Arbitration, Disclosure, Third party funding

(Conway & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

A central concern the in the third party funding arena is: Whether or not parties who are funded by a third party funder should be obligated to disclose this funding relationship. Looking at a recent conference in which many key funders participated on sharing their perspectives, it appears that many funders preferred to keep their…

BIT, Energy Charter Treaty, Investment, Investment agreements, Investment protection

(Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

The notion of ‘investment’ has been one of the most controversial issues in arbitral proceedings instituted under the ICSID Convention. The award rendered by the UNCITRAL arbitral tribunal in Romak v. Uzbekistan has brought the issue outside of the ICSID context and concluded that, despite the broad definitions of ‘investment’ in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs),…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitral seat, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrators, Efficiency, International arbitration, Mediation, Seat of the arbitration

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

The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC“) has recently published its revised Arbitration Rules, which will come into force on 1 May 2012 (the “2012 Rules“). This is the seventh revision of the CIETAC Rules since they were first published in 1956. Whilst the majority of the changes in the 2012 Rules are…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /Leave a comment

As many of you know, I am the General Editor of the ITA Arbitration Report of KluwerArbitration.com database, the primary online research portal for international arbitration practitioners. On behalf of the folks at Kluwer and the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, I am happy to announce an opening for the position of Managing Editor for the…

Actual expenditure, Arbitration, Damages, Damages experts, Fair market value, Historic costs

(FTI Forensic and Litigation Consulting)/ /1 Comment

This is the third and final article in a three-part series summarising the main valuation methodologies used for the purposes of determining economic loss. In parts one and two, I provided an overview of the market-approach and income-based methodologies. I now conclude by reviewing the asset-based approach. To what extent, if any, is the sum…

Arbitration Act, International arbitration, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal

(Norton Rose Fulbright)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Following a previous round of amendments in 2009 that came into effect on 1 January 2010, the Singapore Ministry of Law published further proposed amendments to Singapore’s International Arbitration Act (“the IAA”) on 8 March 2012. The proposals took into account views garnered from a public consultation process. There are four key proposals in this…

Annulment, International arbitration, Public Policy, Sport arbitration, Supreme Court, Switzerland

(von Segesser Law Offices)/ /Leave a comment

With its decision of 27 March 2012, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held unlawful a disciplinary sanction by which FIFA threatened the football player Matuzalem with a lifetime ban in case he failed to pay a damage claim of his former club and employer. By an earlier decision of the CAS, Francelino da Silva Matuzalem,…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Middle East

(Notre Dame Law School)/ /1 Comment

Last week I had the good fortune to attend a reception in Washington D.C. with various arbitration luminaries announcing the inauguration of the Jerusalem Arbitration Center. With almost $5 billion in annual trade between Palestine and Israel, it is imperative to establish a neutral forum for resolving business disputes. JAC is established under the auspices…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, ICSID Convention, International arbitration, International Courts, International Law, NAFTA

(Richmond School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The Rules, Practice, and Jurisprudence of International Courts and Tribunals (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2012) has just shipped. I am the (proud) editor and a contributor of the book and am delighted to have the opportunity to bring it to the attention of this group. I think it will be of special interest to arbitration practitioners….

Class arbitration, Consumer contracts, Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)

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

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in AT&T v. Concepcion last April appeared to signal the demise of class arbitration in the United States. That decision upheld a consumer contract arbitration agreement that waived the consumer’s right to initiate a class action lawsuit or arbitration. In its recent D.R. Horton v. Cuda decision (Case 12-CA-25764),…

Arbitration Awards, Domestic Courts, Enforcement, Investment Arbitration

/ /Leave a comment

White Industries Australia Limited v. Republic of India (White v. India) is the latest in a growing line of cases where international investors have successfully resorted to investment treaty arbitration to recover sums owed under international commercial arbitral awards where there have been extensive delays enforcing those awards in domestic courts. However, the potential scope…

Arbitration Agreements, Canada, Jurisdiction

(Caribbean Arbitrators, Arbitration Place, 33 Bedford Row Chambers)/ /1 Comment

Canada’s highest court, the Supreme Court of Canada, recently considered whether a party had waived its right to rely on arbitration and forum selection clauses by submitting a statement of defence on the merits in an Ontario court litigation in which it also pleaded the clauses. The Court ruled that there had been no waiver….

