Appointment of arbitrators, Canada, Conference, Diversity, national court, North America, Transparency, Transparency in investment arbitrations, UK, United States

(Willoughby & Hoefer)/ /Leave a comment

On the heels of a year that has seen the rise of populist nationalism, skepticism of multilateral trade agreements and calls to tighten in some ways the flow of people across borders – perhaps most visibly in the United States and across Europe, but with manifestations elsewhere – many communities saw a retreat from international…

Arbitration, Execution, ISDS, State Immunity

(Durham Law School), (Roschier Attorneys, Ltd.), and (Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction This short note briefly touches upon two enforcement issues pertaining to third-party funding in international arbitration, one more ventilated than the other. It is hoped that our comments on these issues will be perceived as an insightful contribution to an already ignited debate, with the caveat that we provide for a discussion rather than…

Mediation, Uncategorized

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

Ireland’s new mediation law, a strategy for the implementation of mediation within the Ukrainian court system, the lessons emerging from the Global Pound Conferences, developments in Online Dispute Resolution… these are just a handful of the topics which were addressed on the Kluwer Mediation Blog in November. Below you’ll find a very brief summary of…

b-Arbitra | Belgian Review of Arbitration

(Bird&Bird) and (Tossens Goldman Gonne)/ /Leave a comment

It is with great pleasure that we present to you this first issue of b-Arbitra 2017. You will note that we have acquired a new cover, and what is more: a new publisher: Wolters Kluwer. We are very excited about our new cooperation, which we consider fits well with our aim to be a first-class…

Arbitration, Australia, ISDS, New Zealand

(University of Auckland) and (University of Sydney & Williams Trade Law)/ /Leave a comment

New Zealand now officially opposes investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), thanks to the election of a new centre-left Labour-led coalition government that took office in October 2017. In a post-Cabinet press conference on 31 October, Prime Minister Jacinda Adern announced that: “We remain determined to do our utmost to amend the ISDS provisions of TPP. In…

China, Reciprocity, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(King & Wood Mallesons)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

There have been a number of recent developments in Chinese judicial practice. These include the first known enforcement of foreign court judgments in China on the basis of reciprocity,1)References to the enforcement of foreign court judgments are generally intended to include recognition and enforcement of those judgments. as well as China’s signing of the Hague…

Enforcement, ICC Rules, ICSID, SCC Rules, SIAC, Summary procedure

and (NALSAR University of Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 30 October 2017, the ICC Court announced yet another measure to tackle the twin problems of time and costs in arbitration, through the immediate disposition of manifestly unmeritorious claims commonly known as summary determination. The ICC Court implemented this measure in the form of an update to its Practice Note to Parties and Arbitral…

Africa, Arbitration, Middle East, Morocco, Third party funding

, (Afrique Advisors)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Third-party funding has become a subject of major discussion over the past few years. It is clear that third-party funding is here to stay, and thus the question today is not whether it is going to grow, but rather where the opportunities are likely to be. Third-party funding: Definition and objectives Third-party funding is an…

Energy, NAFTA, USMCA

(Locke Lord LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On the campaign trail, and throughout his term in office, President Trump has not been shy to express his discontent with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), vowing he will either renegotiate it or “tear it up.” As a result, in August 2017, the United States, Canada, and Mexico (the Parties) officially began renegotiation…

Arbitration, Consolidation, India

(Khaitan & Co.)/ /Leave a comment

Multi-party arbitrations arising out of multiple agreements between multiple parties containing different arbitration clauses give rise to complex issues to be answered by arbitral tribunals and Courts. While negotiating an agreement, parties rarely take into consideration the impact on the dispute resolution mechanism because of subsequent agreements with new parties. In a multi-party multi-agreement scenario,…

Uncategorized

(Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

In a previous blog post from October 27, 2017, the launch of the 2018 QMUL and White & Case International Arbitration Survey was announced. Since it was launched, hundreds of respondents have completed the online questionnaire and a significant number of arbitration users have been interviewed. On behalf of the QMUL School of International Arbitration…

Anti-arbitration, Anti-ISDS Propaganda, Canada, China, Financial Industry, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, Mexico, NAFTA, Negotiation, Pro arbitration, United States, USMCA

/ /1 Comment

Debates about the propriety of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) were revived by a recent letter by U.S. academics, which urged the abandonment of ISDS in the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). This letter repeated arguments that are familiar from prior ISDS debates, such as that ISDS “grants foreign corporations and investors rights to skirt domestic…

