Annulment, Antitrust arbitration, Award Scrutiny, CJEU, Competition Law, Enforcement, Europe, European Law, European Union, Gas Supply Agreements, ICC Rules, New York Convention, Ordre Public, Review on the merits

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

A ruling of the Austrian Supreme Court, the Oberste Gerichtshof in Vienna, Austria, of earlier this year (see ruling of 18 February 2015, 2 Ob 22/14w) raises anew the much debated question of the type and intensity of supervisory court review of European Union (EU) competition law awards. Readers may recall that EU competition law…

Arbitration, BIT, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, ISDS

(WongPartnership LLP)/ /1 Comment
YSIAC

“ISDS” (short for “investor-state dispute settlement”) was a less-known acronym some years back. Now, it has been given an increasingly bad name, no doubt fuelled by Vattenfall’s claim against Germany following the shutting down of its nuclear plants after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, tobacco giant Philip Morris’ high profile claims arising from Australia’s plain-labelling laws,…

Arbitration Act, India

(Arista Chambers)/ /2 Comments

The recently promulgated Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance 2015 (the “Ordinance”) marks a significant change in the arbitration landscape of India. Most significantly, the Ordinance (a statutory enactment in exercise of an extraordinary power granted to the President to act when the parliament is not in session) seeks to restrain judicial intervention in arbitration and…

Admissibility, Arbitration Proceedings, Germany, Seat of the arbitration

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /1 Comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

Drafted by HSF Partner, Mathias Wittinghofer, and Associates, Tilmann Hertel and Nils Kupka, from HSF’s Frankfurt office In 1999 Germany adopted the UNCITRAL Model law on International Commercial Arbitration (“ML”), but with a material addition: German law stipulates that prior to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal an application can be made to a German…

Mediation, Uncategorized

(MDisputes)/ /12 Comments

The New York Times has just published a three-part series of investigative articles about arbitration practice in the United States, casting it as machine of repeat-players used by large companies to deprive ordinary citizens of access to justice. It is a pity the writers did not look deeper under the hood of that machine. Had…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Commercial Arbitration, Enforcement, Poland, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award

(Kancelaria Adwokacka Adwokat Marcin Orecki)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction On 1 January 2016, the Act on Promoting Amicable Dispute Resolution Methods (dated 10 September 2015, published on 13 October 2015, Official Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland, item 1595), available in Polish here (“Amendment”), which was a subject of my previous post, will come into force. The Amendment is the first…

Uncategorized

(White & Case LLP) and (White & Case)/ /Leave a comment

The results of the 2015 Queen Mary and White & Case International Arbitration Survey were launched on 6 October 2015. Titled “Improvements and Innovations in International Arbitration”, the survey seeks to explore how recent efforts to improve international arbitration are faring, and the arbitration community’s assessment of other innovations to the arbitral process. Views were…

Arbitration, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct, Counsel conduct, ICC Arbitration, Uncategorized

(MDisputes)/ /4 Comments

Fellow Kluwer arbitration blogger, Duarte Henriques, recently started a Facebook page dedicated to discussing topical issues in international arbitration. The page regularly features “memes” all aspects of the practice. Below are a few. When international arbitration meets social media, no one is spared. – – – – – – – – – – – –…

Arbitration, Russia

(Karimullin Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

The Russian company law is contained in three main sources: in Chapter 4 of the Russian Civil Code, and two special laws – on joint-stock companies (AOs) of 25.12.1995 and on limited liability companies (OOOs) of 08.02.1998 – both based on the Civil Code. The prevailing part of the company law contained in the Civil…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Award Scrutiny, Bulgaria

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

One of the main and well known advantages of arbitration is the speed of the proceedings. In order to enhance their timeliness and efficiency, the Rules of some arbitral institutions (e.g. Art. 33 of the ICC Rules) provide for the so called “scrutiny of the award” – a procedure of formal examination of the draft…

Applicable Law, Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrability, Arbitration, Interim measures

(University of Aberdeen)/ /Leave a comment

The Report of the International Finance Corporation [IFC] “Investing Across Borders” for the year 2010 outlined that a stable, predictable arbitration regime, as a part of broader framework for the rule of law, is one of the factors that drive foreign investment and it should be country’s top priority. Despite the fact that reforming an…

Arbitration, Armenia

(Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes )/ /1 Comment
Three Crowns LLP

On July 18, 2014 the Cassation Court – the highest court in Armenia, in the case EKD/1910/02/13 delivered a decision (“Decision”) which paralyzed the whole arbitration system in the country. In the mentioned case the Cassation Court (“Court”) needed to answer a question whether an arbitral tribunal was entitled to decide the matter of invalidity…

