On 19 January 2024, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales gave judgment in Border Timbers Ltd v Republic of Zimbabwe [2024] EWHC 58 (Comm). The decision of Dias J considered, in detail, the application of the UK State Immunity Act 1978 (“SIA”) to the registration, enforcement, and execution of ICSID arbitral awards…
The COVID-19 pandemic forced many arbitration proceedings from a physical to a virtual format, including witness interrogations. Even though virtual examinations offer many well-known advantages, they introduce dangers as well, especially to the witness’ credibility, inter alia, by facilitating the possibility of perjury. Adding another layer of complexity, this post addresses situations where the interrogation…
57 years ago, the French Cour de Cassation’s Galakis decision (Civ. 1re, 2 May 1966) laid down the principle that French public entities may, exceptionally, submit to arbitration disputes arising from international contracts. Some would even consider that this principle was already in existence with the San Carlo case (Civ. 1re, 14 April 1964) where…
In the commentary to the ILC draft Articles on State Responsibility it is suggested that interest is not “a necessary part of compensation in every case.” (See Article 38, Commentary 1). However, in investor-State disputes, it has become usual for parties to request, and for tribunals to include, interest on top of compensation. The awards…
Mongolia is a country rich in natural resources. Its estimated mineral wealth is $1-3 trillion, with coal, copper, and gold making up the primary reserves. Having been so well endowed by Mother Earth, Mongolia would seem to be an obvious choice for international investors with capital and expertise to exploit these valuable opportunities. However, the…
On Monday 18 March 2024, ESSEC Business School and EFILA co-organized a panel discussion within the framework of the Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”) 2024, discussing the interactions between Human Rights, Environmental, Societal and Governance (“ESG”), Civil Society and investment arbitration. The event was hosted by Prof. Veronika Korom (ESSEC) and the panel consisted of Grégoire…
Spanish regional High Courts of Justice (Tribunales Superiores de Justicia) have heard applications to annul awards since the 2011 amendment to the Spanish Arbitration Law (“SAL”). The most active among the seventeen regional courts has been the High Court of Justice of Madrid (“TSJM”), in charge of hearing annulment proceedings of Madrid-seated arbitral awards. According…
On the second day of the 2024 Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”), Addleshaw Goddard hosted another roundtable event titled “Evolving Perspectives on the Right to Regulate: Shaping Investment Treaty Arbitration.” The firm had assembled a five-star panel comprising Dr. Crina Baltag (Professor, Stockholm University), Marcin Kaldunski (Professor, Nicolaus Copernicus University), Nico Leslie (Barrister, Fountain Court Chambers)…
This year’s ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration (the “Conference”), co-organised by the Institute for Transnational Arbitration was a whistle-stop tour of the new frontiers facing arbitration practitioners focused on the energy sector. There were, however, two themes that emerged as particularly significant: (i) the transition towards lower carbon economies; and (ii) the effects…
The first upload of materials for the 2024 volume of ICCA’s Yearbook Commercial Arbitration is now available on the KluwerArbitration database, with 22 court decisions from 10 countries. Here are some of the highlights. The Federal Court of Australia in Devas et al. v The Republic of India held that by becoming a Contracting State…
If the title of this blog scared you, it was meant to. In “The Future of the Professions,” authors Richard and Daniel Susskind, who are leading experts in law and tech, look at the impact of the current technological revolution on professional services. Their starting point is that professional service providers need to ask themselves…
As part of the 2024 Paris Arbitration Week, Clyde & Co hosted a panel on “Sanctions and Arbitration: Lessons Learned and Possible Strategies.” The discussions addressed the impact of economic sanctions before, during, and after arbitral proceedings, from the perspective of professors, arbitrators, counsels, and institutions. The panel, moderated by Nadia Darwazeh, comprised Emmanuel Jolivet…
As part of Day 3 of the 8th edition of the Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”), several arbitration networks for young practitioners and students, including the Comité français de l’arbitrage (“CFA-40”), the Arbitration Youth Forum (“AFM below 40”), the Italian Under 40 Arbitration Group (“AIA-Arblt 40 below”), the Swiss Arbitration Association below 40 (“ASAb40”), the Club…
As part of Day 4 of Paris Arbitration Week, Fieldfisher and the European Chinese Arbitrators Association joined forces in organising a tour around the world on recent developments in arbitration laws and recently adopted amendments in different jurisdictions. The discussion was moderated by Alice Meissner (Fieldfisher), and panellists included Antje Baumann (Baumann Disputes), Ania Farren…
Arbitral tribunals all over the world face different procedural issues such as deciding on the seat or naming the exact location of the hearing absent the parties’ agreement, considering the application of interim measures and, most importantly, ruling on the jurisdiction. In most of the cases these decisions are made with a precise knowledge on…
The eighth edition of the Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”) started this Monday with Addleshaw Goddard hosting a roundtable event on “The Evolution of Arbitration in the Central Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regions: A Roadmap for the Future”. The discussion included experts from various background: Sébastien Jean (Associate Director of the Geoeconomics and Geofinance Initiative,…
As we reported earlier, the 2024 edition of the Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”) is the first to count the Paris Court of Appeal among is partners. The event organized by the International Commercial Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal (“ICCP-CA”) was held on 20 March 2024 in a form of a debate on the…
The breakfast debate “Wake up (with) Arbitration” created in 2012 by Valence Borgia, Maria Beatriz Burghetto and Caroline Duclercq relaunched on the occasion of the 2024 Paris Arbitration Week. The aim of the “Wake up (with) arbitration!” roundtable is to bring together arbitration practitioners of all backgrounds and professional experience, to discuss in an interactive…
The Polish Supreme Court (“PSC”) found an arbitration clause unenforceable due to the impecuniosity of one of the parties. This blog post discusses the decision, puts it in the broader context of international and EU law, and considers its relevance to the Court of Justice of the EU (“CJEU”) intra-EU commercial arbitration case law. …
As part of Day 1 of Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”), Laborde Law held its first PAW event of the week at the Hotel Plaza Athénée, which included two panels addressing issues related to investor-State Dispute Settlement (“ISDS”). The first panel discussed “ISDS Enforcement War Stories and Lessons”, and the topic of the second panel was…
As part of Day 2 of the 8th edition of the Paris Arbitration Week (“PAW”), it was in the magnificent First Chamber of the Paris Commercial Court, one of the oldest jurisdictions in France and the place where the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) was established in 1923, that the PAW Board invited all PAW…
On 19 March 2024, as part of the 8th edition of Paris Arbitration Week, the Comité Français de l’Arbitrage (CFA) organized a much-awaited and well-attended event on Arbitration, Sports Law and the Olympics, only a few months before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Attendees were welcomed by Janice Feigher (Secretary General…
While criminal proceedings and corruption in international arbitration have been much discussed in recent years, on the second day of Paris Arbitration Week, in the scenic 18th century Belgian Residence in Paris, Liedekerke organised a conference focusing on criminal liability, criminal threats and corruption allegations brought against arbitrators. The event was moderated by Bruno Hardy…
Kicking off the 2024 Paris Arbitration Week (PAW), Jones Day hosted a thought-provoking event exploring the nuanced “Interaction between the Merits of the Case and Ratione Temporis Issues” in Investor-State dispute settlement (“ISDS”). Claire Pauly (Partner, Jones Day) moderated the bilingual event that brought together distinguished speakers, where Jérôme Ortscheidt(Special Counsel before the French Court…
