Arbitration, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Domestic Courts, Review on the merits, Set aside an arbitral award

(University of Aberdeen)/ /1 Comment

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…

Arbitration, CJEU, Intellectual Property

(JAMS International)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Ethics

(Vanderbilt Law School)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

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…

Arbitral Tribunal, Procedure

(D|R Arbitration & Litigation)/ /2 Comments
YSIAC

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…

ITA

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /1 Comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

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…

Set aside an arbitral award, Yukos

(Clyde & Co. LLP), (Clyde & Co.), and (Clyde and Co)/ /Leave a comment
Clyde & Co.

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…

Africa, Arbitrator's Fees, OHADA

(Bocconi University)/ /11 Comments
Arbitrator Intelligence

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…

Arbitration Act, Domestic law, Hungary

, (Schoenherr)/ /Leave a comment

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…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Electricity, India

(Trilegal)/ /1 Comment

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…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Energy, Financial Agreements, International arbitration

(K&L Gates, Poland)/ /2 Comments

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…

England, ICC Rules, MENA, New York Convention, Public Policy, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a recent enforcement action of a foreign arbitral award rendered under the ICC Rules in London, England, the Dubai Court of Appeal questioned the United Kingdom’s proper membership of the 1958 New York Convention (on the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards) (the “NYC” or simply the “Convention”). The action was brought by…

Amicus Curiae, Enforcement, International Court of Justice, International Courts, Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, ITLOS, Model BIT, TPP, U.S. Supreme Court, Venezuela

/ /Leave a comment

Recently the U.S. Executive Branch made headlines by agreeing with Venezuela. In particular, the Executive Branch filed an amicus curiae submission in New York federal appeals court in which it agreed with Venezuela regarding the treatment of ICSID awards in U.S. courts. According to the U.S. Executive (and Venezuela), a party seeking recognition of an…

Arbitral Award, Dubai, Due process

(Motei & Associates)/ /Leave a comment

Motei & Associates was instructed by the Respondent in recent legal proceedings between two parties (details for which must remain confidential) before the Dubai Courts in relation to the ratification of an arbitral award issued by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC). Appeal Court’s rationale An arbitrator is under an obligation to give the parties…

Uncategorized

, (Schellenberg Wittmer)/ /1 Comment
Schellenberg Wittmer

In a decision dated 16 March 2016 (4A_628/2015), the Swiss Supreme Court decided the long-open question of the consequence of a failure to comply with a mandatory pre-tier to arbitration, finding that such failure leads to the stay of the arbitration proceedings until the pre-arbitral tier has been conducted. The modalities of the stay (in…

Arbitration, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, SIAC, Third party funding

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

More or less since 2010, the topic of third party funding (“TPF”) in connection with international arbitration has been everywhere (heard of, seen in practice, written about, presented at conferences, and so on). In a series of recent developments however, TPF has been, for the first time, made subject to mandatory provisions contained in the…

Criminal law and arbitration, ICSID Arbitration, Provisional measures

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /1 Comment

In two recent cases, ICSID tribunals have been asked to consider applications for provisional measures relating to criminal proceedings initiated against the claimants. On 3 March 2016, the tribunal in Hydro S.r.l and others v. Republic of Albania (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/28) (the Hydro case) partly granted a request to recommend the suspension of criminal…

Journal of International Arbitration

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

Queen Mary University of London & Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP   Volume 33 (2016) Issue 2 contains: ARTICLES SECTION Nadia Darwazeh & Adrien Leleu, Disclosure and Security for Costs or How to Address Imbalances Created by Third-Party Funding Abstract: The growth of third-party funding (TPF) in international arbitrations seems to have intensified…

Arbitrators, Surveys

(Greenwood Arbitration)/ /6 Comments

Co-authored with Michael McIlwrath, General Electric Company, and Ema Vidak-Gojkovic, Baker & McKenzie GAR Live Stockholm recently shone a spotlight on our article “Puppies or Kittens? How To Better Match Arbitrators to Party Expectations”, published in the Austrian Yearbook on International Arbitration earlier this year. In our article we proposed that arbitrators complete a questionnaire…

Uncategorized

(Linklaters), (Linklaters LLP), and (Fieldfisher)/ /Leave a comment

In a highly anticipated judgment which was handed down on 20 April 2016, The Hague District Court (the “Court”) set aside the $50 billion Yukos awards rendered against the Russian Federation in arbitration proceedings administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The Court, which was competent to hear Russia’s claim in the…

Brazil, Consent, Enforcement, Non-signatory, Res Judicata

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

Arbitration in Brazil has come a long way since the passing of the Brazilian Arbitration Act in 1996 (the “BAA”). The BAA has its origins in the UNCITRAL Model Law and even though it preceded Brazil’s ratification of the New York Convention by six years, the BAA is consistent with the New York Convention, at…

Bosnia and Herzegovina, ICC Arbitration, ICC Rules

(Armstrong Teasdale)/ /Leave a comment

There is a saying in Bosnia and Herzegovina: “A tree does not grow from the sky”. In the same vein, an arbitration-friendly legal environment does not come about without much persistence and hard graft. As expert consultants tasked with assisting the Commercial Law Development Programme (CLDP) division of the U.S. Department of Commerce with its…

Evidence, Expropriation, Investment Arbitration, Singapore, Singapore Court of Appeal, VCLT

(Clifford Chance Asia)/ /Leave a comment

On 4 April 2016, the Singapore Court of Appeal heard an appeal from Sanum Investments Limited (“Sanum“) (a Macanese company) against the High Court’s decision holding that an arbitral tribunal hearing Sanum’s claim against Laos for expropriation under the China-Laos bilateral investment treaty (the “BIT“) had no jurisdiction. The issue of the tribunal’s jurisdiction turns…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitral seat, Arbitration Agreements, DIFC, Dubai

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a ruling of earlier this month (see CFI 017/2015 – Emirates NBD Bank PJSC v. Infospan Gulf Inc., ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 3rd April 2016) H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, sitting in the DIFC Court of First Instance, found…