In August 2011, the tribunal in Abaclat and others v Argentina decided (by a majority) that it had jurisdiction over claims brought by approximately 60,000 Italian investors, and that the claims were admissible.[1] The Italian investors claim that Argentina has breached its obligations under the Argentina-Italy bilateral investment treaty (BIT) when it defaulted on and…
On a recent brief holiday in Valencia, I was able to attend a session of the Tribunal de las Aguas de la Vega de Valencia, the “Water Court” or Tribunal de les Aigües, in Valenciano dialect used by that Court. The Tribunal convenes in public at noon every Thursday at the “Door of the Apostles”…
I first met Piet in 2008 when I started working on the ICCA publications. Visiting his house in Schiedam — having been warned that anything you touch might be a piece of art — I made my way very carefully up the stairs (elbows firmly pressed to my sides) to a study filled with books,…
On 27 September 2012, the Swiss Parliament adopted a motion that had been introduced earlier this year tasking the Government to prepare a report on the Swiss Arbitration Law (chapter 12 of the Federal Act on Private International Law (PILA)). The objective of the report is to further enhance the attractiveness of Switzerland as a…
Sometimes you have to listen to your husband, especially when he is endowed with intuition, and you tend to rely on reason. He said, “Go as soon as it is ready”. Thank goodness, I did. For months Rosabel Goodman-Everard and I had been soliciting and collecting letters from friends of Pieter Sanders which would be…
Thirty years ago, as a young Italian law graduate who had recently moved to The Netherlands, I applied for a job in the arbitration department of the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague. I did not know much about arbitration then, but I did know enough to be impressed by being interviewed by Professor Sanders,…
Friday, 28 September 2012, I sit in my hotel room in London, preparing my presentation for the African International Law Awareness (AILA) training session that afternoon. A message from my assistant at the university of Rotterdam flashes on my laptop: “Pieter Sanders died yesterday—very sad isn’t it?” I am stunned. Two weeks ago I had…
The new international survey on arbitral practices has just been released. Now in its fourth iteration, the survey has come a long way since its inception in 2006 at the School of International Arbitration of Queen Mary, University of London. While the first three surveys purported to measure in-house counsel attitudes about arbitration and the…
Transparency of investment treaty arbitration is back on the radar this week as delegations convene in Vienna for the latest meeting of the UNCITRAL Working Group II on Arbitration and Conciliation. While governments debate the scope and content of new transparency obligations, one issue that has received less attention is a sometimes-seen corollary of greater…
It is with great sadness that we at Kluwer received the news of Pieter Sanders’ death. As the founder and inaugural editor of the ICCA Publications, Piet has been crucial for Kluwer’s arbitration content. We will remember him as an inspiring person with many passions in life. To honor him, the general and managing editors…
In June 2010 the Court of Appeal’s decision in Jivraj v Hashwani caused dismay in the arbitration community. Does an arbitration agreement which provides criteria for the appointment of arbitrators risk falling foul of the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 (the “Regulations”) or other UK anti-discrimination law? The Supreme Court judgment of 27…
So we all know that investment arbitration tribunals have relied on WTO precedent for persuasive authority as to the meaning of various terms in bilateral investment treaties. (Think the emergency exception in the Argentina arbitrations and references to WTO Article XXI). But does the reverse also happen? Do WTO panels or the WTO Appellate Body…
On 6 September 2012, the Indian Supreme Court delivered its much-awaited judgment in Bharat Aluminium Co v. Kaiser Aluminium Technical Services (‘BALCO’). For the reasons discussed in detail below, the 190-page long BALCO decision is likely to go down in the annals of arbitration reports as the watershed decision that heralded a new dawn for…
On 15 April 2012, the Central Magistrate Court revoked ICAC arbitration awards obtained by the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs and declared them unenforceable due to what the court considered to be unjust arbitration procedures under Section 5 of the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. Vioans Ltd. (“Vioans”) is…
The English Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Sulamerica CIA Nacional De Seguros SA v Enesa Engenharia SA [2012] EWCA Civ 638, which is discussed in a recent post by Guy Pendell, underscores an important weakness in the international arbitration system’s legal framework. While everyone accepts that the arbitration agreement is the foundation of an…
During a bitter battle with anti-doping authorities, international cycling champion Lance Armstrong publicly campaigned against the anti-doping arbitration process. Armstrong’s offensive provides insights into widespread misconceptions about arbitration. On 20 August 2012, a U.S. Federal District Court dismissed Armstrong’s petition to enjoin the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA) from further pursuing allegations that he was part…
Last Monday I was honored with the opportunity to serve as one of the speakers for the annual ICC New York Conference. With an overflowing turnout and impressive list of panelists, it was a successful event. One interesting event of note was that the ICC took this opportunity to release the ICC Commission Report on…
Monday’s New York conference on “Arbitration with States and State Entities under the ICC Rules” got me thinking about the possibility of amicus submissions in investment cases before the ICC or other institutions beyond ICSID. A few musings: Are amicus debates likely to arise in the ICC context? The answer is yes. Although most ICC…
The Supreme Court of India has finally spoken to deliver a definitive ruling on the role of Indian courts in international arbitrations seated outside India. Overruling the controversial decision of Bhatia International v Bulk Trading (2002), the Supreme Court held that Indian courts do not have supervisory authority over international arbitrations taking place outside India….
Mandatory research and development investment requirements (hereinafter ‘R&D Requirements’) may be prohibited under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (‘NAFTA’). A decision in Mobil Investments Canada Inc. and Murphy Oil Corporation v. Government of Canada (‘Mobil v. Canada’) is highly anticipated after a U.S. website leaked the fact that Canada had lost…
The decision handed down by the High Court of Australia, just weeks ago, regarding Australia’s plain packaging legislation is just the beginning of what is destined to be a long battle. And a battle that is being closely watched by legislators around the world, including the EU which is shortly due to publish a draft…
and Julia Popelysheva, Clifford Chance LLP Introduction On 19 June 2012 the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation (“SAC RF“) issued a decree (“Decree“) in case No. VAS-1831/12 in which it examined the validity of an optional jurisdictional clause. The full text of the Decree setting out the rationale for the…
In the recent case of Itochu Corporation vs. Johann M.K. Blumenthal GMBH & Co KG & Anr [2012] EWCA Civ 996 (“Itochu vs. Blumenthal”), the English Court of Appeal decided obiter that – in the absence of an agreement on the number of arbitrators – a sole arbitrator should be appointed even when the arbitration…
As explored in some detail in Part I of this blog post, recent UAE supervisory court case law has heralded a new era of enforcement of international awards in strict compliance with the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Awards (the “New York Convention”). To recap, the Maxtel line of…
