Ecuador, Latin America

, , (Tadir Dispute Resolution)/ /Leave a comment

The Constitutional Court of Ecuador (“Court”) has recently analyzed the constitutionality of two International Agreements. On 28 July 2023, the Court declared unconstitutional the provision contained in chapter 15.20 of the Trade Association Agreement between Ecuador and Costa Rica (Decision No. 2-23-TI/23), among other reasons, because it incorporated an state-private party (investor) dispute resolution clause…

DIS, Germany, Sanctions, War

(Busse Disputes, Germany)/ /Leave a comment

One of Germany’s most prestigious arbitration-related events, the “Petersberg Arbitration Days” (Petersberger Schiedstage) was held for the twentieth time on 23 and 24 February 2024. The organizers of the annual conference, the Beck Academy and the German Arbitration Institute (DIS) focused this year’s event on a difficult but contemporaneous topic: how international crises create additional…

Group of Companies Doctrine, India

and (Nishith Desai Associates)/ /Leave a comment

The Indian Supreme Court in Cox & Kings Ltd. v. Sap India Pvt. Ltd. & Anr has ruled that non-signatories to an arbitration agreement can be considered parties to an arbitration under the ‘Group of Companies’ doctrine in India. The judgment has laid down the contours of this doctrine in the Indian context, and we…

Abu Dhabi, BCDR, DIAC, HKIAC Rules, ICC Rules, LCIA, MENA, QICCA, SCCA, SIAC

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

In February 2024, a new arbitration centre was inaugurated in Abu Dhabi.  The Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre, known as arbitrateAD (“Centre”) launched as an independent and neutral forum for dispute resolution.  Aligning with established domestic, regional, and global best practices, the Centre aims to position Abu Dhabi as a pivotal hub for international arbitration….

Abu Dhabi, ADGM, CRCICA, Libya, MENA, SCCA, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Al Tamimi & Company)/ /Leave a comment

In the beginning of 2023, a diplomat told the Economist that the Middle East was tired of conflict and that de-escalation and diplomacy would be the orders of the day. While this did not hold true on the political side, it did hold true for the arbitration world. The MENA region witnessed the coming together…

MENA, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

Recent amendments to Federal Law No. 6 on 2018 on Arbitration, the UAE Federal Arbitration Law (“FAL”), introduced by Federal Decree Law No. 15 of 2023 (Amending Certain Provisions of Federal Law No. 6 of 2018 on Arbitration) (“Amendment Law”), give rise to concerns that in an endeavour to improve certain provisions of the FAL,…

Climate change, Dispute Resolution, Small States

(Institute of Small and Micro States)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

In light of COP 28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai last year, the Prime Minister of Samoa and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Honourable Fiamē Naomi Mataʻafa, observed: “Our islands are being pushed to the brink by the climate crisis and we need a strong plan of action for survival,…

Investor-State arbitration, Law of the Sea

(University of Padua)/ /Leave a comment

On the 22nd of December 2023, an ICSID tribunal rendered its award in the case of Peteris Pildegovics and Sia North Star v. Kingdom of Norway. The case is of particular interest insofar as it focuses on the interaction among different branches of international law, namely investment law and the law of the sea. This…

Asia-Pacific, Intellectual Property, ISDS Reform

(Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy)/ /Leave a comment

The Regional Arbitral Institutes Forum (RAIF) held the 2023 edition of its annual conference on 10 November 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand. RAIF consists of nine professional arbitration institutes across the Asia-Pacific region. It serves as both a platform to share knowledge and best practices, and an avenue for collaboration among members and delegates from the…

Arbitration, Asia, China, Enforcement, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Singapore, Third party funding, UK, Vietnam

(European Chinese Arbitrators Association & Fieldfisher)/ /Leave a comment

On 29 November 2023, speakers from various jurisdictions met at a conference at Heuking in Düsseldorf, organised by the European Chinese Arbitrators Association (ECAA) and the Asian European Arbitration Centre (ASEAC), to discuss whether we are currently experiencing “A New Dawn of Arbitration in Asia”. Professor Sundra Rajoo, Director of the Asian International Arbitration Centre,…

England, English courts, Estoppel, Russia, State Immunity

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On 1 November 2023, the English High Court (“EWHC”) delivered its decision in Hulley Enterprises Limited v. Russian Federation. The EWHC dismissed the jurisdictional challenge raised by the Russian Federation (“RF”), which contested the enforcement of arbitral awards in favour of the former majority shareholders of OAO Yukos Oil Company (“Yukos”). Despite the RF asserting…

CAS arbitration, Court of Arbitration for Sport, EU Competition Law, EU Law, European Court of Justice, Sport arbitration

(University of Zurich)/ /Leave a comment

The review mechanism of sports arbitration in Switzerland is under scrutiny. After previous criticism from a human rights perspective, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), in its recent International Skating Union (“ISU”) decision, found that the standard of review applied by the Swiss Federal Court (“SFC”) to mandatory arbitration awards by the…

