As described by Max I. Raskin, a blockchain is simply a decentralized ledger for recording digital data in a verified time-stamped manner without the need for a trusted third party. Blockchain technology provides, according to Joseph Bambara, et al., more “security, traceability, and transparency of records…as well as lower operational costs.” In this regard, public blockchains are…
In the world of International Arbitration (“IA”), one distinguishes between commercial arbitration and investment arbitration, the latter widely referred to as Investor-State Dispute Settlement or ISDS, as a dispute resolution mechanism based on bilateral treaties, multilateral treaties, and free trade agreements. IA is lauded as the best method for dispute resolution in international trade. This…
Arbitration is one of the preferred modes of private dispute settlement. Off its several traits, the cornerstone is the fact that it is based primarily on party autonomy and enables the parties to control almost all aspect of it. On the other hand, States put in place a different review and/or control mechanism on the…
This note will first reflect back thirty three years on the genesis of arbitration and competition matters and the Mitsubishi case, and then, in Part 2 below, I will touch on some practical issues that frequently will arise in a competition case today and how Mitsubishi is still influencing with vigor. As the reader will…
Now that we know the “second look” is not so much a look but a glance, what does this mean for arbitrators in these cases, frequently highly complex disputes infused with economics? In brief, it places a very heavy burden to get it right. The mandatory public policy of competition law which would by contract…
This season the draft Rules on Conduct of the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration (the Prague Rules) are a regularly occurring topic at European arbitration events. In a nutshell, the Prague Rules are a set of rules close to civil law systems, intended to replace the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in…
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 Felix DASSER, Piotr WÓJTOWICZ, Challenges of Swiss Arbitral Awards. Updated Statistical Data as of 2017 Felix DASSER and Piotr WÓJTOWICZ update previously published statistical data on challenges of international…
For AfricArb The evolution of foreign direct investment in the African continent The African continent has been an important recipient of foreign investment for many decades, with a significant rise in such investment being witnessed in the last 15 years. The economic growth, the limitation of regulatory barriers and importantly the high rates of return…
The short answer, I submit, is that it does. Nonetheless, there is no shortage of articles and commentaries purporting to explain some of the reasons why court-ordered anti-suit injunctions continue to be prohibited under Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and…
The New York Convention’s 60th Anniversary renewed the debate about its future. One must recognize that a treaty that is sixty years old and has been ratified in almost 160 countries can no longer be replaced. Even with compatibility clauses, provisions that would provide for retroactive application and the other tools that the Vienna Convention…
Five years after filing the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) Case No. 2013-32 under the European Development Fund Arbitration Rules (EDF Rules), the claimant, Consta JV (an Italian contractor), would have hoped for a successful award against the CDE (a joint enterprise between the Ethiopian and Djibouti government) that would be upheld by the local…
Diversity in arbitration is currently topical, and this drove our engagement with it in relation to race (particularly African) in this survey. Related to this, is the entrenched perceptions against African arbitration practitioners which has negatively impacted on their participation in international arbitration (including Africa-connected disputes). The primary perception is that African arbitration practitioners are…
The 30th Annual ITA Workshop on Multiple Proceedings, Multiple Parties, and International Arbitration: What a Tangled Web We Weave, took place in Dallas, Texas on 20-22 June 2018. Co-chairing were Erica Stein (Dechert), Jean-Christophe Honlet (Dentons), and Frédéric G. Sourgens (Washburn University). The workshop, a lead event of the ITA, was dedicated to an in-depth…
On 6 March 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU“) issued its long-awaited decision in the Achmea case (C-284/16) between the Slovak Republic and Dutch insurer Achmea BV. In Achmea, the CJEU found investor-state dispute settlement provisions in investment treaties concluded between EU Member States (“intra-EU BITs“) to be incompatible with EU law….
Investor-state tribunals frequently face allegations of economic crimes, especially in jurisdictions with a weak rule of law. For instance, the largest ever investor–State award of $50 billion in Yukos v Russian Federation, primarily concerned a criminal investigation of alleged tax evasion, fraud and embezzlement by what was then the largest Russian oil company. The tribunal…
A plethora of business transactions today have evolved into complex structures of multi-faceted sub-transactions. Multiple parties enter into several distinct, yet interconnected and interdependent agreements towards achieving a common commercial goal. Every so often, however, one or more of these interconnected agreements will lack an arbitration agreement; whereas the others will contain similar/related arbitration clauses….
In recent years, consumers, governments, and public interest groups have increasingly raised concerns over human rights abuses in the mining sector. Businesses are facing growing pressure from the public in this regard and various countries have as a result adopted legislation imposing a variety of due diligence and reporting obligations on corporations sourcing and using…
During a recent conference on international arbitration, an in-house lawyer mentioned that whenever faced with the possibility of agreeing to an arbitration clause that provides for a sole arbitrator, she noted certain resistance within the company. There seemed to be a certain apprehension on placing the burden of deciding a dispute on a single person…
Recent events such as the NAFTA re-negotiations have drawn leading newspapers around the world to turn their attention to ISDS tribunals. Often in an effort to make their stories sensational, they speak of “obscure tribunals,” “secret trade court,” and “justice behind closed doors,” most of the time giving it an unfair and biased image. In…
Mexico held its general elections (including presidential election) on July 1st. The Government of the country has shifted from a center-right president, Enrique Peña Nieto from the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party), to the favorite candidate for the recent elections, the left-wing politician Andrés Manuel López Obrador (“AMLO”). AMLO, a member of the Movimiento…
Introduction In many commercial transactions, there will be multiple agreements among various parties, and those agreements often contain “entire agreement” clauses to ensure that the parties are bound only by the terms of the agreement(s) they sign. However, such a clause may be invoked and interpreted in a way surprising to the parties, especially in…
The unique way arbitrators organize and regulate themselves has been increasingly an interest of mine. Being within the world of arbitration it is easy to forget how unique the arbitration ‘market’ and the arbitrators’ ‘function’ is. Undoubtably one of the most curious aspects of international arbitration is how distinctive the process of ‘professionalisation’ of arbitrators…
The first of the Young ITA Talks in London, organized by Young ITA, kicked off on 1 May 2018 at White & Case’s London offices. The theme for the evening was ‘Oil and Gas Arbitration Involving State and State Entities’, and the event featured two panel discussions, with leading practitioners offering their insights on traps…
On 5 April 2018, the Civil and Criminal Chamber of the Madrid High Court of Justice (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid, TSJM) set aside an arbitral award as contrary to public policy, because the challenged award contained “an unreasonable assessment of the evidence and unreasonable failure to apply applicable rules”.1) Competent Court to deal…