Enforcement, Switzerland

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

By Matthias Scherer and Simone Nadelhofer, LALIVE, Geneva and Zurich The Swiss Federal Supreme Court recently published a decision rendered last addressing the enforceability of an English Worldwide Freezing Order (“WFO”) in Switzerland. Of particular interest was the question whether a party can apply for a mere declaration of enforceability without actually seeking to enforce…

Arbitration clause, English Law

(Linklaters)/ /1 Comment

The High Court of England & Wales has confirmed the nature of the test that will be applied when determining the proper law of an arbitration agreement in the absence of the parties’ express or implied choice. In two recent cases, Sulamérica CIA. Nacional De Seguros S.A. and Anors v Enesa Engenharia S.A. – ENESA…

Annulment, Russia, Set aside an arbitral award

(Khrenov & Partners)/ /1 Comment

When the Arbitrazh Court of Kemerovo Region in Siberia granted leave to recognize an annulled ICC award in 2011 for the first time, international and domestic commentators rushed to acclaim the new arbitration-friendly attitude of the Russian courts, thus placing Russia ‘into line with a select number of jurisdictions’ (e.g. France and the Netherlands). Some…

International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

(Richmond School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

The Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law is next week (March 28 – 31) at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC. (register here.) I have the honor to co-chair the meeting with Cymie Payne and Harlan Cohen and, together with a wonderful Program Committee, we put together a great program centered around…

Arbitration, Arbitration Act, Legislation

(Linklaters)/ /Leave a comment

The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice has launched a consultation on the revision of the Dutch 1986 arbitration law. See here. For an informal English translation of a comparison with the current Dutch arbitration law, see here. The consultation will be open until 1 June 2012. It is anticipated that the legislative proposal will…

CAFTA, Expedited arbitration, State-to-state arbitration

(Investment Arbitration Reporter)/ /1 Comment

It looks like The Amazing Kreskin can rest easy. Last August, I tried my hand at forecasting the future, and I’m not sure I brought credit to the field of prognostication. In my earlier blog post, I’d commented on a novel state-to-state arbitration initiated by the United States against the Republic of Guatemala. (The U.S….

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, BIT, Class arbitration, International arbitration, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection

(University of Victoria Faculty of Law)/ /Leave a comment

International arbitration has long played an important role in resolving disputes that arise out of political and economic crises.   “Arbitration in Times of Crisis” is the theme of the 9th Annual ITA-ASIL Conference on 28 March 2012 in Washington, D.C. (see program).   The conference will focus on lessons from the past use of arbitral mechanisms…

Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrators, Commercial Arbitration, Domestic Courts, International arbitration, Other Issues, Suggestions to improve transparency and access to usable data, Transparency in investment arbitrations

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

The views of lawyers involved in international commercial and investment arbitration are being sought for a new international arbitration survey from Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL). Conducted by QMUL’s School of International Arbitration and sponsored by White & Case LLP, the 2012 survey aims to examine whether a “harmonised international arbitration procedure is emerging,…

Costs in arbitral proceedings, Third party funding

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /Leave a comment

Yesterday’s post set the stage by describing the main provisions of a new voluntary Code of Conduct for “funding of resolution of disputes within England and Wales,” released in November 2011. Today’s post examines criticisms of that initiative from several corners, and notes important questions that persist in the arbitration arena, including issues surrounding the…

Costs in arbitral proceedings, Third party funding

(Independent Arbitrator)/ /2 Comments

The use of third-party funding for international arbitration has been growing for several years, and its potential benefits and risks have received increasing attention from the arbitration community. The November 2011 release in the United Kingdom of a Code of Conduct for funders has galvanized the debate. The Code is the first-ever attempt at voluntary…

Arbitration Act, Europe

(Linklaters)/ /Leave a comment

The new Portuguese arbitration law that shall enter into force on 14 March 2012 represents a remarkable evolution in the arbitration framework in Portugal. The former Portuguese arbitration law was published in 1986 (not following the UNCITRAL Model Law) and despite being considered a progressive law at the time it was clear that it lacked…