The 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“The New York Convention”) is an international instrument: a treaty between 156 States. It is interpreted on the basis of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (“The VCLT”). The VCLT is further defined in this post with a useful…
As discussed in an earlier post, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed that its function is not to review findings of an Arbitrator or his interpretation of a Patent License Agreement: Genentech, Inc. v Hoechst GmbH/ Sanofi Aventis GmbH, Case C-567/14 (Judgment of the Court: 7 July,2016). 1. The Facts The terms…
While the great third-party funding debate appears to centre on the issues of disclosure, arbitrator bias, security for costs, and regulation, the potential conflicts between third-party funding and confidentiality in arbitration proceedings have so far received comparatively little attention. Perhaps not rightly so, as the following example shall illustrate: The claimant in a commercial arbitration has agreed…
“When Justice Delayed Would be Justice Denied: Emergency Arbitrators and Interim Measures in International Arbitration” was the subject of the 28th Annual Workshop of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), which took place on 16 June 2016 in Dallas, Texas. Under the leadership of ITA’s Chair, Abby Cohen Smutny (White & Case), and the conference…
Just like a century ago – and throughout their entire history – the Balkans remain a zone of structural instability. In this respect, the ‘end of history’ has not come around to the fringes of Europe, as Francis Fukuyama once optimistically expected. Therefore, although the Balkan area is an essentially coherent cultural sub-space, while still…
On the 7th of July 2016 the Court of Justice of the European Union (“Court” or “CJEU”) published the judgment in the Genentech case (Case C 567/14), awaited with great interest both by IP and competition practitioners, on one side, and by arbitration practitioners, on the other. IP and competition law practitioners’ interest lies in the…
In a somewhat surprising move, the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, the government authority responsible for judicial matters in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) Courts entered into a Memorandum of Understanding concerning cooperation in legal and judicial matters dated 19 April 2016 . This, at least, is the position,…
In recent years, international arbitration has emerged as a high-growth area for the litigation funding industry. All the major funders now have international arbitration cases in their portfolios, and many are aggressively seeking more – especially investment treaty cases. But the participation of funders in international arbitration raises a number of issues, some national and…
Last month, it was announced in a legal press release (“press release”) that the Enforcement Court in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had decided to enforce an US$18.5 million ICC arbitral award rendered in London in favour of its client, a UAE subsidiary of a Greek telecom company. The press release stated that it believed this to…
Following the long-awaited release – on 1 July 2016 – of SIAC’s new arbitration rules (“SIAC Rules 2016”), practitioners in and outside of Asia have enthusiastically supplied a flurry of commentary and client briefings on this historic moment in the SIAC arbitration. Descriptive or analytical, the commentaries are unanimous in positing that changes in Singapore’s…
The topic of Brexit is front-page news around the world, but there is a noticeable absence of expert commentary on its implications for the world of international arbitration. Accordingly, the Editors at Kluwer Arbitration Blog welcome the submission of guest posts on the topic of Brexit and international arbitration. Topics might include London as a…
The results of the UK’s referendum, with a vote to leave the European Union, will not affect London’s position as a leading international arbitration seat and dispute resolution centre. The recent developments do not change the fact that the UK has been and will continue to be a favoured destination for dispute resolution. London has…
Under the Swedish law, when the parties failed to choose the applicable law, their arbitration agreement is governed by the law of the seat of the arbitration, provided that the parties have specified the seat in their agreement. That much is clear. However, when the parties have not stipulated a seat in their agreement, there…
The New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (“NYC“) was drafted in the spirit and with the purpose of encouraging arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism, by providing for the simple and swift international enforcement of arbitral awards. Today, the NYC’s reach is – with the exception of a few…
One of the major misunderstandings of the Brexit is that it won’t influence London’s importance as a major place of dispute resolution in Europe. Up until now, the adverse consequences of leaving the European Judicial Area have been insufficiently discussed. A first seminar organized by the British Institute for International and Comparative Law and the…
Two recent decisions (nos. 14/2015 and 176/2015) delivered by the Greek Supreme Court analyze the issue of annulling arbitral decisions on public policy grounds. Since arbitration is particularly valuable for the contractual freedom, the general tendency is to restrict the powers of civil courts when they (re)consider and overturn an arbitral award, so that private…
The cover of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy famously features a “Don’t Panic” button. In the weeks leading up to the Brexit vote, some English law firms posted reassuring articles on the possible effects a vote to leave would have for dispute resolution in London. “Don’t panic” seemed to be a common theme. Yet…
Favorable ICSID awards are undoubtedly a valuable commodity. By virtue of the ICSID Convention, which features 153 Contracting States, such awards are automatically enforceable in nearly 80% of countries around the world. But enforcement of an award is only half of the equation; award holders must also navigate the separate, but equally important, task of executing the…
In May 2016, DRBF gathered in Santiago, Chile, for its annual international conference. The location is testimony to the rising demand and dispute boards practice in the region. Having served for some years in the management of our organization, it is observable that the purpose of the concept proves to be successfully established. Indeed, the…
The epitome – and uncontroversial part – of the legitimate expectations doctrine is that a sovereign’s failure to live up to its promises made towards an investor who relied on such promise to make an investment – or to continue an investment – is a breach of the fair and equitable treatment standard. Practice has,…
On June 6, 2016, the ICSID Secretary General registered a request for arbitration in Global Telecom Holding (GTH) v. Canada. Although the text of the arbitral claim is not yet public, it appears likely that the dispute relates to GTH’s involvement (or attempted involvement) in Canada’s wireless telecommunications sector. This claim may be historic for…
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (“TPP”) is a state-of-the-art multi regional trade agreement that, once ratified, will transform the scenario of international trade and arbitration for the next century. The TPP will have an impact on the rules governing global investment, influencing future and current negotiations of Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BITs”) and Free Trade Agreements (“FTAs”). It…
In recent years, arbitration in the UAE has experienced significant growth among domestic and international users. While there is undoubtedly a positive trend in the use of arbitration as a mechanism to resolve disputes in the UAE, one of the main criticisms is the uncertainty around enforcement of both domestic and international awards, despite the…
Professor Pieter Sanders in 1999 famously asked “Quo Vadis Arbitration”? (Where do you go Arbitration?). In the Indian context this question is particularly relevant in light of the ever-fluctuating framework applicable to arbitrations seated in India. In this post, I will deal with one aspect of this inconsistency, namely the question of arbitrability. The Indian…
