and Alex Wiker, Dickinson School of Law On January 14, the Pilot Project for Arbitrator Intelligence—whose launch was first announced here on the Kluwer Blog—came to an official close. We could not be more pleased with the Pilot results, which we will share with readers below. But first, a bit of background about the methodology…
The split between CIETAC headquarters in Beijing and its two former Shanghai and Shenzhen sub-commissions following the adoption of CIETAC’s 2012 Arbitration Rules has remained in the spotlight. The feud escalated with the assertion of independence by the two sub-commissions and the revocation by headquarters of their authorisation to administer cases. To add to the…
co-authored by Georg von Segesser and Mirina Grosz, Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd. In a recent decision, the Swiss Federal Tribunal rejected an appeal to set aside a final award of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) (Decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal (“DFT”) of 11 June 2014, 4A_178/2014). The appellant, a professional cyclist who faced…
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. In 2010 Australia amended its International Arbitration Act (Cth) 1974 (IAA)…
In the recent case of Pricol v. Johnson Controls (Pricol Limited v. Johnson Controls Enterprises Ltd and Ors, Arbitration Case (Civil) No.30 of 2014), the Supreme Court of India declined to intervene in an international arbitration with the SIAC as appointing authority, upholding the parties’ chosen mechanism in a well-reasoned decision which was marked by…
At the opening of the legal year in Singapore on 5 January 2015, the Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC“) was officially launched. In the words of Chief Justice Menon, the SICC is intended to “build upon and complement the success of [Singapore’s] vibrant arbitration sector and make [Singapore’s] judicial institutions and legal profession available to…
The success of international commercial arbitration as a form of alternative dispute resolution much depends on the extent to which parties may vindicate their rights through the enforcement of any arbitral award. For this reason, to date – consistent with the pro-arbitration approach adopted by courts in many jurisdictions – English commercial court judges have…
In its decision of 17.2.2014, the Austrian Supreme Court decided on a claimant’s request for reimbursement of the portion of the fees advanced to the arbitrator whom it had successfully challenged during ongoing proceedings and on his liability for frustrated costs caused by the challenge and the appointment of a new arbitrator. Further, the claimant…
Singapore’s longstanding reputation as an arbitration friendly jurisdiction was reinforced in 2010 with the legislature’s adoption of the 2006 amendments to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The 2006 UNCITRAL amendments concerned, among other matters, the use of interim awards in international arbitration, and recognised “the need for provisions in the Model Law…
India lost its first Investment Treaty Arbitration (ITA) claim in 2012 against White Industries, an Australian company. Taking a cue from the White Industries case, (read more on it here) around 17 fresh ITAs have been filed against India in last two years. Beleaguered with these claims, a new model BIT is being considered by…
Perhaps on a daily basis, in at least one city somewhere in the Western Hemisphere, an international-arbitration practitioner is asked to describe the benefits of arbitration over litigation in Latin America. The common refrain: “Predictability.” As conventional wisdom goes, this almost automatic response is borne out of the notion that litigating in many Latin American…
Recently, the Indian courts have seen a heartening change with respect to the court adopting a pro-arbitration approach. However, for arbitrations seated in India, the decision of ONGC v Western GECO marks a regressive step in the non-interference trend. The Court assumed power to modify the subject matter of an award for violation of the…
The Singapore International Mediation Centre (“SIMC”) was officially launched on 5 November 2014. Set up following the recommendations of a Working Group chaired by Edwin Glasgow CBE QC and George Lim SC, the SIMC will supplement the array of international dispute resolution options available in Singapore. Of particular note is the establishment of a new…
As counsel, I know the excitement and curiosity when, receiving the other party’s filing, I turn to the Witness Statement volume first: which witnesses have they put forward? How did they explain certain key meetings or documents? Are they bringing Mr. A to testify? Later, of course, I read the statements repeatedly and scribble marginal…
International arbitration must of necessity rely on the courts to uphold and enforce arbitral awards and to support the arbitral process. In words of Professor Jan Paulsson, “the great paradox of arbitration is that it seeks the cooperation of the very public authorities from which it wants to free itself.” (Jan Paulsson, Arbitration in Three…
It is well settled that there is no rule of precedent in investment arbitration and arbitrators are not bound by decisions rendered by previous tribunals. Nevertheless, investment arbitration practice shows that previous decisions are often observed and followed. Disputing parties and arbitrators devote significant attention to previous decisions and on several occasions arbitral tribunals rely…
The US District Court for the District of Vermont, part of the Second Circuit that also embraces New York and Connecticut, recently compelled a Canadian businessman (Mr. Kastner) to arbitrate his patent dispute against a Swedish footwear company’s US subsidiary called Icebug USA (“Icebug”), even though Icebug was not a signatory to the arbitration agreement…
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. Characterized as a topic strongly connected to the dispute resolution arena, time bar provisions appear at the top of the list of priorities with regards to…
The following thoughts are written aware of the fact that a blog is personal and informational and not a substitute for an academic article. In this spirit the thoughts expressed here are, while fundamental in many respects, also preliminary and tentative in some others. The quest for more transparency in international (commercial and investment) arbitration…
The case of Perenco Ecuador Limited v Republic of Ecuador, ICSID Case No. ARB/08/6 (Decision, 12 September 2014), is one of a number of investor-state disputes to arise from the Ecuadoran government’s policies on the so-called “extraordinary income” of oil companies operating in its territory in the mid to late 2000s. Keen followers of international…
On 4 December 2014, the Advocate General (“AG”) of the CJEU handed down an opinion in the Gazprom case (C-536/13) which will surprise. The case concerns the compatibility with EU Regulation 44/2001 (the “Brussels I Regulation”) of an anti-suit award made by an EU seated arbitral tribunal against EU court proceedings elsewhere. In approving this,…
and Paula Gibbs, Chapman Tripp Introduction The spotlight continues to shine on third party funding in international arbitration, following the recent Alemanni decision and unsuccessful disqualification proposal filed against Dr Gavan Griffith QC in the RSM v St Lucia ICSID arbitration (reported on in this blog by Carlos Gonzalez-Bueno and Laura Lozano). A similar spotlight…
On November 17, 2014, the tribunal in Alemanni v. Argentine Republic issued its long-anticipated decision on jurisdiction and admissibility. Alemanni is the third in a series of large-scale arbitrations arising out of Argentina’s default on its sovereign debt, and the most recent decision bears some resemblance to the preliminary awards rendered in the other two…
For many years, the standard of review by French courts of awards rendered in international arbitration proceedings on grounds of violation of international public policy has been controversial. Scholars have debated the relative merits of a “minimalist” as opposed to a “maximalist” approach. In court decisions, the “minimalist” approach prevailed. In the area of competition…