Arbitration, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Ex Aequo Et Bono

(Martens Rechtsanwälte)/ /1 Comment

„The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority […]. They contradict their parents […] and tyrannize their teachers.“ This complaint sounds familiar, but the quote is actually attributed to Socrates. As every generation after him seems to have had the same sensation, children’s behaviour must have constantly deteriorated over the last…

Amparo, Arbitration, Mexico

(Haynes and Boone LLP )/ /Leave a comment

The New Amparo Law in Mexico introduced a revised concept of “responsible authority”, under which arbitrators might be considered as authorities for amparo claim purposes. Such new concept poses some interrogations: Does it threatens arbitration in Mexico? Would arbitration withstand the pounding? Would the parties’ agreement to arbitrate be enforced? Would the courts stand up…

ADR, Arbitration, WIPO Arbitration Rules

(AZHA Avocats)/ /Leave a comment

In 2012, Russian art collector Dmitry Rybolovlev acquired a painting made by Amedeo Modigliani, an Italian artist whose work from the early 20th century is regularly sold for record prices, from art dealer Yves Bouvier for an amount of no less than US $ 118 million. Two years later, Rybolovlev learned by chance that Bouvier…

Hong Kong, Third party funding, Uncategorized

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

On 19 October 2015, the Hong Kong Law Reform Commission published a Consultation Paper recommending that third party funding should be permitted for arbitrations in Hong Kong. The Paper invites public comment on the recommendation, and how third party funding should be adopted in Hong Kong. A link to the paper can be found here….

Arbitration institution, Emergency Arbitrator, North America, United States

(Young International Arbitration Practitioners of New York) and (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

In September 2015, the Young International Arbitration Practitioners of New York (YIAP-NY) was officially launched. Initiated by the International Arbitration Group at Herbert Smith Freehills New York LLP, YIAP-NY’s membership is comprised of young lawyers from more than 14 law firms in the city, as well as young practitioners from arbitral institutions such as the…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Asia, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Enforcement, HKIAC Rules, International arbitration, Russia

(Harbour Litigation Funding Limited)/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with William Kenny, Intern at HKIAC A View from Inside A foreword by Victor Dumler, Dumler and Partners Law Offices, St Petersburg. Over the last two decades, Russia-related disputes have become a considerable part of “Russia’s export” into Western Europe. Yet, after more than a year living under the sanctions regime, the situation is…

Arbitrability, Arbitration, Commercial Arbitration, Corporate disputes, Investment Arbitration, Russia, Uncategorized

(Karimullin Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

Under sec 1 of the RF Law on International Commercial Arbitration 5338-1 of 07.07.1993, disputes arising from civil, including corporate, relationships may be referred to international commercial arbitration, unless otherwise provided by law. However, there is no such restriction provided. In some cases, such as Novolipetsk Still Mill (NLMK) v. Nikolay Maksimov (Decrees of the…

Arbitration, Greece, ICSID Arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(School of Law, University of Westminster)/ /Leave a comment

While everyone has been watching with fascination the ups and downs of the Greek crisis, colleagues have been busy in the background trying to unravel some core components of the Greek Bailouts. The PSI deal, which is largely responsible for passing the burden of any potential Greek default from private hands onto public coffers, has…

Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership

(Italian Association for Arbitration (AIA))/ /Leave a comment

Co-authored with Maria Laura Marceddu, Italian Association for Arbitration (AIA) The Public Consultations launched by the European Commission in March 2014, and the European Parliament’s recommendations to the Commission on the negotiations for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership [TTIP], in July 2015, have revealed a widespread criticism against the traditional investment arbitration system. Mighty…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrator's Fees, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, Sweden

(Climate Change Counsel)/ /Leave a comment

The Swedish Arbitration Act [“Act”] is currently under review. In 2014, 15 years after the Act first entered into force, a committee was given the task of assessing how well it has worked in practice and how it measures up internationally. According to the committee’s terms of reference, the primary motivation behind the review is…

China, CIETAC, SHIAC

(Ghent University)/ /Leave a comment

China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and China Maritime Arbitration Commission (CMAC) are the best-known international arbitration institutions in China that deal with the resolution of international commercial disputes. There are, however, other arbitral institutions in China that are also empowered to resolve international commercial disputes, by virtue of the Notice of the…

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 32 (2015) Issue 5 contains: ARTICLES SECTION Seung CHONG & C.L. LIM, The Convergence of China’s Foreign and Domestic Investment Regimes and China’s Investment Treaty Commitments Abstract: The Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has issued a…