The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered a fund management committee (‘SBC’) to arbitrate its dispute with Navistar International (‘Navistar’) – at Navistar’s request – despite the fact that Navistar refused SBC’s own request for arbitration, ignored SBC’s formal notice of arbitration, and then litigated SBC’s claim in court for over a year (Art…

On 25 March 2015 the Court of Cassation of France handed down a new decision dealing with the so called “unilateral”, “optional”, “hybrid”, and “asymmetrical” jurisdiction clauses giving choice to one contractual party where to bring action against the other. Earlier in 2012, the same court issued the much discussed Rothschild decision which stated that…

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 law firm. In previous posts, contributors have addressed the lack of gender diversity in arbitration. One post discussed the low percentage of women arbitrators in commercial and investment…

Over the past few years, the business community has discovered a new form of investment: this new type of capital formation is broadly known as investment in cryptocurrencies. The capital interest in these investments involves large financial institutions such as investment banks, rating services, assets management and consultancy agencies. According to the CoinDesk, the short…

In April 1976, an event now known as the Pound Conference ignited modern ADR in the USA, launching discussion of what may have become the “greatest reform in the history of the country’s judicial system”.1 Forty years later, all stakeholders in the dispute prevention and resolution fields around the world are being invited to participate…

On 13 May 2015, the CJEU handed down judgment in Gazprom (C-536/13). As readers will recall, the case concerns whether an EU court must refuse to give effect to an anti-suit award granted by an EU seated arbitral tribunal on the basis that such a measure is incompatible with EU Regulation 44/2001 (the “Brussels I…

The UAE law on arbitration is contained in a dozen provisions in the UAE Civil Procedures Law. Whilst the law is not long, the provisions can often be overlooked by tribunal’s and counsel. Unfortunately the local courts usually take a strict view as to compliance, as illustrated in a recent decision by the Dubai Court…

1. I have written elsewhere about the extension of the arbitration clause to non-signatories in situations that have been identified as the doctrines of the “group of companies” and the assumption of debts.1)”The extension of arbitration agreements: a ‘glimpse’ of connectivity?” 32(1) ASA Bull. 18 (2014). In that particular case, the circumstances of the facts…

The so-called Jnah v. Marriott saga belongs to the category of cases that are seemingly never-ending. It is telling that the contracts which gave rise to the various disputes between the Lebanese company Jnah Development SAL (“Jnah”) and the US company Marriott International Hotels Inc. (“Marriott”) were concluded in 1994. On 18 March 2015, the…

On the ground that arbitration is a consensual and neutral means of dispute resolution, it has been suggested that arbitrators ought to be wholly and exclusively at the service of the parties and that they are not entrusted with a mission to defend public interests. There may be reasons to call this view into question….

The recent Court of Appeal of England and Wales (“the Court”) judgment in the case of The London Steamship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd v The Kingdom of Spain and The French State [2015] EWCA Civ 333 (“the Judgment”) will make interesting reading for those concerned with the subject of arbitration. The judgment rendered covers…

After the fall of communism, Hungary embraced modern arbitration law. Act LXXI of 1994 (“the Arbitration Law”) created a comprehensive legal regime for both domestic and international arbitration, based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. State courts generally exercised a liberal approach in connection with arbitral proceedings and awards. However, some recent developments in Hungarian law…

Co-Authored with Karyna Loban (Sysouev, Bondar, Khrapoutski) On 23 December 2014, the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus adopted Resolution No 18 “On the Application of Legislation on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments and Foreign Arbitral Awards” (“Resolution No 18”). By adopting Resolution No 18, the Resolution No 10…

As a fitting tribute to the vision of the first dedicated arbitration education institution, the School of International Arbitration (SIA) marked its 30th anniversary with a two day conference looking back and looking forwards. Entitled “The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration: The Next 30 years”, it brought together over 200 graduates, academics and practitioners…

and Brenda Horrigan and Rebecca Soquier, Herbert Smith Freehills LLP, Shanghai The sanctions arising out of the Ukrainian crisis have led commercial entities to consider their options for resolving current or potential disputes. In this post, we consider the impact of the sanctions against Russia on the future of dispute resolution for Russian entities and…

Introduction The Government of India recently released the Draft Indian Model BIT (“Draft BIT”) for public consultation. India has an extensive BIT network with over 72 BITs in force. In 2012, following the investment treaty award against India in White Industries award, the Government initiated a comprehensive effort to revise the Model Indian BIT (“Old…

In connection with the upcoming 2015 ITA Workshop in Dallas on June 17-19, we are now conducting a survey on the experiences of arbitration practitioners with enforceability of arbitral awards. We write to invite your participation. As you may recall, last year we launched the 2014 ITA Survey on the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, and…

The nation states of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have long been active participants in the world of international investment protection and arbitration. Pakistan was a signatory to one of the first ever Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)1)BIT between Pakistan and Germany dated 25 November 1959. and of the estimated 2,750 BITs that exist today,…

In Mobil Cerro Negro, Ltd., et al v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, a New York federal district court rejected Venezuela’s sovereign immunity challenge and upheld use of an ex parte procedure available under New York law to convert an ICSID award into a U.S. court judgment. The decision highlights the delocalized nature of ICSID awards…

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 law firm. This year, Wendy Miles delivered the keynote speech at the YAF/YAPP Annual Conference on the second day of the Vis Moot. Attuned to the audience, the…

 ‘By putting its head in the sand, the ostrich can see no problems, and if it can’t see any problems, they don’t exist”[1] To what extent can legal systems differ? Can these differences be legitimate enough to collapse a “conflictive” legal system? These two ambitious questions are difficult to be answered in one go, and…

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is pleased to host a launch for a new book by Despina Mavromati & Matthieu Reeb, “The Code of the Court of Arbitration for Sport: Commentary, Cases and Materials”. The book comprehensively analyses the rules of the CAS Code within the more general context of international arbitration. Each…

In recent years, the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market has shown steady signs of recovery from the effects of the Global Financial Crisis. According to a survey of over 735 M&A professionals recently conducted by KPMG, 82% of survey participants said they were planning acquisitions in 2015.  Respondents cited large cash reserves, opportunities in emerging…