DIFC, Dispute Resolution, Dispute resolution clause, New York Convention, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, UAE

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

The DIFC Courts Practice Direction No. 2 of 2015 on the Referral of Judgment Payment Disputes to Arbitration (available online on the official website of the DIFC Courts at https://difccourts.ae/difc-courts-practice-direction-no-2-2015-referral-judgment-payment-disputes-arbitration/) was finally adopted on 16 February 2015 and is now in full force. For conceptual accuracy, the more appealing title of “Practice Direction on the…

Derivate Contracts, Hong Kong

(Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre )/ /1 Comment
HK45

In recent years, international arbitration has increasingly been recognised as the preferred dispute resolution mechanism for cross-border derivative transactions, particularly those involving parties from emerging markets. The key reasons for this popularity include the growing diversity of counterparties and jurisdictions involved in derivatives trading, worldwide enforceability of arbitral awards against assets located in over 150…

Ad hoc arbitration, Transparency, Transparency in investment arbitrations, Treaty, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency, UNCITRAL Transparency Rules

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

On 17 March 2015, the UN Convention on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor-State Arbitration was opened for signature. So far, nine countries have signed the treaty (among them, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States). The Convention will enter into force six months after the first three instruments of ratification have been deposited…

Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investor, Mediation

(Washington and Lee University School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The University of Virginia’s Spring 2014 symposium focused on the topic of international development. One panel focused on the role of international politics in the context of international dispute settlement. With the mandate to examine elements related to both politics and development, I was asked to explore outcomes in investment treaty arbitration (ITA) as a…

Arbitration Act, England, English Law, Set aside an arbitral award

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

An often cited advantage of arbitration, as opposed to litigation, is the finality of the process. The grounds for time-consuming and costly challenges and appeals are limited. Under the English 1996 Arbitration Act (the “Act”), parties can only challenge or appeal an arbitration award on three grounds: (i) a challenge on the grounds that the…

IBA Guidelines on Party Representation, LCIA Arbitration, LCIA Guidelines for Parties' Legal Representatives

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

and Queen Mary University of London This article is published as a result of the cooperation agreement between Kluwer Arbitration Blog and 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 law firm. Issues relating to…

BIT, Investment Arbitration, Treaty Interpretation

/ /1 Comment

International investment law is shaped by key terms such as “investment”, “indirect expropriation”, “national treatment”, “most favored nation”, “fair and equitable treatment”, among others, which are at the heart of most investment treaties. But after 1959, when West Germany and Pakistan signed what is known as the first ever bilateral investment treaty, and, since then,…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Bulgaria

(Eversheds Sutherland, Bulgaria)/ /Leave a comment

In November 2014, a new arbitration center was established in Bulgaria – the KRIB Court of Arbitration (KRIB – Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria). The establishment of this institution was awaited by the Bulgarian business. The establishment of a new arbitral institution in Bulgaria is an important step, since arbitration is a widely…

Appeal, Arbitration Agreements, Sweden

(Kadelburger Law)/ /Leave a comment

In the Swedish case Profura v. Blomgren (T 2863-07, Court of Appeals for Western Sweden), from 19 March 2008 known as Profura v. Stig Blomgren, an appeal was brought against award according to which the arbitral tribunal had rejected its jurisdiction.1)Case also commented in Hobér, Kaj, International Commercial Arbitration in Sweden, 2011, p. 110. The…

Arbitration Awards, Awards, China, HKIAC, Public Policy

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

The terms ‘variable interest entity’ (‘VIE’), ‘valuation adjustment mechanism’ (‘VAM’) and ‘public (social) interest of China’ (otherwise, Chinese ‘public policy’) each entail complex legal issues.  They have in the past caused heated debate in China as to their legality (in the cases of VIE and VAM) and their boundaries in the context of enforcement of…

Anti-arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Asia-Pacific, BIT, Consent, Courts, ILC Articles on State Responsibility, India, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, UNCITRAL, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules

(Willkie Farr & Gallagher) and (Aarna Law)/ /Leave a comment

On 29 September 2014, the Calcutta High Court in Board of Trustees of the Port of Kolkata v. Louis Dreyfus Armaturs SAS & Ors delivered the first decision by an Indian Court on a case directly arising from an investment treaty arbitration. The case concerns an anti-arbitration injunction sought against Louis Dreyfus Armateurs SAS (“LDA”),…

Uncategorized

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /8 Comments
WilmerHale

We are pleased to announce the publication of a Model Bilateral Arbitration Treaty for comment by interested governmental, commercial and other parties. Comments can be sent to whbilateral_arbitration_treaty@wilmerhale.com or posted for public review by commenting below. The Model Bilateral Arbitration Treaty (“BAT”) provides a default arbitration mechanism for the resolution of defined international commercial disputes….

