A few months ago, Queen Mary University of London and White & Case released their third International Arbitration Survey entitled “Improvements and Innovations in International Arbitration”. One of the many interesting findings of this survey is the apparent growing concern of some users of arbitration with what can be termed “due process paranoia”. Due process…
On 18 April 2016, following earlier anticipation (see my blog here), the Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre, in shorthand “EMAC”, was finally established by virtue of a decree issued by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai (see Decree No. 14 of 2016 establishing the Emirates Centre…
YAI TALKS#, a new conversation series launched by the ITA Young Arbitrators Initiative (YAI) under the leadership of YAI chair Montserrat Manzano (Von Wobeser y Sierra, Mexico City) and vice chair Silvia Marchili (King & Spalding, Houston), kicked off on May 12 in Washington, D.C., with a debate on claims by dual nationals against countries…
By Mirèze Philippe, Special Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, and Founding Co-President ArbitralWomen 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 launch of the Equal Representation in Arbitration…
The mounting global preoccupation with mediation, reflected in a growing array of institutions, programs, laws and regulations; an international “evangelical” movement; and mounting impetus for an international convention promoting the recognition and enforcement of mediated settlement agreements; should be accompanied by collective reflection, dialogue and discernment regarding present trends. These were the themes of my…
It is generally accepted that arbitral tribunals enjoy a “liberty of decision”, which I have suggested as meaning, “the freedom of the arbitral tribunal from external restraint, compulsion, or interference in making its decision…”[1] Such a right may be viewed as a facet of the justiciable right to freedom of expression, since the exercise of…
“And the winner is Buenos Aires” said Alice Fremuth-Wolf, deputy Secretary General of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre and presiding arbitrator of the final round, in the afternoon of 24 March 2016. This was the moment that a group of coaches, students and former students of the University of Buenos Aires (“UBA”) had long worked–and…
A few months ago a piece was published on the Kluwer blog on s. 69 of the English Arbitration Act, a provision which gives a party to an English-seated arbitration a limited right of appeal on a point of law (absent an agreement to the contrary with its contractual counterparty). Based on a review of…
Latin America is the region that has faced the largest number of investment treaty arbitration cases in the world, holding 30% of the total ICSID caseload (549 cases as of December 31, 2015). South America alone, comprised by twelve UNASUR members, has faced 131 ICSID cases with a number of adverse outcomes for the host…
On 26 June 2015 Italy commenced inter-state arbitral proceedings by serving on India a notification of dispute under Article 287 and Annex VII, Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (“UNCLOS”); both States are Parties to UNCLOS. In Italy’s submission the dispute concerns an incident approximately 20.5 nautical miles…
In a series of cases since 2008, the Singapore Court of Appeal (Singapore’s highest court) has been articulating the contours of a contextual approach to contractual interpretation. Under this contextual approach, the Singapore courts “must ascertain, based on all the relevant objective evidence, the intention of the parties at the time they entered into the…
In general terms, a couple of the known advantages of arbitration are: (i) normally it is faster than adjudication before national courts and, (ii) the arbitral award is final. Now, both of these perceived advantages are often tested by local courts and losing parties. Ecuadorian players are not the exception. In the case of Emelec…
When questioned what the users of arbitration expect from the process and what its main pitfalls are, the answer is usually unequivocal: the need for time and cost-efficient proceedings leading to a well-considered decision is not consistently met. The reason for this complaint is obvious: the ‘Golden Age’ of arbitration has made way for a…
Parties entering into related contracts should carefully consider how future disputes ought to be resolved. This post will look at a recent Hong Kong decision in Bluegold Investment Holdings Limited v Kwan Chun Fun Calvin [2016] HKEC 532 (“Bluegold Case”) involving the construction of inconsistent dispute resolution clauses in related contracts. We will also discuss how…
As previously discussed, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Bosnian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Association ARBITRI organized in April 2016 two arbitration events in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina [“BiH”], with the aim to promote awareness of modern international practice and developments of law, and to encourage the reform of national laws, regulations…
On a reference from the Cour d’Appel de Paris, A.G. Wathelet upholds the primacy of an arbitral award as compatible with Art.101 TFEU in Genentech, Inc. v Hoechst GmbH / Sanofi-Aventis GmbH, Case C-567/14 (Opinion of Advocate General Wathelet: 17 March 2016). 1. The Facts 1.1 The Patent License In 1992 a predecessor of Hoechst/Sanofi-Aventis…
On March 30, ITA and ASIL co-hosted their annual meeting in Washington, DC, and this year’s theme was “A Spotlight on Ethics in International Arbitration: Advocates, Arbitrators and Awards.” One of the panels explored the question of where best to house authority for determining the ethical obligations of parties and their attorneys. I moderated the…
A foundational principle of international commercial arbitration is that of party autonomy. Article 19(1) of the UNCITRAL Model Law reflects this and states: “Subject to the provisions of this Law, the parties are free to agree on the procedure to be followed by the arbitral tribunal in conducting the proceedings.” Notwithstanding the parties’ broad freedom…
This post initiates a series of posts highlighting key cases published in ITA Arbitration Report, a monthly subscription service provided by the ITA Board of Reporters and available for free at KluwerArbitration.com. The three issues published during the 1st Quarter of 2016 contain more than 60 cases from different jurisdictions worldwide. The selection made for…
Introduction The Hague District Court ruled on 20 April 2016 to reverse a PCA tribunal’s decision against Russia to pay damages in excess of US$50 billion to the former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil Company, which was once the largest oil company in Russia (see earlier blog post on the Hague Court’s decision). The Hague…
The facts in Getma v. Guinea case seem familiar enough, but the facts leading to annulment of the award involve a wholly unexpected plot twist—a showdown between an African arbitral institution and the arbitral tribunal over the tribunal’s fees. When the annulment decision in Getma v. Guinea first came out, it received considerable attention, including…
The Hungarian arbitration Act (Act LXXI of 1994 on arbitration, “the Act”) has barely “turned 22” and the pressure to replace it with new legislation has popped up. Considering the current, rapid reform of effective laws in Hungary – meaning that relatively new legislation which has been in force for only five to ten years…
According to the 2015 report of the BP Statistical Review of World Energy, India accounts for 5.1% of the world electricity generation and is the third largest generator of electricity in the world. A McKinsey report estimates the need to increase the generation capacity to about 440 GW by 2017 with an expected investment of…
The development of international arbitration in recent years has led to a significant multiplication of arbitration institutions around the world. In fact, every major city related to trade or industry has at least one dispute resolution centre. In addition to having long-standing, very reputable institutions for resolving commercial disputes, i.e. the ICC in Paris or…
