It is widely acknowledged that the departure of the UK from the EU, commonly referred to as Brexit, gives rise to multiple legal problems, some of which are bound to lead to actions. While there is a widespread coverage of public law related litigation, there is less knowledge of potential private actions, including those taking…
The results of the 2018 Queen Mary/White & Case International Arbitration Survey were launched on 9 May 2018. The survey explores “The Evolution of International Arbitration”: how international arbitration has evolved, the key areas for development in the future, and who and what will shape the future evolution of the field. This is the 4thsurvey conducted…
Introduction Security for costs is a controversial territory in international arbitration, especially in investment arbitration. On one side is the respondent State which seeks security for defending a claim with the taxpayers’ resources. However, on the other side, there is the claimant who might become financially incapable of accessing justice if it is asked to…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Cherie Blair, CBE, QC, Ema Vidak-Gojkovic & Marie-Anaïs Meudic-Role, The Medium Is the Message: Establishing a System of Business and Human Rights Through Contract Law and Arbitration This article seeks to paint a picture…
State Responsibility for State Organ’s Conduct The fact that a state can be held liable for its organs’ conduct is part of a wider notion that sees states as responsible for their internationally wrongful acts. This notion was codified in the ILC Articles of State Responsibility. Article 1 states that “every internationally wrongful act of…
The question of voluntary and mandatory ADR including arbitration has been a richly debated topic in many jurisdictions. Since the mid-twentieth century, the question of achieving procedural and substantive justice in the context of judicial dispute resolution has received significant attention beginning with the work of Owen Fiss and Lon Fuller who articulated early insights…
Under arbitration, the parties submit their disputes to an arbitral tribunal (or sole arbitrator) who rules on pre-hearing disputes, conducts the arbitration, and issues a binding award on the parties. However, the desirability of arbitration as a dispute-resolution mechanism rests largely on the perception of the reputation of the arbitrators. On the one hand, the…
On 9 May 2018, the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with White & Case LLP, launched the 2018 Queen Mary/White & Case International Arbitration Survey: The Evolution of International Arbitration. As its title suggests, the survey sought to assess user perceptions of the evolution of key issues in…
Based on the panel discussion moderated at the 30th Annual ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting, with panelists Lorraine de Germiny, Robert Landicho, and Laura Sinisterra.1) This post is a summary of the first panel discussion of the Young ITA Roundtable, 30th Annual ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting: Multiple Proceedings, Multiple Parties, and International Arbitration: What…
Introduction The case of Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd v Avant Garde Maritime Services (Private) Limited [2018] SGHC 78 (“Rakna Arakshaka“) was a timely opportunity for the Singapore High Court (“SGHC”) to address a lacuna with respect to whether an award debtor who chooses not to raise jurisdictional challenges early in the arbitral proceedings, is later…
The cassation bench of the Supreme Court of Ethiopia, whose decisions have precedential value, in National Motors Corp. v. General Business Development case has ruled that parties’ final intention to be bound by an arbitration award shall be final and may not be subject to review by courts, including the cassation bench. The bench, however,…
Following up on Efficient Arbitration – Part 2: Launching an Efficient Arbitration, where we addressed efficiency tools available at the early stages, we now provide an overview of options to save time and costs up until the award. As we continue our efficiency series, we will zone in on a selection of efficiency tools and…
Like a chronicle of a death foretold, the systematic denunciation by Ecuador of the Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BITs”) signed with various states formally began in 2009. Although, the origin of the complaints goes back to 2008, when the current Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador was enacted and specifically forbid the execution of any international…
Article 16(3) of the Model Law provides in relevant part that, “if the arbitral tribunal rules as a preliminary question that it has jurisdiction, any party may request … the court … to decide the matter”. One question that arises is, to the extent issues of evidence arise, what rules of evidence should the court…
Comments on the Decision of the Paris Court of Appeal Dated 27 March 20181)CA Paris, Pôle 1, Chambre 1, 27 mars 2018, n°16/09386. Neither the author nor Schellenberg Wittmer was personally involved in any of the cases mentioned in this blog, and all information disclosed is publicly available. The appellant in the case before the…
On 6 June 2018, Justice Males at English High court in Nori Holdings Ltd v Bank Financial Corp [2018] EWHC 1343 (Comm) (Nori Holdings) provided clarifications on some of the legal issues on anti-suit injunctions. The facts revolved around an application for an anti-suit injunction to restrain the court proceedings commenced by the defendant (Bank)…
On the occasion of the German-Portuguese International Arbitration Symposium experienced practitioners in international arbitration described what is going on in their national systems and, to some extent, what is going on in the world. Following Duarte’s introduction and as announced in this conference’s program, Klaus Peter Berger, in his brilliant keynote speech on Civil vs…
On 17 May 2018, the Central European University and Jeantet co-organized a conference to discuss the new Hungarian Arbitration Act (the “New Act”), following the first months of its entry into force on 1 January 2018 (the “Conference”). The Conference was held in Budapest and the organizing committee was composed of Csongor Nagy (CEU, University…
Also reporting: Chuba Nwokedi (Association for International Arbitration), Mateusz Rys (University of Antwerp), Maryam Salehijam (Ghent University), Anmol Sheth (Association for International Arbitration), Arthur Van Den Bossche (University of Antwerp), Antonia Zydek (University of Strathclyde) It has long been said that investment treaty arbitration is at crossroads. This is probably most true within the European…
Kicking off our series on efficiency in arbitration, our first article, Efficient Arbitration – Part 1: Metrics sets out our idea of an efficient arbitration: Achieving the best possible outcome with the least amount of resources. A balancing act. A range of tools are available to focus the spending of resources. Resources should be invested,…
“We believe that it is in the interests of our world as a whole and our own communities in particular that difficult issues are discussed with civility and dignity.” These are the opening words of the Edinburgh Declaration of International Mediators, which was launched at the International Academy of Mediators Conference in Edinburgh in May….
On May 3rd, the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 (‘Law’) – the nation’s first federal arbitration legislation. According to the Federal National Council, this law has been formulated with the objective of maintaining and encouraging inflow of investments, and to comply with the UAE Vision 2021….
ISDS tribunals have an unfortunately accurate reputation for being “male, pale, and stale”. A welcome backlash to this state of affairs has arisen, but the discourse has focused almost entirely on one aspect of diversity: gender. For example, the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge has garnered over 2900 signatories, who have committed to appointing more…
The first half of the year has been a rollercoaster when it comes to BITs and ISDS, in particular in Europe. Several developments at various levels can be distinguished with one common denominator: for better or for worse, the European Union (EU) and EU law have become one of the key drivers in shaping international…
