Enforcement, Investment, Investor, ISDS, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Singapore, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules

(Fangda Partners), (Holborn Law LLC (in association with CMS Singapore)), and (CMS Hong Kong)/ /1 Comment

In early March 2017, the Singapore High Court released a judgment in which it considered an important question of enforcement of investor-state awards. In Josias Van Zyl v Kingdom of Lesotho [2017] SGHCR 2, AR Pereira was asked to decide whether an order to enforce a final award in a treaty dispute administered by the…

Arbitrability, Commercial Arbitration, LCIA Arbitration, Public contract disputes, Public Interest, Public Procurement, UK

(General Editor International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management; Queen Mary University of London)/ /3 Comments

In international arbitration, as in other fields of law, the divide between private and public—commercial arbitration and public international (including investment) arbitration—traditionally has been the generally, if uncritically, accepted belief. When public bodies are involved in commercial contracts, the traditional point of distinction has been whether the state operated jure imperii or jure gestionis. Apart…

Australia, Courts, interim relief

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

Introduction Western Australia has many of the hallmarks of an arbitral hub: from a stable liberal democracy, a reliable and predictable judiciary, and very low rates of corruption, to offices of numerous national and international law firms, world-standard business hotels (albeit only a recent arrival), and an efficient international airport (again, only of late, but…

Arbitral Award, Arbitral Tribunal, Deliberations, Set aside an arbitral award, Spain

(Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP) and (Mannheimer Swartling)/ /2 Comments
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

The obligation for an arbitral tribunal to deliberate before rendering an award is at the heart of the arbitral process. In fact, parties typically agree to submit their disputes to a panel of three arbitrators for the purpose of ensuring objectivity, well thought decisions and equal treatment. Deliberation is so fundamental to the arbitral procedure…

Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct

, , (Bullard Falla Ezcurra +)/ /12 Comments

A group of lawyers has been coveted in recent years by the most prestigious law firms. They are supposed to predict results more accurately than Gary Born, create more persuasive stories than Stanimir Alexandrov and even issue better awards than Gabrielle Kauffman-Kohler. Their names are Watson, Ross, Lex Machina and Compas – they are Machine…

Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mediation, Third party funding

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

From conciliation applications in Germany, the use of mediation for companies under judicial reorganization in Brazil, the recent INADR International Law Student Mediation Tournament at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland, to transformative teaching in Shanghai, the broad coverage of topics continues on the Kluwer Mediation Blog. Why not have a look at the summary…

Arbitration, Commodity arbitration, FOSFA, GAFTA, Import duty, International arbitration

(AGA Partners Law Firm) and (Avellum)/ /Leave a comment

Throughout the modern history of mankind, trade wars accompanied almost every military or political conflict between hostile states, ready to take the most radical actions for the sake of the victory. This is not surprising as trade directly affects the economy and, accordingly, the ability of the country to fight and resist successfully. Unfortunately, in…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, ICCA, International arbitration, Moldova

(Europa-Institut, Saarbrücken)/ /Leave a comment

One of the goals of “ICCA’s Guide to the Interpretation of the 1958 New York Convention: A Handbook for Judges” – as stated by Neil Kaplan in the Guide’s introduction – is to assist judges around the world in “using the Convention in a way consistent with its letter and spirit”. It seems that the…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, New York Convention, Sierra Leone

(Central European University)/ /Leave a comment

Sierra Leone’s inaugural Commercial Law Summit was held this March (2017) on the theme of facilitating responsible private sector development through improvements in commercial law justice (Hebert Smith Freehill and UK-Sierra Leone Pro-Bono Network, ‘Conference Pack’, 2017). The summit provided a distinctive opportunity for the main stakeholders in commercial law and justice to map out…

Journal of International Arbitration

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

Issue 34, Volume 2 contains: Michael W. Bühler & Pierre R. Heitzmann, The 2017 ICC Expedited Rules: From Softball to Hardball? Abstract: The 2017 ICC Rules of Arbitration, in force since 1 March 2017, have adopted new provisions for expedited procedures with the objective of having final awards issued by sole arbitrators six months after…

Investment protection, ISDS, Mexico, NAFTA, North America, Survival clauses, USMCA

(Hogan Lovells International LLP)/ /1 Comment

NAFTA on the tightrope One of President Donald Trump’s most frequent campaign promises was to “eliminate” the North American Free Trade Agreement (“NAFTA”), which he described as “the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere, but certainly ever signed in this country.” He then softened his tone and stated that he would renegotiate the treaty,…