Human Rights, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, ISDS

(University of Notre Dame)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The first publicly available decision issued under the international arbitration process provided for under the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh (‘Bangladesh Accord’) (note that Roger Alford previously summarized the Bangladesh Accord’s dispute resolution clause here) was issued through the 4 September 2017 Decision on Admissibility Objection in Industrial Global Union and Uni…

ADR, Arbitration, Global Pound Conference, Mediation

(Pepperdine University School of Law)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In the forty years since new visions and challenges for the administration of American justice were offered at the 1976 Pound Conference, a Quiet Revolution has altered the landscape of public and private dispute resolution around the world. (See Living the Dream of ADR) Recently, a series of day-long meetings styled as the Global Pound…

India, Public Policy

/ /Leave a comment

In India, the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 does not address the question of which categories of disputes are capable of resolution by arbitration, and those that are not. Instead, this question has arisen before and been decided by Indian courts, in a variety of different contexts. In recent times, Courts have determined arbitrability claims…

Arbitration, ICC Rules, Singapore, Tax, Taxation

(Essex Court Chambers Duxton (Singapore Group Practice))/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Introduction Section 10 of the Singapore International Arbitration Act (“IAA”), allows a party to challenge an arbitral tribunal’s determination of its jurisdiction. Section 10(7) further provides that, where the Court rules under section 10 that the tribunal has no jurisdiction, it may make an order as to the costs of the arbitral proceedings. I was…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, Nigeria

(Afe Babalola & Co.)/ /2 Comments

Arbitration practice is on the rise in Nigeria. On the 3rd of November, 2017, the Nigeria Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) inducted 219 Associates, 58 Members and 20 Fellows into the branch. The branch also boasts a burgeoning class of Chartered Arbitrators. The expectation is that the number of inductees will continue…

Arbitration, Arbitrators, Conflicts of interest, Disclosure, IBA, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest

(Loyola University Chicago School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest focus on when an arbitrator should disclose potential conflicts, as well as when he or she should simply not accept appointment. For the most part, they do not specifically address the potential disqualification of an arbitrator. Nonetheless, the Guidelines, even though non-binding, have become quite influential in the…

Achmea, European Commission, European Law, European Union, Intra-EU BITs, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration

, (K&L Gates LLP) and (Queritius)/ /Leave a comment

The Opinion delivered on 19 September 2017 by Advocate General Wathelet in the case C-284/16 Achmea has already been widely commented on in the international arbitration community. The views are either critical or approving, but so far, they have mostly been focused on whether a particular legal point made by the Advocate General was right…

Argentina, Corporate Counsel's view, Corporate disputes, HKIAC, SCC, SIAC, Uniform Commercial Code

(Allende & Brea)/ /Leave a comment

The complexity of M&A In recent years there has been an increase in M&A disputes. These are often complex because the underlying dispute can involve complicated business transactions between big companies that merge, are acquired, or form a joint venture. And more importantly, they can have a significant impact on the market (for example, the…

Arbitration, Arbitrators, International arbitration, State-to-state arbitration

(Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas & Co)/ /2 Comments

In 2012, the Permanent Court of Arbitration [“PCA”] in the  Chagos Decision entertained a challenge to an arbitrator’s impartiality in an inter-state arbitration between Mauritius and the United Kingdom (“UK”) (analyzed here) . The PCA had to decide the appropriate standard for impartiality of arbitrators, and in the process, deal with the novel question of…

Arbitration, Energy, Energy Charter Treaty, Intra-EU BITs, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection

(Bottega Di Bella)/ /Leave a comment

Currently, several dozen arbitral claims have been lodged by investors from an EU Member-State against another EU Member-State based on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). These so-called intra-EU ECT-based arbitrations seem to be increasing, despite attempts by the European Commission to halt them. So far, neither the Respondent-States nor the Commission (as amicus curiae) have…

Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, ISDS, Third party funding

(Durham Law School) and (Roschier Attorneys, Ltd.)/ /1 Comment

Third-party funding remains a hot topic in arbitration, which is understandable considering its complexity and that its accompanying issues often have major implications for arbitral procedure. This fall, the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on third-party funding in international arbitration released its “draft,” touching upon a number of contemporary issues vis-á-vis third-party funding, all of which…

Energy Charter Treaty, Investment, Investment protection, Investor

(Bottega Di Bella)/ /Leave a comment

In an interesting post published on Kluwer Arbitration Blog by Eric Leikin and Martina Magnarelli, it is described in a very comprehensive manner the state of play as regards the soundness of Respondents and European Commission’s arguments refusing the jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals in intra-EU ECT claims. Among these arguments (all rejected by the tribunal…