Uncategorized

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

and Mona Wright The School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and White & Case LLP are partnering once again to carry out cutting-edge empirical research in the field of international arbitration. Titled “Improvements and Innovations in International Arbitration”, the 2015 International Arbitration Survey seeks to explore “whether and how international…

Energy Charter Treaty, Expropriation, Foreign Investment Law, Investment Arbitration

(Staff Attorney at Congress of the Federated States of Micronesia)/ /2 Comments

The Mongolian government has recently been required to pay one Canadian mining company approximately $100 million for expropriating that company’s uranium extraction licences in 2009. This sum is payable to Khan Resources Inc (Khan) pursuant to an arbitral award that is the climax of an arbitration proceeding initiated by Khan in 2011 as a result…

Arbitrators, Unrepresented Parties

(Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP)/ /3 Comments

and Alexandra Mitretodis, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP In 0927613 BC Ltd v 0941187 BC Ltd, 2014 BCJ No 2659, decided on August 21, 2014, the British Columbia Supreme Court stated that in the domestic context, an arbitrator must comply with the rules of natural justice and consider what assistance can be useful to provide unrepresented…

European Law, European Union, Investment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection

(White & Case LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The Higher Regional Court Frankfurt (OLG Frankfurt) has recently strengthened the efficiency of parties’ wills embodied in arbitration agreements. In a crucial decision (OLG Frankfurt am Main, 26 Sch 3/13, Ruling, 18 December 2014), the judges have added clarity to the practical problem of how to resolve friction between an increasingly dense net of treaty…

Emergency Arbitrator, ICC Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, SCC Rules

(Arbitration Chambers)/ /Leave a comment

Last week, two decisions by emergency arbitrators were made public which had been rendered in separate cases based on investment treaties. Both cases were arbitrated pursuant to the SCC Rules and initiated in 2014 and 2015 respectively; together they likely constitute the first known examples of emergency arbitrators in non-contractual disputes. This blog post will…

Awards, Expedited arbitration, Singapore, Singapore International Arbitration Centre

, (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /Leave a comment
WilmerHale

The availability of expedited procedures providing for fast-track arbitration is by now commonplace under many modern institutional rules; however, the effectiveness of these mechanisms lies ultimately in enforcement and set-aside proceedings before national courts. In AQZ v ARA,1)(2015) SGHC 49. the Singapore High Court recently had to consider, for the first time, a challenge to…

Enforcement, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal

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

It is well known that the Singapore Court of Appeal refused enforcement of Awards in favour of Astro in 2013 (discussed here), on the grounds that the tribunal lacked jurisdiction over the claimants. The same Awards have now been enforced against First Media, a Lippo company, in Hong Kong (Astro Nusantara International B.V. v PT…

China, Foreign Investment Law, Uncategorized

(Zhong Lun Law Firm)/ /1 Comment

The 2014 case of Application for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards between Beijing Chaolaixinsheng Sports and Leisure Co Ltd and Beijing Suowangzhixin Investment Consulting Co Ltd. The Beijing Chaolaixinsheng case is the first occasion on which China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has confirmed that arbitral awards are unenforceable in China where purely domestic…

Webinar

(Kluwer Law International)/ /Leave a comment

The publishers of this blog cordially invite you to their brief webinar for practitioners and academics in the field of arbitration and mediation on Tuesday 10th March (4pm Central European time/3pm UK time/10am Eastern Standard Time). During this brief webinar, Professor Klaus Peter Berger, author of the third edition of Private Dispute Resolution in International…

Courts, Ecuador, Final Award, judicial remedies

(Pérez Bustamante & Ponce)/ /Leave a comment

Could protectionism turn into interventionism? There is a fine borderline between helpful assistance of the courts and abuse of the available judicial remedies within arbitration. If crossed, the entire purpose of opting for such an institution is undermined and its essentialness is jeopardised. The title of this post refers to an uncommon practice that has…

Arbitration clause, Dubai, Enforcement of an arbitration clause, Middle East, UAE, Unilateral Clauses

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

Dispute resolution provisions in banking and finance transaction documents in the UAE sometimes include a unilateral option provision which, where a dispute arises, purports to reserve to the contracting bank, investment fund or lender, the right to choose arbitration or litigation, or sometimes litigation in a different forum to the local courts. The rationale for…

Class arbitration, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, Investment Arbitration

(Association for International Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

Mass claims proceedings have become increasingly important in the current dispute resolution scenario prevailing in the world. In international law, the role mass claims proceedings play is beyond dispute. Tribunals such as the Iran-US Claims Tribunal & United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) have certainly highlighted the importance which has been played by mass claims tribunals….