Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created an environment ripe for controversy and disputes, some of which may be resolved in arbitration. International sanctions against Russia have been previously discussed on the Blog from the perspective of the EU (here and here), the US (see here) and in relation to potential investment claims (in particular under…
The results of two surveys on arbitration in Africa-related disputes were released in 2022. Both surveys drew responses from the continent’s diverse regions and legal systems. Respondents were given the choice to answer questions in either English, French, Arabic, or Portuguese. In April 2022, the African Arbitration Academy released its Survey on Costs and Disputes…
On 24 February 2022, people in Ukraine woke up at approximately the same time. There was no coffee or kisses from the loved ones. There were explosions. Bombs being dropped on heads of Ukrainians. Missiles destroying Ukrainian cities and taking people’s lives. Each Ukrainian will always remember his or her “Wake up, the War has…
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…
Kluwer Arbitration Blog is pleased to launch with this post an occasional series offering global perspectives on approaches to teaching international investment arbitration. The aim of the series is to illuminate the various choices that teachers must make when determining the substance, aims and approach they will adopt to teaching this topic, and the challenges…
The 2022 volume of the Yearbook Commercial Arbitration is now available in print, as well as online in the KluwerArbitration database. It contains 16 so far unpublished arbitral awards and 97 court decisions that apply the 1958 New York Convention, the 1965 Washington (ICSID) Convention, and the 1975 Panama (Inter-American) Convention, or address issues of…
Civilization is a progress from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity toward a definite, coherent heterogeneity. Henry Spencer International arbitration professionals are a strikingly homogenous population, as our recent 360 degree overview demonstrated. The demographic markers typically used to arrive at this conclusion are age, race, gender and national origin. While these fundamental indicators merit continued…
A study published in 2012 revealed that only 15 arbitrators decided 55% of the 450 investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases reported at that time, most of them practitioners from Europe, USA or Canada. This was the case despite the fact that parties from all over the world were involved in those proceedings. To date, according…
Almost 4 years ago, Kluwer Arbitration Blog published an article titled “The Fate of Finality Clause in Ethiopia” by Mintewab Afework, which clearly examined the parties’ prerogative to submit their disputes to arbitration and to waive their right of appeal on the final arbitral award, as applicable at the time. After 4 years, two significant…
When it comes to consent to the jurisdiction of international courts and tribunals, its understanding and interpretation raise a fundamental question – do we really know what it means? In this blog post, it will be demonstrated that there are a number of uncertainties around the notion of consent in investment arbitration. The theoretical underpinnings…
28 U.S.C. § 1782(a) allows U.S. federal district courts to order discovery against any person or entity “found” in the U.S. “for use” in a proceeding in a “foreign or international tribunal” upon application by “any interested person.” In 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court in Intel Corp. v. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. held that the…
After struggling with the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2022 remained a period of transition for Latin America. New arbitration rules and protocols were adopted in jurisdictions such as Ecuador, Brazil and Mexico that reflected best practices born out of the limitations placed on arbitrations by the pandemic. Other jurisdictions such as Colombia, Chile…
The year 2022 seems to have passed in a flash, but not without bringing some exciting developments for the arbitration scene in Southeast Asia. From the Southeast Asia editorial team, here are some of the past year’s highlights. Developments in the law and jurisprudence Contributors to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog critically analysed the Singapore…
The 2022 report of Colombia’s National Agency for Legal Defense of the State (the “Agency”) provides insightful information about costs in investment arbitration (the “2022 Report”). Based on a statistical analysis, it (i) establishes current trends and criteria in connection with the allocation of costs in investment arbitration, and (ii) determines the average costs of an…
Introduction In 2022, we witnessed the growth of efforts to understand and promote the use of arbitration across Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. These efforts largely took the form of empirical studies and reports, as well as the resumption of in-person events. Legal and policy developments in both commercial and investor-state arbitration have…
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…
Subscribers to KluwerArbitration enjoy access to the ICCA Yearbook Commercial Arbitration. The final upload of court decisions from the 2022 Yearbook Commercial Arbitration, shortly to be distributed in print, is now available from the KluwerArbitration database. It contains 15 decisions applying the New York Convention and one decision applying the 1975 Panama Convention, as well…
The year 2022 was a busy one at the intersection of technology and international arbitration, both for the arbitration community and for the Kluwer Arbitration Blog. Virtual hearings further cemented their status as a mainstay of arbitral practice; we saw a burst of guidance, soft law instruments and rule-setting activity; and our Arbitration Tech Toolbox…
The Permanent Arbitration Court attached to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (The Hungarian Commercial Arbitration Court or ‘HCAC’) has recently adopted its revised rules of proceedings that went into effect on 31 December 2022. This development is particularly significant for the Hungarian arbitration landscape given that HCAC has exclusive competence over commercial, financial…
East and Central Asia made further strides to promote arbitration, including through legislative reforms and enhancement of judicial assistance, as well as the accession, ratification, and creation of treaties. Some domestic courts clarified views on fundamental issues in arbitration. On the user side, East and Central Asian parties continued to be active as both claimants…
Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) has been widely criticized for being a tool in the hands of multinational companies, used to challenge domestic public policy measures even when legitimately adopted in the public interest. Critiques have been notable concerning the asymmetrical nature of international investment agreements (IIAs). While IIAs were concluded to afford protection to foreign…
The current debate on the future of the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system seems not to leave anyone indifferent. Two camps can be discerned in the debate; the first comprising those who would argue that ISDS is in need of reform, and the second those who defend the ISDS system as is. The MOL v….
Subscribers to KluwerArbitration enjoy access to the ICCA Yearbook Commercial Arbitration A new upload of materials from the 2022 volume of the Yearbook Commercial Arbitration is now available on the KluwerArbitration database. It consists of 21 decisions and includes, among others, three decisions each from Hungary and Pakistan, and four decisions rendered by the courts…
Review of the Arbitration Act 1996: Responses to the Law Commission Consultation Paper Earlier this year, the Arbitration Act 1996 celebrated twenty-five years from the day it was brought into force. On 22 September 2022, the Law Commission issued its Consultation Paper on the Review of the Arbitration Act 1996. The Law Commission considered the…
