On 11 April 2016, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (“Timor-Leste”) commenced the first ever compulsory conciliation proceedings under Annex V, section 2 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”). The proceedings concern the disputed maritime boundary between Timor-Leste and Australia in the Timor Sea. Australia objected to the conciliation on…
Much has been written about iura novit curia or, as it has been rephrased for arbitration purposes – the iura novit arbiter principle in international arbitration. There are three main areas of debate. The first of these areas deals with the different approaches to the role and duties of the decision-making body and the parties…
Climate change is a serious threat to humankind. The sources of the problem are many, requiring a multidimensional approach to find practical and viable solutions. In the last several years, awareness of the issue has been addressed in the public domain, by international community, and civil society. This publicity has resulted in States taking concrete…
Recent developments indicate there may be increasing interest in the creation of alternative forms of dispute resolution for investor-State disputes. One potential alternative is mediation. This post outlines how 2016 has been an important year for investor-State mediation, considers how mediation interacts with investment treaty arbitration, and the benefits and risks associated with such a…
Can an international arbitral tribunal admit emails and documents as evidence if these documents were obtained by hacking a computer network? The ICSID tribunal in Caratube International Oil Company and Mr Devincci Saleh Hourani v Kazakhstan (ICSID Case No. ARB/13/13) held, “in principle Yes”, in a decision which is not yet published but has been…
On a rainy Monday 19 September 2016, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP hosted an ICC YAF event at its London offices on the importance of women in our arbitration world. The issue of gender diversity was at the forefront of the agenda, and taking the Pledge for Equal Representation in Arbitration (www.arbitrationpledge.com). The YAF coincided with…
In a 2014 speech delivered in Sydney entitled “Commercial Courts and International Arbitration – Competitors or Partners?”, Michael Hwang SC, referring to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (‘New York Convention’), described the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (‘Hague Convention’) as “a sort of mini version of…
The Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which covers the district courts of New York, Connecticut and Vermont, was recently called to decide the effect that a vacatur of an award in the seat of arbitration (in that case, Mexico) had in an ongoing enforcement proceeding in New York. The Court of Appeals held…
The last decade has seen a concerted effort by the Indian legislature, the executive and the judiciary to promote alternative dispute resolution in India. The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 2015 (‘Amending Act’) marks an important milestone in the development of arbitration law in India. Some of the important changes brought about by the Amending…
Under Article V(1)(e) of the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“The New York Convention”), a court presented with an action to enforce an arbitral award “may refuse” to enforce the award “only if” the opposing party can prove that an award “has been set aside or suspended…
As readers of this blog are well aware, at the beginning of the year, the ICC Court announced that it would start to publish the names of arbitrators serving in ICC administered cases. Michael McIlwrath has commented on this policy on this blog. When the first six names and the corresponding information were released in…
The Russian Supreme Court recently rendered a decision declaring disputes on challenging agreements with banks in a special financial situation, called by lawyers – “troubled” banks, as non-arbitrable [Bank Trust v. Fosint Ltd., decision dated 16 August 2016 number 305-ЭС16-4051] (“Trust case”). In this case, a “troubled” bank, meaning a bank in which a temporary…
Volume 33 Issue 4 ARTICLES SECTION Stephan Wilske & Chloë Edworthy, The Future of Intra-EU BITs: A Recent Development in International Investment Treaty Arbitration Against Romania And Its Potential Collateral Damage Abstract: The article explores the debate surrounding intra-EU investment treaty arbitration and the intervention of the European Commission in an investment treaty arbitration against…
By Mirèze Philippe Special Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration Founding Co-President ArbitralWomen Member of the Pledge Steering Committee The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and should not be regarded as representative of, or binding upon ArbitralWomen and/or the author’s institution. The Equal Representation…
On 7 July 2016, the UNCITRAL Commission adopted a revised and updated version of the UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings. The 2016 Notes replace a 1996 edition, and aim to flag procedural issues typically associated with arbitral proceedings. They include guidance on matters such as the language(s) of the proceedings, confidentiality and transparency, and…
Heading The July 2016 Award of the Tribunal in the South China Sea Arbitration (The Republic of the Philippines v The Peoples’ Republic of China) has been the subject of extensive interest and comment for its findings on rights and maritime entitlements, and the obligations of States under the United Nations Convention on the Law…
The Academic Council of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) is pleased to announce the launch of a new online resource for international arbitration and dispute resolution instructors: International Dispute Resolution Resources for Legal Educators. The Legal Educators Resources site is designed to gather, classify, and disseminate syllabi, notes, exercises, exams, and other original teaching…
No other sport event has attracted as much attention recently as the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio (Rio 2016). Due to the international scale, high stakes involved, close emotional attachments as well as the increased publicity, Rio 2016 came under close scrutiny from all kinds of stakeholders. Just like in old times (remember boycotts of…
On 30 June 2016, the French Cour de Cassation issued a new decision (Cass. Civ. 1, 30 June 2016, N°15-13.755) in the long-running Tapie saga (or, as the French media has called it, “l’affaire Tapie”). This recent decision might not represent the end of the saga, however, it nonetheless gives us the opportunity to take…
One of the main advantages of arbitration vis-à-vis state court litigation, is that the parties are free to choose independent and highly specialised experts to decide their cases. Yet, if these experts negligently (or even deliberately) violate the duties that come with the acceptance of the appointment, the issue of liability arises. One may think…
In Luxembourg, international arbitration awards are enforced pursuant to the New York Convention of 10 June 1958 (the ‘Convention”), or, where that Convention does not apply, pursuant to the provisions of the Luxembourg New Civil Procedure Code. Indeed, provisions of Luxembourg law are applicable alternatively, so that the Convention is exclusively applicable when the award…
Arbitrability is a fundamental concept of arbitration law which gives an answer to a question which dispute can be submitted to arbitration. Traditionally in Russia the non-arbitrability of a dispute was explained through a public policy consideration. In other words, disputes which have or might have a public interest cannot be submitted to arbitration. The…
Introduction Saudi Arabia has changed dramatically in the past two decades, and many of those changes have potentially positive implications for international arbitration. As a crucial starting point, the Saudi government has focused intense attention and devoted vast resources to diversify the country’s economy, most interestingly by investing billions of dollars to develop the education…
Current deliberations about the need for “Sustainable Development” and “Public Private Partnerships” will lead inevitably to a more realistic consideration of a sovereign state’s right to engage and regulate the private sector more extensively than previously. In the past, the problem associated with the sovereign state’s right to exercise police powers, whether for legitimate reasons…
