistic….

Arbitration Act, Interim measures, South Africa, Third Party, UNCITRAL Model Law

, (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

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….

Achmea, CETA, CJEU, EU Law

(Linklaters)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 7 September 2017, Belgium requested the opinion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) on the compatibility with EU law of the Investment Court System (“ICS”) provided for by the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between the EU and Canada (“CETA”). In his much anticipated opinion rendered today, Advocate General…

2018 In Review, Austria, DIS, Germany, HKIAC, ICC, ICC Arbitration, ICC Rules, SCC, SIAC, VIAC

(Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

As worldwide competition amongst arbitral institutions continues, the Europe-based arbitral institutions have, thus far, been able to defend their strong market position. Currently, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), with its base in Paris, continues to stand out globally as the most preferred institution by a significant margin (77%). It is followed by the London…

Arbitration, Choice of Law, Cognitive biases, Rationality

(Swiss International Law School (SiLS))/ /Leave a comment

We often mislead ourselves into believing that, by arriving at a certain contract decision, we have carefully considered all available options, weighed up the pros and cons of each attribute dispassionately, and selected the most favourable outcome, i.e. the one which maximises our welfare in the transaction. Regretfully, however, we are seldom cognisant of the…

Achmea, Energy Charter Treaty, European Union, Intra-EU BITs

(Clyde & Co.)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

At the risk of mixing metaphors, if Achmea (Slovak Republic v Achmea Case C-284/16) killed intra-EU investor-state arbitration, and the European Commission’s Communication COM(2018)547/2 of 19 July 2018 knocked the head off its zombie corpse, then the Declaration of the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States of 15 January 2019 on the legal…

2018 In Review, Blockchain, Technology

(University of Aberdeen)/ /Leave a comment

For those of us interested in the intersection of technology and law, 2018 has been a fascinating year. Lawyers across jurisdictions, areas of expertise, and industries have engaged in debates about the use of emerging technologies and the impact that they will have on the future of the legal industry. Blockchain, smart contracts, artificial intelligence…

Admissibility, Cybersecurity, Evidence, Willem C. Vis Moot

(LL.B, Institute of Law, Nirma University)/ /1 Comment

With the increase of cyber-attacks, arbitral tribunals face the question whether to accept evidence obtained via such an unlawful breach. The question even found its way to this year’s Vis Moot problem, confirming the timeliness and need for a debate on a global level. Current Framework on Admissibility of Evidence An arbitral tribunal is not…

Achmea, Discovery, Diversity, Evidence, IBA Rules of Evidence, Investment agreements

(White & Case LLP), (Derains & Gharavi), and (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Young ITA

Key developments in international arbitration in 2018 were the focus of an end-of-the-year conference held on Wednesday, 19 December 2018, organized by CIArb YMG, the young members’ group of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and Young ITA, the young members’ group of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.  The event’s faculty members were Alexander G. Leventhal…

Arbitration Agreement, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Expedited arbitration, Final Offer Arbitration, Procedure, Reasoned Awards

(Bottega Di Bella)/ /1 Comment

This is an introduction to the so-called “Final Offer Arbitration” (FOA), sometimes also referred to as pendulum or baseball arbitration. FOA is a model of arbitration that originated in the late 1940s and consolidated in the 1970s in the USA to resolve labour disputes in the public sector and the baseball league, hence the name….

ASA Bulletin

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the ASA Bulletin is now available and includes the following articles and cases: ARTICLES Karin GRAF, Brigitte UMBACH-SPAHN, Berücksichtigung ausländischer Schiedsurteile in der Insolvenz – Lehren aus den Bundesgerichtsentscheiden in Sachen Swissair [Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Swiss Insolvency Proceedings –…

2018 In Review, Astana International Financial Centre, Central Asia, China, Commercial Courts, Enforcement, HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, HKIAC Rules, Mediation, Singapore, Singapore Mediation Convention, Third party funding

(Simmons & Simmons)/ /Leave a comment

As the end of the Year of the Dog approaches, we look back at five noteworthy developments in the arbitration world in PR China, Hong Kong and Central Asia and their coverage on our Blog. 1. New HKIAC Arbitration Rules and the Prominence of Hong Kong as an Arbitral Seat Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Egypt, Enforcement

(Shehata & Partners, Maastricht University)/ /1 Comment

In May 2018, the Cairo Court of Appeals issued an intriguing judgment concerning the enforcement of an arbitral interim measure. In the words of the Court, the arbitral tribunal has issued a procedural order against Damietta International Ports (“DIP”) ordering the latter to refrain from suing the guarantor bank regarding the liquidation of a letter…

Arbitrability, judicial review, USA

(Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP) and / /Leave a comment

1. The Holding in Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc. Maintains Principles of Arbitration In a recent unanimous decision dated 8 January 2019, Justice Kavanaugh delivered his first opinion of the United States Supreme Court (the “Court”) in Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer and White Sales, Inc.  As set-out below, the Court’s decision…

Corruption, ICSID Arbitration, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration

, , (Winston & Strawn LLP) and (Rivero Mestre LLP)/ /3 Comments

In recent years, a number of arbitral tribunals adjudicating treaty-based investment disputes have been confronted with the question of what to do when the state party to such a dispute alleges that the investors acquired the investment through corrupt means. In some instances, tribunals have applied the defense as a jurisdictional bar, preventing the investors…

2018 In Review, Arbitration, Australia, Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, ISDS, ISDS Reform, New Zealand

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

Last year was a busy one for arbitration practitioners in Australia and New Zealand, and 2019 looks set to be even busier. In 2018, both countries initiated a range of arbitration reforms, initiatives and negotiations which give insights into the likely general direction of travel for both countries in the coming year. This post focusses…

Investment, Investment Arbitration, MENA, Middle East, Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Qatar

(DWF (Middle East) LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Young ITA

Young ITA has organised over fifteen successful events this year all over the world including in Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, Miami, Washington DC, New York City, London, and India. The first Dubai Young ITA talk took place on Wednesday 5 December 2018. The event hosted by Vinson & Elkins featured two panel discussions…