Arbitral Award, Energy Charter Treaty, Enforcement, State Immunity

(Linklaters) and (Fieldfisher)/ /1 Comment
Linklaters

In the context of investor-state dispute resolution in The Netherlands, the Yukos case has recently captured the spotlight in the global arbitration arena and beyond. While much of the attention has been focused on the setting-aside proceedings and the issue of jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, the case also raises interesting questions regarding the enforcement…

Arbitral Tribunal, English Arbitration Act, LCIA Arbitration, Tribunal Secretary, Uncategorized

(Clyde & Co.)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

The recent decision in P v Q [2017] EWHC 148 (Comm) provided, for the first time, guidance on how a Court will approach an application for disclosure in support of an application to remove Arbitral Tribunal members under s.24 Arbitration Act 1996. Background The Claimant had brought an application to remove two wing members (the…

Arbitration, Conference, Investment Arbitration, Third party funding

(Jones Day)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In his 2014 Assenting Opinion on a security for costs motion in RSM v. Saint-Lucia, arbitrator Dr. Gavin Griffith Q.C. described third-party funders as “mercantile adventurers” and associated their activities with “gambling” and the “gambler’s Nirvana: Heads I win and Tails I do not lose.” This was no voice in the wilderness. The increasingly prevalent…

Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Pledge, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Diversity, Surveys

, (White & Case)/ /Leave a comment
White & Case

White & Case’s recent research should provide some comfort to the arbitral community by showing that arbitral institutions are becoming increasingly flexible and responsive to users’ needs. Flexibility was in fact a characteristic which the 2015 survey conducted by White & Case with Queen Mary University of London established as being one of the most…

Arbitration, English Arbitration Act, LCIA Arbitration, LCIA Guidance Notes for Arbitrators, LCIA Rules, Tribunal Secretary

(Clyde & Co.)/ /1 Comment
Clyde & Co.

The use of tribunal secretaries in arbitration is a hotly debated topic. For some time now, the use of a secretary has been increasing in the interests of cost and time efficiency. For some however, there is a fear that arbitrators delegate their duties and for a ‘second’ or ‘fourth’ arbitrator to be involved in…

ADR, Arbitration, Conciliation, Settlement

(Schoenherr)/ /Leave a comment
Schoenherr

Over the past few decades, alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) has become the preferred method of conflict management in the commercial world. Contemporary trends in dispute resolution aim at consolidating ADR in this position by finding an appropriate way to enforce settlement agreements resulting from mediation/conciliation or in the course of judicial or arbitral proceedings. A…

Arab World, Arbitration, Foreign Investment Law, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, International tribunals, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Iraq

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

Three decades, two wars, one occupation, and multiple democratic elections later, I found myself back in my country of birth, Iraq, in April 2017. I was invited to Baghdad by the Iraq Energy Institute (IEI) as a speaker at the 2017 Iraq Energy Forum (IEF), under the patronage of the Iraq government and the Iraq…

Arbitration clause, SIAC, Singapore, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

In K.V.C. Rice Intertrade Co Ltd v Asian Mineral Resources Pte Ltd [2017] SGHC 32, the Singapore High Court enforced so-called “bare” arbitration clauses, i.e., clauses that specify neither the place of arbitration nor the means of appointing arbitrators. In Singapore, the President of the SIAC Court of Arbitration is designated as the statutory appointing…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Factoring

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

Text books will tell you that, in its origins, the concept of arbitration as a method of resolving disputes was a simple one: two merchants, arguing over damaged merchandise, would settle their dispute by accepting the decision of a fellow merchant. And they would do so not because of any legal mandate, but because it…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Bribery, Enforcement, Greece, ICC, ICC Arbitration, International arbitration, Public Policy

(School of Law, University of Westminster)/ /1 Comment

It is well known that Greek public finances have been in a precarious state since the country’s debt crisis erupted in 2010. In an environment of tough fiscal consolidation, compensation awards running in millions present a significant economic and political challenge. This post discusses a case before the Greek Supreme Court that resulted in a…

Injunction, Interim measures, Parallel Proceedings

, (Hannes Snellman)/ /3 Comments
Finland Arbitration Institute (FAI)

One of the topics discussed by the panels at last week’s 20th Annual IBA Arbitration Day was parallel proceedings. We heard well-prepared and interesting presentations on many aspects of parallel proceedings such as confidentiality and the taking of evidence. As we all know, such parallel proceedings often also take the form of court proceedings initiated…