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…

Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), New York Convention

, (BatesCareyLLP)/ /Leave a comment

The 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”) is a lynchpin of the international arbitration system.  The New York Convention provides a means for parties in one member state to enforce judgments issued by arbitration tribunals in another member state.  In the United States, Congress…

Africa, Arbitration, European Union, Human Rights, Western Sahara

(Twenty Essex)/ /Leave a comment

The long-standing dispute over the territory of Western Sahara has been the subject of a treaty, an advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, an armed conflict, a United Nations-brokered ceasefire, and several General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. It has also recently come to the fore in several cases before the EU and…

Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mediation

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

March was a particularly busy month on the Kluwer Mediation Blog. From legislative developments in Ireland and Singapore, a report on the Berlin Global Pound Conference, and a more provocative post on whether grey hairs are needed to mediate, there is a lively assortment of posts below. In “Too much or too little”, Bill Marsh…

Arbitration, Culture, Diversity

(Villanova University)/ /3 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The answer to this question might seem simple, but consider an instance of a commercial arbitration between a Chinese company and an African state arising out of a failed railway project in Africa. Assume that all three arbitrators are European and from the civil law legal tradition. Assume further that they are experienced arbitrators of…

Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, English courts, Singapore

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /1 Comment
YSIAC

In TMT Co Ltd v The Royal Bank of Scotland plc [2017] SGHC 21, the Singapore High Court took the view that an arbitration clause did not meet the prima facie standard to warrant a stay of court proceedings because it designated an inapplicable arbitral institution. Commentators have suggested that the decision is “surprising” and…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Germany, Media and Telecoms Disputes, Mediation

(Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Since 1 January 2017, national and international media companies can initiate arbitration proceedings with the German Media Arbitral Tribunal (Deutsches Medienschiedsgericht – “DMS”). The DMS, which was established in 2016 in Leipzig, is a specialized arbitral institution that exclusively deals with media law disputes. In addition to arbitration proceedings, the DMS offers conciliation proceedings and…

Arbitration, Willem C. Vis Moot

, (Pinheiro Neto Advogados)/ /Leave a comment

With the upcoming 2017 edition of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court Competition (the “Vis Moot”), the eyes of the international arbitral community are turned – maybe more than ever before – to Brazil. That is because the arbitration rules that will apply as the basis for the competition’s fictional dispute will…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Proceedings, India, Supreme Court, Trust

/ /4 Comments

Coincidentally, at the same time last year, the world witnessed two historical developments. First, Donald J. Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States. Second, in an attempt to curb black money (a move, the result of which is still to be evaluated), the Modi-led Government demonetised 500 and 1000 currency notes in India. Even…

Brazil, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration

(Justen, Pereira, Oliveira & Talamini)/ /Leave a comment

A provision enacted in 2016 seems to have created a revolutionary change in Brazil’s approach to arbitration involving State parties. It is well-known that Brazil is not a party to the Washington Convention of 1965 nor of any ratified BIT (Bilateral Investment Treaty). The country has relied on commercial arbitration to resolve disputes with State…

Arbitration, CETA, Lex Arbitri, Seat of the arbitration, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, UNCITRAL Model Law

(Arbitration Chambers)/ /2 Comments

The international arbitration community has lately been occupied with various proposals to reform investor-state disputes. On the interstate level, a consensus seems to be building that several aspects of the current system need to be modified in order for the system to safeguard its own legitimacy. In this context, there are various reform proposals floated…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Bulgaria, Enforcement, FIDIC

, (Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.)/ /Leave a comment

The FIDIC forms of contracts (FIDIC forms) constitute a comprehensive set of rules applied worldwide in complicated construction projects. The FIDIC forms contain a multi-tier dispute resolution mechanism – depending on the type of a Book, they provide for consideration of disputes (1) by an Engineer (an Employer’s agent managing the construction project), (2) by…

Anti-ISDS Propaganda, Arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /2 Comments

Not so long ago, I reported on the recent documented discovery that anti-ISDS groups have been making and continue to make a handsome profit from the anti-ISDS/anti-trade/anti-globalization campaign, which they have unleashed over Europe with the active financial support of the European Commission and several EU Member States. This time I would like to draw…

Advocacy, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Document Production, Settlement

(Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP) and (Bryan Cave)/ /Leave a comment
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

On 23 February 2017, three prominent international arbitrators shared their views and experience on the controversial question of the influence of legal traditions on arbitrators and arbitral proceedings. Juliet Blanch, Bernard Hanotiau and Pedro J. Martinez-Fraga were interviewed by Oliver Caprasse and Claire Morel de Westgaver at an event jointly organised by Belgian arbitration institution…

Antitrust arbitration, Arbitration clause, Competition Law, European Law, European Union, Multiple parties

(University of Aberdeen)/ /1 Comment

The Member States of the European Union (“EU”) had a task that a very few has managed to complete: to implement the Directive 2014/104/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 November 2014 (“Damages Directive” or “Directive”) by 27 December 2017. According to the website of the EU Commission, only ten Member…

Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Evidence, ICSID Arbitration, Investment, Investment Arbitration, ISDS

(Washburn University School of Law)/ /2 Comments
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Newspapers, cable television shows, and Twitter are abuzz with claims of “fake news.” Within the past two weeks alone, the U.S. President accused his predecessor of wiretapping his office building, apparently in reliance upon reporting in online news media. More traditional news outlets have responded with innuendo that the Director of the U.S. Federal Bureau…

ADR, ADR Clauses, Mediation

(Transnational Law Centre, University of Ghent)/ /Leave a comment

In the past fifteen years, the European Union has displayed a particular interest in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). Furthermore, a number of recent initiatives have shown that a general, overarching framework relating to both Business-to-Business (B2B) as well as Business-to-Consumer (B2C) ADR would enhance legal certainty in Europe and improve access to justice. Without losing…

BIT, European Commission, European Law, European Union, ICSID Convention, Intra-EU BITs, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Poland, Sweden

(Stockholm University)/ /1 Comment

On 8 March 2017, the Romanian Parliament sent to the Romanian President for promulgation the Law allowing for the termination of the Bilateral Investment Treaties between Romania and other Member States of the European Union (“Intra-EU BITs”). This comes after Poland adopted a similar measure at the beginning of January 2017 and with the European…

Journal of International Arbitration

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

Issue 34, Volume I ARTICLES SECTION Ank Santens & Jaroslav Kudrna, The State of Play of Enforcement of Emergency Arbitrator Decisions Abstract: The 2015 Queen Mary/White & Case International Arbitration Survey found that 79% of respondents considered the enforceability of emergency arbitrator decisions to be the most important factor influencing their choice between state courts…

Arbitration, Arbitration Pledge, Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, Diversity, Transparency

(Greenwood Arbitration), (Bocconi University), , and (MDisputes)/ /Leave a comment

Last week GAR released the shortlist for its 2017 award for “best innovation by an individual or organization”. What is notable about this year’s shortlist is that of the ten innovations on the list, six directly address transparency and/or diversity in international arbitration. From an online directory of African arbitration practitioners, to the launch of “Dispute…