Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, ICCA Sydney 2018

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Young ICCA

The morning session at ICCA Sydney Conference 2018 on “Revisiting Conventional Wisdom in the Organization of Arbitral Proceedings” was moderated by Chiann Bao and had the insightful contributions of Funke Adekoya SAN, Dr. Fuyong Chen, Klaus Reichert SC and Prof. Nayla Comair-Obeid. Chiann Bao insisted that we ought to deal with issues of procedure by…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrator's mandate, Arbitrators, ICCA Sydney 2018

(Corrs Chambers Westgarth)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The afternoon session at ICCA Sydney Conference 2018 on “Party Autonomy in Choosing Decision-Makers” was moderated by Prof. Dr. Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and had the insightful contributions of Alfonso Gómez-Acebo, Audley Sheppard QC, Natalie Y. Morris-Sharma and Ruth Stackpool-Moore. The session commenced with Prof. Dr. Kaufmann-Kohler underscoring the importance of maintaining party autonomy in international arbitration….

Arbitration, Confidentiality, Confidentiality and Transparency, ICCA Sydney 2018, Publication of Arbitral Awards, Transparency, Transparency in investment arbitrations

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Young ICCA

What if Facebook, as a result of its recent negative publicity, had the opportunity to file a request for arbitration against Cambridge Analytica? A key principle of international commercial arbitration is its maintenance of confidentiality, but would the public interest in such an arbitration justify greater transparency? The afternoon panel of the first day of…

Achmea, Arbitration, ICCA, ICCA Sydney 2018, Legitimacy

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The theme of this year’s ICCA Congress is ‘Evolution and Adaptation: The Future of International Arbitration.’ Central to this theme was the topic of the First Plenary Session -‘Law-Making in International Arbitration: What Legitimacy Challenges Lie Ahead?’ The timing of such a discussion is apt given the Court of Justice of the European Union’s decision…

Costs in arbitral proceedings, ICCA Sydney 2018, Third party funding

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King & Wood Mallesons

The panel on Arbitration Challenged II: The Realities of Arbitration Economics: Who Gets to Play, and What are the Implications, at ICCA Sydney 2018 Conference, was moderated by Susan Franck, American University, Washington College of Law (United States) and had contributions from Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Zulficar & Partners Law Firm (Egypt); John Beechey, BeechyArbitration Ltd…

Expropriation, Fair and Equitable Treatment, ICCA Sydney 2018, ICSID Convention, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, Most Favoured Nation (MFN)

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King & Wood Mallesons

The panel on Arbitration Challenged Part I: Reforming Substantive Obligations in Investment Treaties and Conditions of Access to Investment Arbitration, at ICCA Sydney 2018 Conference, was moderated by Meg Kinnear, Secretary General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Canada) and had contributions from speakers Christophe Bondy, Cooley LLP (Canada); Max Bonnell, White…

Arbitration, Belt Road Initiative, China, ICC, ICC Arbitration, ICC Rules

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

On 5 March 2018, the ICC Court announced the establishment of a commission to address dispute resolution in relation to China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The commission will drive the development of ICC’s existing dispute resolution procedures and infrastructure to support Belt and Road disputes. The Belt and Road The Belt and Road is China’s…

Arbitration, BIT, European Law, European Union, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Interviews with Our Editors, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS

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In the midst of challenges to the very legitimacy of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) celebrated its 50th anniversary and embarked on the fourth ICSID Rules amendment process in ICSID history. The previous amendment processes brought notable additions to the ICSID Rules, such as enhanced transparency in…

Achmea, CJEU, Intra-EU BITs, Investment Arbitration

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On March 6, 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) in its 12-page judgment backed the Commission in its grid to finally scrap the intra-EU BITs and defied Advocate General’s attempt to preserve the system. The purpose of this note is to concisely analyze this far-reaching judgment of the CJEU against the…

Africa, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Ethics, Ethiopia

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If you are a counsel in an ongoing arbitration, you have two obligations: 1) navigate your ways through provisions of the applicable law so that you can litigate as a professional; 2) satisfy your client with your service and make sure that all his questions are answered properly. Especially, if an arbitrator (whether or not…

Albania, Arbitration, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, United States

(Chaffetz Lindsey LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The recent decision by an intermediate New York appellate court in AlbaniaBEG Ambient Sh.p.k. v. Enel S.p.A.1)A.D.3d, No. 152679/14, 2018 WL 755355 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dep’t Feb. 8, 2018). has sharply curtailed “a procedural loophole in Chapter 2 of the Federal Arbitration Act”2)Commissions Imp. Exp. S.A. v. Republic of Congo, 916 F. Supp. 2d…