Domestic law, International Commercial Arbitration, Israel

(Goldfarb Gross Seligman & Co)/ /Leave a comment

On 12 February 2024, Israel achieved a significant milestone in the promotion of international commercial arbitration with the enactment of the International Commercial Arbitration Law, 2024 (the “ICA Law”). The ICA Law, which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration 1985, with amendments as adopted in 2006 (the “Model Law”), is…

Arbitration clause, Arbitration institution, China, Chinese Arbitration Law, Contract Interpretation, Hong Kong, Singapore

(Family Dispute Resolution Centre (Te Pokapū Whakatau Tautohe ā Whānau))/ /Leave a comment

In January 2023, the Hong Kong Court of First Instance in Grand Ocean & Williams Co Limited v. Huaxicun Offshore Engineering Co Ltd (江苏华西村海洋工程服务有限公司) [2023] HKCFI 86 (“Grand Ocean”) held that an arbitration clause, governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”), was void and incapable of being performed on the basis…

ALARB, Bolivia, Interest rates, Latin America, Witness

(Lalive) and (Lalive )/ /Leave a comment

On 8 September 2023, a tribunal comprising Prof. Ricardo Ramírez Hernández (President), Prof. John Gotanda and Prof. Philippe Sands issued its award in Glencore Finance (Bermuda) Ltd v. Bolivia (PCA Case No. 2016-39), a bilingual (English and Spanish) UNCITRAL arbitration under the UK-Bolivia bilateral investment treaty (the “Treaty”). A decision on interpretation and correction of…

English Arbitration Act, UK

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

One of the proposed changes to the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”) introduced in the Arbitration Bill is an express power for tribunals to make an award on a summary basis in relation to any issue claim, or defence, if the tribunal considers that the party has no real prospect of succeeding on that…

Arbitration Awards, Bribery, Corruption, Nigeria

, , (Fieldfisher )/ /Leave a comment

On 23 October 2023, the English High Court handed down a landmark decision setting aside a USD 11 billion arbitral award (the final award) obtained by a British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) company, Process and Industrial Developments Limited (“P&ID”), against the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Judge upheld Nigeria’s challenge of the arbitral award on the…

Journal of International Arbitration

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

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Maxim Osadchiy, Calibrating De Novo: Judicial Review of Arbitral Jurisdiction De novo review of arbitral jurisdiction at the post-award stage, that typically involves full, independent assessment of arbitrators’ findings with respect to questions…

Chile, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, ICSID Procedure, ICSID Proceedings, Latin America

(Schellenberg Wittmer)/ /Leave a comment
Asociación Latinoamericana de Arbitraje (ALARB)

In a decision dated 29 December 2023, the Chilean Court of First Instance upheld an earlier decision dated 7 November 2023, which had granted a pre-judicial conservatory measure in support of a potential ICSID arbitration. The ruling prevents the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Chile (hereinafter, “Chile“) from calling performance bonds of approximately…

ICCA Awards Series

(General Editor, ICCA Publications; Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

Six unpublished awards rendered under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce are now available on the KluwerArbitration database, as part of the 2023 volume of the ICCA Awards Series. The arbitrators dealt with a broad range of issues, including the application of the CISG and of the UNIDROIT Principles, principles of contractual interpretation,…

Netherlands, Netherlands Arbitration Institute

, (Fieldfisher)/ /Leave a comment

Today, concurrent with the 75th anniversary of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (“NAI”), the new 2024 NAI Arbitration Rules (the “NAI Rules”) will enter into force and be applicable to NAI arbitrations filed on or after 1 March 2024. The new NAI Rules, which had been last revised in 2015, introduce a number of innovative features…

Cross-examination, England, English courts, English Law, UK, UK Supreme Court

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

The UK Supreme Court (“UKSC”) in Tui UK Ltd v. Griffiths [2023] UKSC 48 recently considered the question whether a party must challenge a witness and expert evidence in cross-examination if it wants to have that evidence discredited or disregarded.  The Supreme Court affirmed the rule in Browne v Dunn that a party must “put”…

Arbitral Award, Enforcement, Pakistan

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The pro-enforcement presumption is now well-established in Pakistan, where the doctrine continues to be regularly tested before the Pakistani courts. This blog post analyzes the latest developments under the 1958 New York Convention (“Convention”), including international precedents, and relevant Pakistani law on the recognition and enforcement of interim, foreign arbitral awards in Pakistan.   The…

KSA, MENA, RIDW, Saudi Arabia, SCCA

, , , (Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (“KSA”) has recently embarked on substantial public investment, both domestically and abroad. Major investments made by the Public Investment Fund, and giga-projects such as Neom, Red Sea Global and Diriyah Gate, clearly demonstrate the KSA’s intention to revolutionise its economy. However, often, with big investment comes the potential for big…