Back in the early 20th century, the business community created arbitration with the aim of offering an alternative to the perceived inadequacies of state courts in dealing with foreign parties, law, and claims. At the time, cases and claims were characterised by European, Mediterranean, and American elements. As a result, the arbitration community was described…
As it has been extensively discussed on this blog, in its landmark Achmea case the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) found the arbitration provision of the bilateral investment treaty (“BIT”) between the Netherlands and Slovakia to be incompatible with EU law. This decision potentially affects the effectiveness of the roughly 200 BITs concluded…
The concept of attorney-client privilege is a unique creation of common-law jurisdictions which has influenced all types of legal regimes over the world. Common-law regimes developed such a concept to curb the wide sphere of document production and discovery in litigation. As the name of the concept entails, it was created as a privilege for…
On 9 May 2018, the School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with White & Case LLP, launched the Report of the 2018 Queen Mary/White & Case International Arbitration Survey: The Evolution of International Arbitration. As its title suggests, the survey sought to assess…
The Brussels Convention on Jurisdiction and the Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters of 27 September 1968 was superseded by Council Regulation (EC) 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters. The latter was subsequently repealed by Regulation (EU) 1215/2012 of the…
In April we welcomed two new regular writers to the blog: Rick Weiler from Canada and Alan Limbury from Australia. The usual breadth of posts continued last month with posts from writers in New Zealand, Germany, Singapore, Romania, Scotland, the UK, Canada and Australia. A brief summary of each of last month’s posts appears below….
The Singapore High Court in BQP v BQQ [2018] SGHC 55 (judgment rendered on 14 March 2018) (the “Judgment”) dismissed a challenge against an arbitration tribunal’s award on jurisdiction and in so doing confirmed that where parties have agreed that the tribunal shall determine the relevance, materiality, and admissibility of all evidence, the tribunal would…
Until a few decades ago, international arbitration was perceived to be a quick and inexpensive way of resolving disputes. However, the proliferation of legal rules, the disclosure of voluminous documents, complex technical evidence and over-lawyering have, to a large extent, hollowed that boast and made it appear somewhat of an urban myth. Quite recently though,…
The ICC Rules introduced expedited procedure with effect from March 01, 2017. With this, the ICC joined the league of other leading arbitration institutions such as SIAC, LCIA and HKIAC who had already incorporated expedited procedure. Courts across the globe have delivered uniform decisions, views in interpreting party autonomy except for a decision by the…
Introduction In March 2017, Senator Emmanuel Andy Uba introduced the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill (the Bill). While the first reading of the Bill was done at the Nigerian Senate Chambers in March 2017, the second reading of the Bill was not done till April 2017 and only thereafter was it referred…
“Enforcement” of arbitral awards is one of the main selling points of arbitration, with the perception being that nothing yet comes close to the New York Convention to enforce court judgments. The Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements will assist when adopted by more countries. For now, the mere uttering of the incantation “enforceability”…
International Minimum Standard of Treatment (IMST) is one of the most important protection standards available to non-domestic investors under international law. The standard has been a subject of controversy on a number of occasions (see, for instance Saluka v. Czech Republic). Much of the controversy and debate arise with respect to the relationship of IMST…
In the midst of the second edition of the Paris Arbitration Week, Jeantet hosted, on Thursday 12 April 2018, a roundtable on the topic “Arbitrating with States in CEE & CIS”. The speakers of the roundtable were: Cosmin Vasile (Zamfirescu Racoti & Partners), Yas Banifatemi (Shearman & Sterling), Davor Babić (University of Zagreb), Yasmin Mohammad…
The past year has made clear that the issue of diversity and inclusion is, at last, firmly on the agenda. The 15th Annual ITA-ASIL Conference, held in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 2018, was the first major international conference to tackle this issue in the context of international arbitration. Speakers critically examined the lack of…
After three high-value infrastructure and energy projects cases at ICSID and the Permanent Court of Arbitration, Bosnia and Herzegovina (“BiH”) is now facing a new US$40 million investment treaty claim. This time it involves the privatization of an insurance company – Krajina osiguranje a.d. Banja Luka, based in the Republic of Srpska (one of the…
Dena Givari assisted by Ralph Cuervo-Lorens Yes, there is something to be said on this topic. The first page of the Google search results for the term “smart contracts blockchain” shows an article with the following first line: “Smart Contracts: The Blockchain Technology That Will Replace Lawyers”. While overly dramatic, the sentiment that blockchain technology…
On 5 January 2018, the Central Government introduced New Delhi International Arbitration Centre Bill, 2018 (the “Bill”) in the lower house of Indian Parliament (Lok Sabha). This was with the objective of making India an investor-friendly nation. There are few arbitral institutions operating in India – Indian Council of Arbitration (“ICA”), International Centre for Alternative…
For the past few years, Brazil has gained recognition as an “arbitration-friendly” seat when it comes to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. However, last year, in a groundbreaking decision, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (in Portuguese, “Superior Tribunal de Justiça” or “STJ”) denied recognition of two US arbitral awards. Abengoa has appealed from…
This post summarises the key features of the Rio de Janeiro State Decree No. 46.245/2018, which regulates arbitrations between state-owned entities and private corporations and came into force on February 20, 2018. As a brief introduction, and to provide context of the enactment of the referred statute, it is relevant to set forth three pieces…
Issue 35, Number 2 Jennifer Kirby, Evolution and the Discoverability of In-House Counsel Communications This article tracks a keynote speech the author gave at the 2017 conference of the Italian Arbitration Association, which was co-organized by the Italian Forum for Arbitration and ADR. Privilege rules evolve as a function of the threat parties face from…
In the context of the backlash against investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”), one of the main criticisms is the asymmetric nature of investment treaties, which impose numerous obligations on the States, but do not seem to hold corporations accountable for the social, environmental and economic consequences of their activities. Some recent developments reflect a redirection away…
To readers of this Blog, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) is well known as an arbitration-friendly seat of arbitration in its own right. Developments there are fast apace and have more recently given rise to two challenge actions that, in turn, have raised considerations of arbitrability within the DIFC and the status of the…
Cruising around investment cases against the Caribbean islands is not only a recreational journey. It is also an informative one. This article aims at presenting key observations made during this journey. As mentioned in a previous publication, since 1973, the sovereign islands of the Caribbean Sea, have concluded over 140 international investment agreements. The ICSID…
With the focus of the arbitral community being taken over by the recent discourse surrounding an important branch of international arbitration, i.e., investor state dispute settlement, after the 6 March 2018 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Case C-284/16, Slowakische Republik v Achmea BV, there may be a risk today,…