Uncategorized

, (Nishith Desai Associates)/ /Leave a comment

On March 2, 2018, the England & Wales High Court (Court) for the first time set aside an investor-state arbitration award on jurisdiction (Award on Jurisdiction) passed against the Claimant in GPF GP S.a.r.l. v. Republic of Poland[1]. The Court ruled that: A specific event in a series of creeping expropriation did not preclude the…

Achmea, CJEU, European Law, European Union

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Many arbitration lawyers’ initial reaction to the CJEU’s Achmea judgment resembles the first three of the famous “five stages of grief” (denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance). Some deny Achmea’s relevance under international law, others angrily dismiss it as unreasoned and politically motivated, while many attempts to “bargain” a way out for intra-EU arbitrations under…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Set aside an arbitral award, Sweden

(Mannheimer Swartling)/ /Leave a comment

After almost 20 years, the Swedish Arbitration Act (“SAA” or “Act”) may be getting a well-deserved face lift. In February 2014, the Swedish Government decided to take definitive steps to begin modernising the Act. The purpose of the reform was to bring Swedish arbitration law more in line with certain advancements in arbitration and to…

Argentina, IBA, International Commercial Arbitration, Latin America

(Permanent Court of Arbitration)/ /2 Comments

At a time when Argentina is looking to modernize its arbitration culture and attract foreign investment, the IBA Arbitration Day held in Buenos Aires could not have been more opportune.  Gathering more than 400 arbitration experts from more than 45 countries, the venue and the event proved to be up to the challenge.  While arbitration…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Austria, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Security for Costs, VIAC

(Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich)/ /1 Comment

Since their inception in 1975, the Vienna Rules (Rules of Arbitration and Mediation of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre) have undergone a number of major reforms keeping them abreast of the fast-moving tides of legal development in international arbitration. The latest revision of the Rules as from 1 January 2018 (previously covered in this blog)…

Energy, foreign direct investment, Foreign Investment Law, ICSID, Iraq, ISDS, Oil & Gas

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

The 4th Iraq Energy Forum (IEF), coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the Iraq Energy Institute, took place this year on 28-29 March at the Rasheed Royal Tulip Hotel. Politically and economically, the context of this IEF was important. The context was that the global reconstruction package in Kuwait had been agreed with the IMF and…

Arbitral Award, Awards, Consent awards, United States

(Ava J Borrasso P.A.)/ /1 Comment
ArbitralWomen

The importance of memorializing a settlement agreement into a consent award was recently highlighted in Transocean Offshore Gulf of Guinea Vii v. Erin Energy Corp., Case No. H-17-2623 (S.D. Tex. March 12, 2018). There, a Texas district court addressed whether a consent award is subject to confirmation in the United States pursuant to the New…

Arbitration, ICCA, Third party funding

(Boston University), (General Editor International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; Queen Mary University of London), and (Bocconi University)/ /Leave a comment

As the three co-chairs of the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration, we are pleased to announce that the final Report will be launched at the ICCA Congress in Sydney with an extraordinary group of experts, including Donald Donovan, Ania Farren, Jean-Christophe Honlet, Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, Julian Lew, Audley Sheppard, and Lawrence…

Domestic Courts, Domestic law, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), United States

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The central point of this note is that the U.S. law of arbitration is not clear from the text of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). The FAA is archaic and in need of updating. The FAA is the oldest – but still functioning – arbitration statute in the world. Case law has rewritten much of…

Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mandatory mediation, Mediation

(Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

“It turns out that the “little things” are in fact the “big things”. Forget to focus on them, and we are doomed to fail. Forget to value them, and we will find ourselves chasing shadows and permanently dissatisfied.” Bill Marsh This wonderfully wise advice from Bill Marsh’s latest post on the daily work of the…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Expedited arbitration, SCC, SCC Rules, Sweden

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“In its origins, the concept of arbitration as a method of resolving disputes was a simple one . . . . Two traders, in dispute over the price or quality of goods delivered, would turn to a third whom they knew and trusted for his decision.” (Redfern & Hunter 2014 at 1-03) Arbitration has strayed…

Arbitration, Energy, Investment Arbitration, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda

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The countries of Africa are nascent economies, some with well developed, and most with burgeoning energy and natural resources (ENR) sectors. With the vast resource of wealth comes a greater expectation of economic development and a greater interest in ENR and infrastructure investment. Disputes are often inevitable, considering the vested interests involved. Navigating ENR arbitration…

BIT, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment Arbitration, Public Policy, Switzerland

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The Swiss Federal Supreme Court, in a rare appeal against an award in a bilateral investment treaty arbitration, confirmed its statutory restraint in reviewing arbitral awards pursuant to article 190 of the Private International Law Act (“PILA”) and rejected the host state’s request to set aside the award for violating substantive public policy. (Case 4A_157/2017,…