Article 25 of the ICSID Convention famously limits ICSID jurisdiction to “legal dispute[s] arising directly out of or in relation to an investment.” Uncertainty about the outer limits of this provision erupted into controversy about a decade ago, when Salini Costruttori v. Morocco kicked off a series of cases that imposed sharp limits on the…
Adjudicating contract disputes where it is alleged that the contract has been tainted by bribery, either in its procurement or in its performance, presents difficult issues for arbitrators, as well as for counsel. While the arbitrability of disputes involving allegations of bribery is generally no longer in doubt, a tribunal will still confront a number…
Amendment to the International Chamber of Commerce Rules of International Arbitration The International Chamber of Commerce has issued a revised set of rules for International Arbitration, due to come into force from 1 January 2012 (the “2012 Rules”). The 2012 Rules are clearly an attempt by the ICC to respond to the business needs of…
The ASA seminar on “Arbitral Institutions under Scrutiny” on 9 September in Zurich yielded some interesting insight in the practice of arbitration institutions, and views of well-known practitioners on the problems faced by modern arbitration systems. After the general introduction from ASA President Michael E. Schneider, Lara Bander and Mehtap Tari Hirt, two post-graduate students…
Luke Peterson passed along a tip about this interesting declaration attached to the U.S.-Rwanda Bilateral Investment Treaty: Articles 3 through 10 and other provisions that qualify or create exceptions to these Articles are self-executing. With the exception of these Articles, the Treaty is not self-executing. None of the provisions in this Treaty confers a private…
The CIArb’s Survey into the Costs of International Arbitration has now been published. It’s a fascinating survey worthy of study and discussion. Here’s a brief summary of some of the findings: “What did they spend it on? Regardless of the nature of the dispute and the amount of money that a party spent (whether claimant…
In 1961, three years after the adoption of the New York Convention, the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration was adopted in Geneva (the Geneva Convention). At the time, the Geneva Convention was noteworthy as being the first international instrument to refer to “international commercial arbitration” by name. Today, however, many practitioners give little consideration…
In keeping with the popular saying that ‘a bad settlement is better than a good lawsuit,’ it is not unusual for parties in an arbitration to suspend the proceedings and explore a settlement. Any arbitrator will understand such a move and assume that the parties know best what works for them to achieve a satisfying…
In this post, we will first deal briefly with the facts in the case of Jivraj v Hashwani and the findings of the first instance judge and the Court of Appeal, which by now would be very familiar to anyone reading this blog. We will then look at the Supreme Court’s judgment ([2011] UKSC 40),…
As discussed by Paul Friedlandhere, on September 12, 2011, the International Chamber of Commerce issued its revisedRules of Arbitration. The new rules, which update the 1998 Rules and will take effect on January 1, 2012, are the result of a two-year effort by a special task force that gathered input and consolidated best practices from…
In its decision 4A_162/2011 of 20 July 2011, which was published on 2 September 2011, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court elaborated on the content of – and limits to – the right of parties to call witnesses. The arbitration which gave rise to the decision was between the Jamaica Football Federation and its former coach,…
The escalation of costs and delays in international arbitration and the consequent dissatisfaction of the system’s users have become prime subjects for users of and commentators on international arbitration.1)See, for example, Jean-Claude Najar, ‘Inside Out: A User’s Perspective on Challenges in International Arbitration’, Arbitration International, 25 (2009) 515, 517. An informal study by the Corporate…
This month marks two interesting developments in arb/med. First, as Kluwer wants you to know, they have added a mediation blog in addition to the arbitration blog. Well, it’s about time. Second, September heralds the much celebrated debut of the ICC’s new “Arbitration and ADR Rules”, at least for people who celebrate such things. As…
At the Herbert Smith Singapore Management University Asian Arbitration Lecture delivered by Michael Hwang SC on 4 August 2011, Hwang SC discussed incisively issues concerning the enforcement of arbitral awards concerning contracts allegedly tainted by corruption. Less than three weeks after that seminal lecture, the Singapore Court of Appeal in AJU v AJT [2011] SGCA…
Following the success of this widely-read blog, Kluwer are thrilled to announce to the launch of Kluwer Mediation Blog. In addition to posts from its distinguished Editors, Nadja Alexander and Bill Marsh, you can also enjoy comment and opinion from its team of regular contributors from across Europe, North and South America, Australasia and Africa….
I received the following call for papers from our friends at the ITA and thought I would share it with our readers: In collaboration with the Academic Council, the Executive Committee and the Young Arbitrators Initiative of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) are proud to announce the creation of a new annual Winter Forum….
In February 2011, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Stok & Associates, P.A., v. Citibank, N.A, (No. 10-514). The question presented was whether, under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), a party should be “required to demonstrate prejudice after the opposing party waived its contractual right to arbitrate by participating in litigation, in order…
In the summer of 2009, an ICSID tribunal ruled that various orders of the Bangladeshi courts that cumulatively denied Saipem (an Italian company) the benefits of an ICC award made in its favour constituted an unlawful expropriation of its investment. It held that the investor was entitled to compensation based upon the value of the…
Jerome Martin, Senior Associate at law firm Clyde & Co talks to Dubai Eye’s Business Breakfast radio show about Dispute Resolution in Saudi Arabia. I am posting this note and the link to listen to the podcast in full the for the benefit of our readers. “What chances you have if it all goes wrong…
Almost every country of the world has seen an enormous increase in the involvement of the State in economic activity over the past century. This trend is particularly pronounced in those economies, China foremost among them, in which the State takes an active role in commercial life. But can State owned entities and other private…
Videocon Industries Ltd. Vs. Union Of India & Anr. (on 11 May, 2011) The Supreme Court of India (the SCI) recently added to the contentious line of authority beginning with its ruling in Bhatia International v Bulk Trading SA (2002) (4) SCC 105 concerning the power of the Indian courts to intervene in arbitrations held…
If you’ve been watching the headlines this month, you may have noticed that the United States of America has launched a novel arbitration against the Republic of Guatemala. The claim alleges that Guatemala is failing to enforce its own labour laws, thus falling afoul of international legal obligations written into the U.S. Free Trade Agreement…
Empirical research shows that modern law students, at least at post-graduate level, wish to have some options to learn something about the skills of ‘lawyering’. Students often say that they want to have more than just the letters ‘LLM’ after their names. They pay substantial tuition fees to obtain these post-graduate degrees, and they wish…
The High Court of the Canton of Zurich had to examine in a recent case whether the allegedly false testimony of a witness in arbitration proceedings was punishable under the Article 307 of the Swiss Criminal Code as perjury. Up to now, it was disputed by scholars whether the requirements for witness testimony in state…
