Every arbitration starts as a dispute that arises months or even years before the tribunal is constituted. Well in advance of filing a request for arbitration, or an answer to one, parties may begin taking steps to prepare, including by conducting a preliminary cost/benefit analysis, gathering and reviewing documents, interviewing witnesses, identifying and meeting with…
The OIC Investment Agreement (the “Agreement”), a multilateral instrument among certain members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, remains a potent tool for investment protection within the bloc. This post surveys developments concerning the Agreement since the authors’ last updates in late 2019 and 2020. In particular, the post provides an update on the ongoing…
In the past 20 years, alongside my legal practice, I have taught international investment law and arbitration (IILA) in a number of capacities and through various formats: as the author of a textbook (Rules and Practices of International Investment Law and Arbitration) and of a MOOC, in practice-oriented trainings for professionals, or in masters programs….
Corruption is a sensitive issue for international merchants. According to the Transparency International’s report “Exporting Corruption”, enforcement against foreign bribery has dropped to its lowest level since it first began measuring it in 2009, which is alarming and reinforces the need for attention in arbitral proceedings. In international sales contracts, one should consider the consequences…
The past year has seen a variety of exogenous impacts to global energy markets: from the sanctions flowing from Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine, to the supply chain aftershocks of the COVID Pandemic, to hiccups in the commercial and government policy implementations of the global Energy Transition. International arbitration too has seen its share…
On January 25, 2023 the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued the preliminary decision in the case Ukraine and The Netherlands v. Russia where it clearly stated that certain “areas [of Ukraine] were, from 11 May 2014 and subsequently, under the effective control of the Russian Federation” (para. 695). This…
The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of the following position with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor to the Managing Editor. The Assistant Editor reports directly to the Managing Editor and is expected to (1) collect, edit and review guest submissions from the designated region for posting on the Blog, while actively being…
Renewable energy is front-and-centre in the Japanese energy agenda. Japan is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels for its electricity generation needs with one-third of its carbon emissions coming from its 78 thermal power stations. The Japanese prime minister has pledged that Japan will be carbon neutral by 2050 leading to the Japanese Ministry of…
On January 13, 2023 the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University hosted the 5th annual Schiefelbein Global Dispute Resolution Conference. Like previous iterations of this conference, the innovative program featured top lawyers, internationally recognized mediators, academics, and leaders of arbitration institutions discussing timely issues in international dispute resolution. This year’s conference…
Whenever courts annul an arbitral award on the grounds of substantive public policy, there is typically an outcry. Especially amongst arbitrators. And even more when the court analyzes the merits of the award and holds that the arbitral panel incorrectly applied the law. This is exactly what the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichsthof, the…
The Swiss Very Young Arbitration Practitioners (“Swiss VYAP”), in collaboration with the Young Arbitral Women Practitioners (“YAWP”), held an interview series on career paths in international arbitration during the second half of 2022. Five interviewees, whose professional experience spanned the arbitration spectrum, shared their insight and knowledge in their respective arbitration environments. This blog post…
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in Komstroy (C-741/19, Sept, 2021) that the dispute resolution mechanism of the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) does not apply in intra-EU investment disputes. The ruling was interpreted by some as the beginning of the end of intra-EU investment arbitration. A recent decision by the…
Given the protean nature of technology, it has the propensity to evolve in ways that may surprise even the keenest observers. As such, the time is ripe to take stock of developments in relation to the new technologies discussed in our earlier article from 2018, such as Big Data, blockchain, machine learning and text mining,…
In November 2022, a contract-based arbitral tribunal issued an anti-arbitration injunction with the aim of enjoining parallel investment treaty proceedings between the parties. This post examines this injunction – which was ignored by the investment-treaty tribunal – and its implications. Background In March 2020, Patel Engineering Limited (“PEL”), an Indian-incorporated infrastructure and construction service…
One of the complaints levelled at arbitration is that tribunal orders lack teeth because, unlike a court, arbitrators do not have wide-ranging powers to enforce interlocutory measures against a party. Tribunals must often rely on the courts of the seat to enforce interlocutory measures. In December 2022, the English Court of Appeal (“CoA”) in S3D…
The Swiss Federal Supreme Court (the “Court”) recently outlined when a subsequently discovered ground for challenge of an arbitrator can be a possible ground for review of an award. The present post summarizes and discusses the Court’s decision. Background In decision 4A_100/2022 of August 24, 2022, the Court dealt with a review request against…
On 10 January 2023, the Paris Court of Appeal (“Paris CoA”) set aside the 50+ million USD UNCITRAL award rendered in the dispute between Komstroy (before Energoalians LLC, and now Stileks Scientific and Production Firm LLC (“Stileks”)) and the Republic of Moldova. The referring court applied the ruling rendered by the Court of Justice of…
After thirteen years, the Arbitration Center of Mexico (“CAM”), one of the most prominent arbitration centers in Mexico, revised its Arbitration Rules (the “Rules”). The purpose of these amendments is to adapt the Rules to global changes and address the needs of its users that have arisen since the last version in 2009. The 2022…
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…
On 10 October 2022, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) accepted a challenge brought by Venezuela against the appointment of the Claimant’s appointee, Dr. Wolfgang Peter, in an investor state arbitration (PCA Case No. 2022-03) instituted by German Claimant, Lufthansa (“Challenge Decision”). The Challenge Decision is the latest in the series of…
International arbitration is a prime example of the power and complexity of combined human minds. It is a marvel of human cooperation and ingenuity that strangers forego barbarism in favour of peaceful resolution – even more so when they do it cross-borders, on the unlikely belief that their interests will be guarded by yet another…
Issues relating to the arbitrability of disputes have gained increasing prominence in recent years. The question of which law ought to govern an arbitration agreement and concomitantly the inquiry as to whether a dispute is arbitrable, in the absence of an explicit choice of law governing the arbitration agreement has been explored in previous judgments…
This blog post covers UNCITRAL’s current work on adjudication, whose declared goal is to ensure enforcement of decisions concluding the adjudication procedure, especially in the context of cross-border, long-term projects. The post first gives an overview of the model clauses drafted by UNCITRAL, explaining the role played by the UNCITRAL Expedited Arbitration Rules (“Expedited Rules“)….
On December 20, 2022, Chile’s Supreme Court issued a ruling that has been praised by the arbitral community for its pro-arbitration stance in the face of an apparently pathological arbitration clause. In its decision, the highest court of Chile lent decisive support to key international arbitration principles, such as party autonomy, domestic minimum intervention and…
