The Odyssey is one of the most famous epic poems of the classic era. Attributed to Homer, it describes the journey of Odysseus from Troy to Ithaca, his homeland. It took the hero about ten years to complete his journey. This history is full of unexpected events, sudden changes and new obstacles that Odysseus must…
On 15 July 2015, the Supreme People’s Court (the “SPC”) of the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) issued its long-awaited notice addressing issues relating to the validity of arbitration agreements and the enforceability of arbitral awards involving China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) and its former South China and Shanghai sub-commissions. The…
In a recent ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance (CFI 043/2014 – DNB Bank ASA v. (1) Gulf Eyadah Corporation (2) Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC, ruling of the DIFC Court of First Instance of 2nd July 2015), H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, drew…
The phenomenon of “price review” and “price reopener” disputes – whereby a party seeks to adjust the pricing basis under an existing long term gas sales contract – has for a number of years been the subject of lively discussion in energy and arbitration circles. As participants at the GAR Live Energy Disputes event (held…
On of the most important developments this year in Latin America is the Chilean Act N°20.848, which sets forth a new framework for foreign investment in Chile (hereinafter, the “ New Foreign Investment Act” or the “Act”), replacing the regime contained in the Decree Law N°600 of 1974 (hereinafter, the “DL 600”). According to the…
Summary In the three years since the 2012 declaration of independence by CIETAC’s former Shanghai and Shenzhen sub-commissions, affected parties have faced an uncertain and unpredictable arbitration process in Mainland China. In a recent judicial interpretation (the Reply), however, the PRC Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has clarified the jurisdictional uncertainties caused by the split. Background…
At the CIARB’s London centenary conference earlier this month, the Honourable Chief Justice of Singapore, Sundaresh Menon, cautioned that: “we should remain mindful that there is no place for complacency or reason to assume that [the] international system of dispute resolution which so many have invested so much in, will continue on its recent trajectory…
On 5 November 2014, the French Cour de Cassation, overruled a decision of the Paris Court of Appeal for having reversed the burden of proof in a case involving a non-participating party. With this victory before the French Supreme Court, Yukos Capital (“Yukos”) is one step closer to the enforcement of an arbitral award against…
On 21 May 2015, the CJEU rendered a landmark decision regarding questions of jurisdiction under the Brussels I Regulation (recast as Regulation 1215/2012, previously Regulation 44/2001) in the case of cartel damage proceedings. We may be grappling with this decision for a long time albeit it does not explicitly address arbitration. The CJEU’s judgment brings…
On July 22, 2015, the transcripts and the audio recordings of the conversations between Dr. Jernej Sekolec, one of the arbitrators in the arbitration regarding the territorial and maritime dispute between the Republic of Croatia (“Croatia”) and the Republic of Slovenia (“Slovenia”), and Ms. Simona Drenik, one of the Slovenian representatives in the proceedings, became…
The Indian Government (‘Government’) plans to revamp the country’s arbitration landscape and is considering amendments to its arbitration legislation. If the Government is keen on transforming India into a global arbitration hub, it could draw from the experience of Hong Kong, which is a successful model for arbitration in the Asia-Pacific region. Since the gazettal…
On June 8, 2015, Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv (“Pecherskyi Court”) upheld an application lodged by JKX Oil & Gas plc, Poltava Gas B.V. and JV Poltava Petroleum Company (“JKX Companies”) to enforce an emergency arbitrator award rendered under the Arbitration Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“SCC Rules”) against…
By an order of late last year (ARB 002/2014 – A v. B, Order of Justice Sir David Steel of 16 December 2014), Justice Sir David Steel dismissed an application by an award debtor seeking a number of orders to avoid the recognition and enforcement of an award rendered by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre…
Introduction The question of arbitrability of corporate and public procurement disputes is a topic constantly evolving due to new cutting-edge precedents. Ukraine does not constitute an exception, and continues to develop its jurisprudence. Despite being far from corporate in its nature, the recent dispute between reputable Austrian company (VAMED Engineering GmbH & CO KG) and…
On the 24th of June, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (‘UNCTAD’) launched its 2015 World Investment Report. The Report, titled “Reforming International Investment Governance”, is the 25th in the yearly series from the UN body. As for previous years, the 2015 Report provides a statistical summary of the prior year’s foreign direct…
By Order of 5 January 2014 (see Case ARB 001/2014 – (1) X1 (2) X2 v. (1) Y, Order of the Dubai Court of First Instance), H.E. Justice Ali Al Madhani, one of the UAE-national resident judges of the DIFC Courts, dismissed an application by an award debtor for an order referring a purported conflict…
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and should not be regarded as representative of, or binding upon ArbitralWomen. On 2 June 2015, the French Minister of Foreign Trade, Matthias Fekl, submitted to the European Commission a proposal regarding the Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism included in the project for…
and Rômulo Greff Mariani, Souto Correa Cesa Lummertz & Amaral Advogados The enforceability of arbitration clauses in the bylaws of companies set up under Brazilian law has long been a source of controversy. The topic is now in the spotlight with the notorious In Re Petrobras Securities Litigation, a class action filed before the US…
Given the existence of thousands of international investment agreements, the international investment law regime has been described as “complex and confusing,” “highly fragmented,” and “characterised by overlaps and incoherence”. Two key developments, however, are contributing to the harmonization of that regime. First, a set of major agreements is being negotiated by many of the world’s…
Attentive readers of this Blog will remember that the Court of Appeal of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) adopted a ruling in the latter half of last year confirming its status as a “host” or “intermediate” – or, in the Court’s own words, “conduit” – jurisdiction for the enforcement of domestic arbitration awards rendered…
In the past two years, Canada has signed BITs with nine African states: Benin (January 2013), United Republic of Tanzania (May 2013), Cameroon (March 2014), Nigeria (May 2014), Senegal (November 2014), Mali (November 2014), Cote d’Ivoire (November 2014), Burkina Faso (April 2015) and most recently Guinea (May 2015). The first eight of these treaties (the…
and Paul Tan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Short answer: Yes for some actions, but not all. Here is why. The Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”) was launched in January 2015 and provides litigants with the benefits of court proceedings and international arbitration without the constraints and setbacks of either option. Thus far, murmurs of…
Regular readers of this Blog will be aware of the DIFC Court’s adoption of Practice Direction No. 2 of 2015 on the Referral of Payment Judgment Disputes to Arbitration (“PD 2 of 2015”) earlier this year (for contemporaneous reporting see my previous blog). As the title of the Direction suggests, it essentially allows judgment creditors…
International arbitration has been widely recognized as an efficient process for resolving State-to-State disputes. Factors such as procedural flexibility and party autonomy, which contribute to general appeal of international arbitration, play out to render arbitration as the preferable option for settlement of complex disputes between States. More importantly, however, the success and broader acceptance of…
