On 2 May 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal set aside an ICC award rendered on 1 September 2016 in Paris due to the existence of facts likely to cause, in the minds of the parties, a reasonable doubt as to the presiding arbitrator’s independence. This post will summarise and comment the judgment rendered by…
The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) hosted its Annual India Conferences in Mumbai and Delhi on 6 and 7 September 2024. These Conferences were themed ‘New Developments and Reforms in International Arbitration: The Best Path Forward’, and brought together members of the judiciary, lawyers, in-house counsel, and other prominent figures in the field of international…
Riding on the waves of the Singapore Convention Week and the IP Week @ Singapore, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (“CIArb”) and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (“IPOS”) co-hosted a conference on Intellectual Property (“IP”) and Technology Dispute Resolution on August 29, 2024. The event featured speakers and panelists from the Singapore and English…
On May 17, 2024, Guyana passed the Arbitration Act 2024 (Act No. 6 of 2024) (“AA”). The AA repealed the outdated Arbitration Act, Cap 7:03, Laws of Guyana (Act No. 17 of 1916), passed more than a century ago, and makes Guyana the latest Commonwealth Caribbean country, after Trinidad and Tobago, which passed new legislation…
On the second day of Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2024, Mishcon de Reya in association with Karas So LLP hosted a panel discussion titled “Guarding the integrity of arbitration – Reflections on the landmark English decision in Nigeria v P&ID”. The panel examined the English Commercial Court’s landmark decision to set aside a USD 11…
Kicking off Hong Kong Arbitration Week 2024, Eversheds Sutherland hosted a thought-provoking panel discussion on “12 Angry Robots and Crowd-Sourced Dispute Resolution – Justice in the Digital Age” on 21 October 2024. The panel delved into (i) the mechanisms and challenges of dispute resolution in the decentralized space, and (ii) the integration of artificial intelligence…
This February, Ms. Joanne Lau assumed the position of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) Secretary-General, succeeding Dr. Mariel Dimsey. Prior to this, Joanne spent more than a decade practicing at an international law firm, building and managing a successful international arbitration practice as part of its leadership team. Joanne brings to HKIAC a…
The advantages of parties settling their disputes are self-evident. While there are several settlement facilitation techniques that arbitral tribunals have developed (see Carrara, Sussman & Berger and Vysudilova & Kirtley), arbitral institutions have remained in the background. At the 8th ICC European Conference in March 2024, the message conveyed by the parties was loud and…
The Pacific region, with its rich tapestry of cultures and diverse political landscapes, presents both unique opportunities and formidable challenges for international arbitration. As nations within this region strive to attract foreign direct investment (“FDI”) and foster economic growth, the role of arbitration becomes increasingly pivotal. On 17 October 2024, during the Australian Arbitration Week…
Australian Arbitration Week continued in full force on the morning of 16 October 2024, with ACICA45’s panel discussion named, “Filling in the Gaps: Inferences, Presumptions, and Burdens of Proof,” hosted by Deloitte. The panel was moderated by Brisbane-based ACICA45 Steering Committee members Oliver Cook (Barrister, Level 27 Chambers) and Zara Shafruddin (Associate, Jones Day). Drawing…
On 15 October 2024, Norton Rose Fulbright hosted a breakfast panel discussion on the topic of “Hot Cakes and Hot Takes: Trends and Developments in Asia’s Energy Sector” in Brisbane as part of Australian Arbitration Week. The panel was moderated by Dylan McKimmie, Head of Arbitration and Co-Head of Energy, Norton Rose Fulbright Australia and…
In a landmark decision, the Portuguese Supreme Administrative Court has overturned an arbitral award which dealt with the different available remedies in case of a fundamental change in circumstances (in this case, the effects of Covid-19) ruling that affording a force majeure protection to a party should have the effect of excluding other remedies to…
Judith Levine is the President of the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (“ACICA”). Judith has been a long-serving member of ACICA and was one of its Vice-Presidents before her appointment as President in June this year. She is also a leading independent arbitrator based in Sydney, Australia, and has served as presiding, sole, and…
The Institute of Transnational Arbitration (ITA), in collaboration with the ITA Board of Reporters, is happy to inform you that the latest ITA Arbitration Report was published: a free email subscription service available at KluwerArbitration.com delivering timely reports on awards, cases, legislation and current developments from over 60 countries and 12 institutions. To get your free subscription to the ITA…
The English Arbitration Bill, introduced to UK Parliament in November 2023, aimed to ensure that the Arbitration Act 1996 remained fit for purpose and maintained England’s status as a leading destination for commercial arbitration. However, the bill was lost when the 2024 UK general election was called. In July 2024 the new government reintroduced the…
The DIS Autumn Conference, held on 10 September 2024, was the main event of the Berlin Dispute Resolution Days, which took place from 9 to 12 September 2024 and were jointly organized by the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), the Federal Ministry of Justice, and the Humboldt University in Berlin. Set against the vibrant backdrop of…
In a recent ruling of 20 June 2024 (ARB 009/2024 Narcisco v. Nash), the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) Court of First Instance (“DIFC CFI”) was asked, as part of a wider investigation to grant an anti-suit injunction, to consider the validity of an arbitration agreement that provided for arbitration under the DIFC-London Court of…
The 2024 Singapore Convention Week kicked off with a bang on 26 August 2024 with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (“SIAC”) hosting its flagship SIAC Symposium at the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore. The SIAC Symposium 2024 featured a welcome address by Mr Davinder Singh SC (Chairman, SIAC; Executive Chairman, Davinder Singh Chambers LLC), a keynote address…
Following the morning session of the SIAC Symposium 2024, which explored issues including the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (“AI”), climate change, and trade disruption (see Part 1), the afternoon session consisted of three plenary panel discussions that delved into the core issues shaping the future of arbitration. These pivotal topics comprised: the ethical considerations guiding…
One of the most contentious issues in investor-state dispute settlement (“ISDS”), leading to an extensive scholarly debate, and yet one of the least decided legal questions in arbitral practice is the functioning and effect of security exceptions. One of the reasons for that is the relatively low number of investment treaties that include such provisions…
We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions: Michael Hwang, Gökçe Uyar & Cosima Wimmers, The Enka v. Chubb/Anupam Mittal v. Westbridge Controversies: Why Not the Hong Kong (Partial) Solution? This paper explores the critical theme of determining the governing law…
It is not unnoticed that good faith gained relevance in investment treaty arbitration. There is an increasing number of decisions where good faith was relied on by tribunals on the basis of Article 31(1) of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (“VCLT”), the general rule of interpretation, according to which “[a] treaty shall…
Mass arbitration has become extraordinarily expensive and highly volatile. The practice originated during a low tide for conventional class action certification and a high tide for judicial enforcement of individual arbitration agreements and class action waivers. Over the past decade, plaintiffs’ firms embraced this legislative and jurisprudential landscape and coordinated mass filings of individual arbitration…
Against the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine, numerous commercial disputes have arisen. In a (further) significant ruling dated 1 June 2023, the Higher Regional Court Berlin (Kammergericht or the “Court”) reinforced the integrity of arbitration by confirming the admissibility of arbitration to the exclusion of (Russian) state courts (Case No. 12 SchH 5/22)….
