Allocation of costs, conflict of interest, Consistency, ICSID Procedure, Panel of Arbitrators, Reform

(British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL))/ /Leave a comment

On 13 November 2018, ICSID will present its new proposed amendments at a major conference in London. This round of amendments aims, among other things, to modernize the ICSID procedure based on case experience, simplify the rules, and make the process increasingly time and cost effective while maintaining due process and a balance between investors…

Arbitrability, Criminal law and arbitration, Lithuania

(Greenlex)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The Court of Appeal of Lithuania (“Court of Appeal”) in Prosecutor v. Public Entity “Pramogų sala”,1) Ruling of the Court of Appeal of Lithuania in case No. 1S-183-307/2018 dated 9 August 2018. has ruled on 9 August 2018 that claims for damages are not arbitrable in cases where the (disputable) loss is caused by a…

Insurance, Investment Arbitration, Investment Treaties, Political Risk Insurance

(Nishith Desai Associates)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction Political Risk Insurance (PRI) was discussed as a concept here. In fact, an earlier post discussed PRI as an alternative to investment treaty arbitration (ITA) for investors. The interaction between PRI and ITA is a germane field of study as both are risk mitigation strategies for investors and in some instances an investor can…

Awards, Civil Procedure, Costa Rica, Due process, Forwarding

(HDUARTE LEGAL)/ /Leave a comment

The Return of the Jedi is a 1983 science fiction movie set in 4 ABY, a year after the Imperial occupation of Cloud City, when Luke Skywalker and his friends travel to Tatooine to rescue Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt. The Empire prepares to destroy the Rebel Alliance with a more…

National Arbitration Laws, National Courts, Switzerland

(Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 11 January 2017, the Swiss Federal Council issued a draft bill to revise chapter 12 of the Swiss International Private Law Act (“SPILA”) on international arbitration (as well as, to a lesser extent, the Federal Tribunal Act and the Civil Procedure Code (“CPC”)), which was the subject of a previous publication on this blog….

Case management conference, Expedited Proceedings

(Penn State University)/ /Leave a comment

A heated debate has been ignited by the results of the 2018 Queen Mary Survey, which highlighted time and cost as the most fervid complaints respondents had regarding arbitration. In order to address these issues, a series of measures have been implemented by major international arbitral institutions in recent years in order to counteract significant…

Corruption, Due process, Guerrilla Tactics, Public Policy, Singapore

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 26 April 2018, the Singapore High Court (“Court”), in China Machine New Energy Corp v Jaguar Energy Guatemala LLC and another [2018] – SGHC 101, has upheld an ICC award of a truly international nature. The case raised intriguing procedural questions in international arbitration: The impact of an “attorney-eyes-only order” (“AEO Order”), handling allegations…

BIT, Russia, Territory, Ukraine

(Asters)/ /Leave a comment

After the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea, the new local “authorities” have taken a number of privately and state-owned assets in the peninsula.  Ukrainian companies have commenced at least eight investment arbitrations against the Russian Federation under the Russia-Ukraine BIT (the “BIT”), seeking compensation for the lost property in Crimea.1) NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine et…

Bias, Conflicts of interest, Guerrilla Tactics, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Third party funding

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

Some rules, although made to protect the integrity of an arbitration procedure, open up opportunities for bad faith actors to utilize “legislative” shortcomings. Too often these actors engage in guerilla tactics. Soft law has developed to remedy these grievances. For example, the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (IBA Guidelines) seek to…

Arbitrators, Independence and Impartiality, India

, (Nishith Desai) and (Trilegal)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Independence and impartiality of arbitrators are the hallmarks of arbitration. The amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (“Act”) in 2015, which adopted the international best practices from the International Bar Association Guidelines on Conflict of Interest (“IBA Guidelines”), aimed to bolster not only the neutrality of arbitrators, but also the perception of neutrality….

HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, HKIAC Rules, Hong Kong

and (Simmons & Simmons)/ /Leave a comment

2018 HKIAC Rules Come into Force 1 November 2018 marked 5 years from the date on which the 2013 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules came into force. 1 November 2018 was also the day on which the new 2018 HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (“2018 Rules“) came into force. The 2018 Rules showcased the latest thinking in…

HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, Hong Kong

, (King & Wood Mallesons)/ /Leave a comment
HK45

Yesterday, participants at this year’s Hong Kong Arbitration Week came together to attend the centrepiece ADR in Asia conference.  The conference, titled “The Vision in Revision,” featured a veritable smorgasbord of speeches, panels and mocks and was held again at the Four Seasons Hotel. Welcome Address and Keynote Speech The conference was kicked off with…

Efficiency, HK Arbitration Week, HKIAC, Hong Kong

, , (Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

Hogan Lovells hosted an event yesterday, 30 October 2018, at its Hong Kong office, as part of the Hong Kong Arbitration Week, titled “Making Arbitration Fit for the Future”.  The event was graced by the presence of Bernard Hanotiau as the keynote speaker, followed by speeches from HKIAC’s Sarah Grimmer and Hogan Lovells’ James Kwan,…

Asia, Asia-Pacific, Efficiency, HK Arbitration Week, Hong Kong

, and (Kim & Chang)/ /Leave a comment

The week-long series of events for Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2018 kicked off with a seminar hosted by Latham & Watkins entitled “Ensuring Efficiency in International Arbitration  Proceedings: Tips for Asian Users”. The seminar consisted of two roundtable discussions with practitioners and professionals in the field of international arbitration. The first roundtable featured Mr. Bernard…

Canada, Fork in the road, ISDS, Mexico, NAFTA, USA, USMCA

(Hughes Hubbard & Reed)/ /3 Comments

Introduction: The Pro-State Orientation of the USMCA Chapter 14 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) presents a model of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) that fundamentally realigns the balance between investors and states in favor of the latter. This realignment consists in the USMCA’s structure and specific provisions. Structurally, the USMCA eliminates ISDS between Canadian investors…

Attribution, ICSID Arbitration, ILC Articles on State Responsibility, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration

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In the recently published award in Georg Gavrilovic and Gavrilovic d.o.o. v. Republic of Croatia (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/39)1) Georg Gavrilovic and Gavrilovic d.o.o. v. Republic of Croatia (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/39), Award, dated 26 July 2018. the tribunal considered whether the notion of attribution extends to the non-wrongful conduct of various State or State-linked…

Arbitration Act, Development, Latin America, UNCITRAL Model Law, Uruguay

, , , (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Precedent

(University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law) and , / /Leave a comment

Is there such a thing as an arbitral precedent? Is it binding to judicial courts? The answer to these questions will depend on the clarification of another set of broader issues relating to the existence of precedents themselves and their inevitable role in shaping today’s possible conceptions of the law. We will analyse these matters…

Deep Sea Mining, Environment, Law of the Sea, UNCLOS

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Deep sea mining regulation is an extremely young field of international law. Recently, there have been some important evolutions in the debate around the contractual and environmental rules that will organize the exploitation of mineral resources in the areas of the seabed beyond the continental shelf – hereafter referred to as “the Area”. Nevertheless, few…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitral Tribunal, English Arbitration Act

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

Party-appointed arbitrators have recently been the subject of much debate in the arbitration community. There are those who see the ability to ‘choose’ an arbitrator as one of the fundamental pillars of arbitration. For others, it is a time- and cost-consuming exercise leading to potential conflicts and an increased likelihood of arbitrator challenges, both of…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, India, Institutional Arbitration

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YIAG

The lower house of the Indian Parliament recently passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill 2018 (“Bill”) to amend the arbitration law. If also passed by the upper house of Parliament, and upon receiving the President’s assent, this will become a law. It will then come into force when the Government so notifies. The Law…

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 (3.2018) is now available and includes the following articles and cases:   ARTICLES Luka GROSELJ, Stay of arbitration proceedings – Some examples from arbitral practice This article outlines a number of situations, illustrated by practical and (thus far) unpublished cases, in…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Arbitrators, Cybersecurity, Diversity, Surveys

, (Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Party Appointed Arbitrators and the Drive for Diversity Over the last 8 years, BCLP’s International Arbitration Group has conducted a number of surveys on issues affecting the arbitration process.  In 2017 the survey focused on the issue of diversity [Diversity on Arbitral Tribunals: Are we getting there?] and in 2018 on the issue of party…

ADR, Arbitration, Mediation, Taipei

(Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei)/ /2 Comments

Are litigation, arbitration and mediation competitive, collaborative or cooperative? Is litigation becoming an “alternative” to “alternative dispute resolution”, especially keeping arbitration on top of its game? Are mixed processes or combined regimes becoming the preference? These questions were part of the timely and timeless theme for this year’s Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation…