Arbitration clause, Commercial Arbitration, Latin America, Oil & Gas

/ /Leave a comment

The need to attract foreign oil & gas investment due to the current low price in Latin American countries is creating an environment were once non-friendly arbitration jurisdictions are increasingly accepting international arbitration clauses for complex landmark deals. This trend is being used within Stock Purchase Agreements of Mixed Oil Companies, Prepaid Oil Agreements when…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, International arbitration, Nigeria

(Afe Babalola & Co.)/ /Leave a comment

A feature of arbitration that makes it appealing to the user is the finality of arbitral awards. Parties are encouraged, upon the advice of counsel to submit to the arbitral process because the end result is final and not subject to appeal. However, the reality as users come to find, is that an award is…

Arbitration, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules

(General Electric Company) and (MDisputes)/ /2 Comments

TO: Secretary General, Arbitration Institution FROM: In-house counsel involved in a major contract negotiation Madam/Sir, We are both in-house litigation counsel for a large international company, and your institution was recently proposed for the disputes clause in an important contract. Since neither of us had any previous experience with your institution, we searched your website…

Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, NAFTA, USMCA

(Loyola University of Chicago)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Chapter 11: Where Investors Go to Complain NAFTA renegotiations began last year and, with attention once again on this 23-year old trade deal, critics are taking the opportunity to voice their concerns. U.S. President Trump has himself propounded, and indeed campaigned on, an abundance of criticism directed at NAFTA. While no part of NAFTA has…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, Ukraine

(Addleshaw Goddard LLP) and (Jeantet)/ /Leave a comment
Jeantet

On October 3, 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law on Amendments to Codes of Commercial, Civil and Administrative Procedures of Ukraine, an 800-pages document aimed at solving the blatant problems of Ukrainian justice by replacing the three existing procedural codes. The Law has been promulgated on November 28, 2017 and the new Procedural Codes…

Arbitration, Arbitrators, Diversity

(Gary Benton Arbitration)/ /3 Comments

Wouldn’t it be fantastic if 2018 was the year we stopped talking about the problem of diversity in international arbitration? That is, what if we solved the problem today – and no longer needed to discuss it? We can. Today – by recognizing it’s not the problem. I propose a new standard for addressing the…

Arbitrator Intelligence

(Bocconi University)/ /Leave a comment
Arbitrator Intelligence

Duties will include: generating, editing and publishing content, and designing a social media strategy to coordinate communication and outreach. This position requires effectiveness in writing/editing, and a combination of practical skills, legal training, and knowledge of the international arbitration field globally. Candidates should ideally have proficiency in search engine optimization (SEO), Google analytics, and social…

Ad hoc arbitration, Arbitration, Armenia

(ILex law firm)/ /Leave a comment

Ad hoc arbitration in Armenia entails several legal issues. The first issue discussed here is related to the concept of “place of arbitration”. The problem is generated out of a very specific wording of the Armenian Arbitration Act. From the perspective of international arbitration, Armenia is classified as a Model Law country, as it adopted…

Arbitration, Online Dispute Resolution, UNCITRAL

(Hogan Lovells)/ /2 Comments
Young ICCA

Is the future of dispute settlement online? There may not be a more relevant topic for the future of dispute resolution, including arbitration, than Online Dispute Resolution (“ODR”), so it was concluded at the 17th ODR Conference organized by the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris in June 2017 (see here, also reported on…

Arbitral Award, Switzerland, Waiver

, (Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Ltd.)/ /Leave a comment

On 17 October 2017, the Swiss Federal Tribunal (Switzerland’s highest jurisdiction) rendered a decision (4A_53/2017) on the challenge of an award rendered in the context of an international arbitration where the arbitration clauses of the disputed contracts both contained a wording whereby the parties renounced challenging any possible future arbitral award. I. Relevant Facts In…

Arbitration, Costs

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

The recent English Commercial Court case of Oldham v QBE Insurance (Europe) Ltd [2017] EWHC 3045 (Comm) (“Oldham v QBE”) serves as a reminder to tribunals that all parties must be given the opportunity of putting their case on costs and responding to the case put to them. In Oldham v QBE, the Commercial Court…

China, Foreign arbitral awards, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(JunHe LLP) and (Altenburger)/ /Leave a comment

The Prior Reporting System, established in August 1995 (see SPC Notice on Prior Reporting System (1995)), has been the most notable intervention of the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) in the area of arbitration since the PRC Arbitration Law (1994) was enacted. During the China Arbitration Summit held in Beijing on 20 September 2017, Justice Xuefeng…

Arbitration, Courts, India

, / /2 Comments
Young ICCA

Arbitration in India has traditionally skewed towards an ad-hoc rather than an institutional set up. Due to a lack of adequate emphasis on institutional arbitration, Indian parties have preferred to conduct their arbitrations with a seat in Singapore and London. In fact, 153 of the 307 cases administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)…

Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mediation

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

The last month of 2017 offered up a rich assortment of posts on the Kluwer Mediation Blog. These include Sabine Walsh’s very useful summary of the European Parliament’s recent resolution on the implementation of the European Mediation Directive, and an interview by Bill Marsh with Michael McIIwrath on what users really want from mediators and…

ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, International Court of Justice, Jurisdiction, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, Venezuela

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr)/ /Leave a comment

This Post analyzes the recent award in Fábrica de Vidrios Los Andes, C.A. & Owens-Illinois de Venezuela, C.A. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (“Favianca”). This is the first award to rely on Article 72 of the ICSID Convention to decline jurisdiction over a claim filed after Venezuela had noticed it would denounce the ICSID Convention…

Arbitration, Energy, Energy Charter Treaty, ICSID, UNCITRAL

(Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP)/ /Leave a comment

2017 has witnessed a boom in the number of international arbitrations in the energy sector. This is no surprise. Indeed, at the end of 2016, ICSID’s caseload-statistics reported that 42% of cases administered by ICSID arose from the energy sector, which was more than any other sector. As anticipated, this rise has continued throughout 2017….

Arbitral Award, China, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Zhong Lun Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

When applicants seek recognition and enforcement (“R&E”) of foreign arbitral awards in PRC courts, a challenge often raised by respondents is the non-existence of the main contract between the parties, where the arbitration agreement is contained. Respondents contend that the contracts provided by the applicants as the basis for arbitration are not authentic or duly…

European Union, ISDS

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /1 Comment

The EU Foreign Investment Screening Proposal Last September, European Commission President Juncker presented a proposal for a European foreign investment screening regulation – apparently following a request by Germany, France and Italy. The proposal follows-up on the Commission’s “Reflection Paper on Harnessing Globalisation”, published in May 2017. The Reflection Paper notes, inter alia, that “Openness…

Foreign seat, India, Joinder, Non-signatory

, / /1 Comment

The Delhi High Court (Court) recently rendered a decision in GMR v. Doosan (“GMR”) on two critical points related to Indian arbitration– a) joinder of non-signatories to arbitration and b) whether two Indian parties can choose a foreign seat. Both issues have had conflicting decisions from courts leading to confusion in jurisprudence. Did the Court’s…

commercial litigation, judicial reform, Saudi Arabia

(Dentons)/ /Leave a comment

Since oil prices have reached historic lows in 2014, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, has recognized the need to reduce its dependence on oil and diversify its economy. As part of a slew of reforms known as Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has taken steps designed to prepare for the day…

Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, ISDS, UNCITRAL

/ /Leave a comment

In late November, the UN Headquarters in Vienna saw the first meeting of Working Group III of the United Nations Commission on International Trade (UNCITRAL). The meeting marked the initiation of a process of analysis and reform – whatever shape it may ultimately take – of the existing Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) regime. At…

Artificial Intelligence, HKIAC Rules, Investment Arbitration, NAFTA, SCC Rules, Singapore, Summary Judgment, Summary procedure, Third party funding, TPPA

(Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP)/ /2 Comments
YSIAC

2017 was a busy year for international arbitration. Taking a walk down memory lane, we saw new players and new industries entering the game, institutions adopting new rules, and we have some new challenges to tackle. This note summarizes some highlights and low lights in international arbitration during 2017 from across the globe. Happy Holidays…

Arbitration, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, Diversity

(Bocconi University)/ /Leave a comment
Arbitrator Intelligence

A strange paradox marks the debate about international arbitrator diversity. Public consensus increasingly reflects a pervasive concern about the lack of diversity among international arbitrators. ArbitralWomen can claim much credit for focusing attention on the lack of gender diversity, as evidenced by now more than 2500 signatures on The Pledge. Meanwhile, many corporate users now…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Counsel conduct, Ethics

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

The lack of consensus on ethical standards of conduct for counsel in international arbitration has given rise to two enduring problems. First, lawyers may find it hard to know how they should act where the professional rules of their home jurisdiction differ from, or conflict with, those at the seat of arbitration. Second, parties themselves…