International Investment Law, International Law, International tribunals, Interpretation, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, VCLT, VCLT Jubilee

, (Permanent Court of Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

In the last two decades, the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) overall docket has seen a rapid growth in mixed arbitrations between States and private parties. Today, over 180 arbitrations are currently pending before PCA tribunals, of which more than 100 are investor-State disputes brought under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties and national investment laws….

Chinese Arbitration Association, Environment, ESG, Taipei, Taiwan, Technology

(The Arbitration Chambers and Bond University) and (Hanotiau & van den Berg)/ /Leave a comment

The Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei and Asian Center for WTO & International Health Law and Policy co-hosted the annual Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation during the Taiwan Arbitration Week on 5 October 2022. With onsite and online moderators and speakers, three sessions of the Conference explored how the pandemic, digital economy and ESG…

ADR, Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei, Taiwan, Technology

(Allen & Overy) and (The Arbitration Chambers and Bond University)/ /Leave a comment

The Chinese Arbitration Association, Taipei and Asian Center for WTO & International Health Law and Policy co-hosted this year’s Taipei International Conference on Arbitration and Mediation during the Taiwan Arbitration Week on 5 October 2022. With onsite and online moderators and speakers, three sessions of the Conference explored how the pandemic, digital economy and ESG…

Berlin Dispute Resolution Days, Energy

(CMS Hasche Sigle) and (Wagner Arbitration)/ /Leave a comment

The DIS 2022 Autumn Conference took place on 15 September 2022, following the traditional Gala Dinner at the spectacular Palace Charlottenburg the evening before. The Autumn Conference is one of two of the DIS’ main annual conferences, traditionally held in English gathering arbitration practitioners from all over the world to exchange ideas and initiate thought-provoking…

Berlin Dispute Resolution Days, DIS, ESG, Human Rights

(Gantenberg Dispute Experts) and (Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 14 September 2022, the DIS40 Autumn Conference was held in Berlin, Germany, as part of the first edition of Berlin Dispute Resolution Days – a near week-long series of conferences and events focused on dispute resolution. It also coincided with the 20th anniversary of the DIS40, making it a rather special gathering for dispute resolution practitioners…

Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property Rights, Patent, Patents, WIPO

, (Labgold Law)/ /Leave a comment

As noted in GAR’s Guide to IP Arbitration, “one of the noticeable trends in international arbitration in the past several years has been the growing use of arbitration to resolve IP-related disputes.”  The World Intellectual Property Organization (“WIPO”) Arbitration and Mediation Center reports that its filings (arbitration, mediation and expert determination) increased by over 15%…

Advocacy, Moot Courts, Witness

(Leipzig University) and (SCC Arbitration Institute)/ /Leave a comment

The trial of Socrates In 399 BC, the philosopher Socrates was tried on the charges of asebeia, or impiety, and of corrupting the youth of Athens. The trial is famous for, inter alia, Socrates’ elenchus, or cross-examination, of his accuser, Meletus. While Socrates’ cross-examination was doubtless an impressive sight, he ultimately failed to successfully advocate…

ADR, Court Assistance, Courts, Development, Pakistan

(Samdani & Qureshi), , and (Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

“International Conference: Expeditious Dispensation of Justice – ADR The Way Forward” was held on 1 and 2 September, 2022 at Serena Hotel, Islamabad, Pakistan and in the Islamabad High Court respectively. The conference was dedicated to exploring the ways in which alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and arbitration can support the progressive development of the legal…

Energy Charter Treaty, Enforcement

(NL-Investmentconsulting)/ /1 Comment

Amidst the turmoil surrounding the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and the announced withdrawal by Poland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, Slovenia and Luxembourg, the very first edition of the Report on compliance with investment treaty awards by States has been published by the present author. Whereas the discussion usually focuses on whether international investment agreements (IIAs)…

IBA, Small claims

, (WilmerHale), (Chaffetz Lindsey), and (WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

The International Bar Association (“IBA”) Subcommittee on Investment Treaty Arbitration has recently finalized its report titled “Arbitrating Small Value Claims in Investment Arbitration” co-signed by the current co-chairs (Caline Mouawad, Maxi Scherer) and former co-chairs (Noiana Marigo, Patrick Pearsall) (“Report”). The Report was also presented at the 2022 Annual Meeting of the IBA that recently…

Dispute Settlement, Energy, Mexico

(Texas A&M University School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

A North American energy trade war may be on the horizon. President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO) is backstepping the opening of Mexican energy markets by halting the issuance of permits, providing competitive advantages to state-owned enterprises, and attacking independent regulators. The re-centralization of the energy sector is being done in the name of Mexico’s…

Yearbook Commercial Arbitration

(General Editor, ICCA Publications; Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

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 contains six unpublished awards rendered under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce. The arbitrators dealt with a broad range of…

Australia, Bias, Canada, Independence and Impartiality, India

, (Boies Schiller Flexner LLP)/ /1 Comment

Over the last few years, arbitrator independence and impartiality have been under heightened scrutiny by courts and tribunals. This is not unexpected. The importance of the rule against bias is best explained by Lord Denning’s dictum in Metropolitan Properties Co (FGC) Ltd v Lannon [1969] 1 QB 577 where he held that “[j]ustice must be…

Canada, CanArb Week, ICC, ICC Arbitration

(Dentons), (Teynier Pic), and (City-Yuwa Partners )/ /Leave a comment

On the third and final day of CanArb Week 2022, the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee held its annual conference titled The New World. The conference sessions were bookended by opening and closing remarks by Professor Janet Walker (Chair, ICC Canada, Atkin Chambers, Full Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School) and Myriam Seers (Vice-Chair, ICC Canada, Partner,…

Arbitrator Bias, Canada, CanArb Week, Jurisdiction, Non-signatory, Stay of Proceedings

(Woods LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The third edition of CanArb Week took place in Montréal from October 19 to 21, 2022. Speakers from all walks of arbitration life (academics, arbitrators, counsel, experts, leaders of arbitral institutions, and third party funders), as well as justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, gathered in the “Paris of North America”, to the delight of…

Yearbook Commercial Arbitration

(General Editor, ICCA Publications; Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam)/ /Leave a comment

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 in the KluwerArbitration database. The materials include ten unpublished awards rendered under the auspices of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce between March 2019…

Appointment of arbitrators, Duty to Disclose, Reform, Summary procedure, UK

and , (Mayer Brown)/ /Leave a comment

The Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act“), the principal legislation governing arbitration in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, came into force 25 years ago. This landmark Act has enabled London to become a top arbitral seat and England and Wales is now home to at least 5,000 arbitrations every year. On 22 September 2022, to mark…

COVID-19, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investment protection, World Arbitration Update

, (Nyenrode Business University), and (CREDIMI – University of Burgundy)/ /Leave a comment

The current era of emergencies, which includes climate change, environmental challenges, armed conflicts, and health crises, has a profound impact on foreign direct investment (FDI). A panel held on 27 September 2022 as part of the second edition of the World Arbitration Update (WAU) engaged with the effect of such global emergencies on international investment…

ICSID, ICSID Amendments, ICSID Arbitration

, (British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL))/ /Leave a comment

The British Institute of International and Comparative Law (“BIICL”), and DLA Piper, recently organized an event titled Revised ICSID Arbitration Rules: Key Changes. Following the initial presentation of Martina Polasek (ICSID Secretariat), Prof. Yarik Kryvoi (BIICL), Kate Cervantes-Knox, (DLA Piper), Guglielmo Verdirame KC (Twenty Essex) and Dr. Anthony Sinclair (Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan) shared…

2022 Nigeria Arbitration Bill, 2022 Sierra Leone Arbitration Act, AAA Model BIT, Ad hoc arbitration, AfCFTA, Africa, World Arbitration Update

(Strasbourg University)/ /1 Comment

The second edition of the World Arbitration Update was held from 26 to 30 September 2022. The panels dedicated to the African region were held on September 28, and one of the panels focused on ‘Legal Developments in Sub-Saharan Africa’. The panel discussions provided an overview of and updates on the practice of arbitration in…

Achmea, ECT Withdrawal, Energy Charter Treaty, modernisation process, World Arbitration Update

(Georgetown University Law Center)/ /Leave a comment

The Second Edition of the World Arbitration Update (WAU) took place from September 26 to September 30, 2022. This post highlights the panel on “Taking Stock of the ECT Modernization Process: Fit for the 21st Century?”. The panel was moderated by WAW Co-founder José Antonio Rivas (Xtrategy LLP/Georgetown Law). He was joined by Daniela-Olivia Ghicajanu (Georgetown…

Achmea, ECT Modernisation, European Court of Justice, European Union, Fair and Equitable Treatment, fossil fuels phase out, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS Reform, right to regulate, Treaty Making

(Seven Summits Arbitration), (University of Copenhagen), and (Hasselt University )/ /Leave a comment

The Centre for International Law and Governance, University of Copenhagen, in cooperation with Hasselt University and Seven Summits Arbitration, recently hosted an expert roundtable on “The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) at a Crossroads”. The discussion, moderated by the three authors of this post, focused on the relationship between investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), investment protection, modernization…

Guatemala, Investment, Latin America, stabilization clauses, Tax incentives

(Georgetown University Law Center)/ /Leave a comment

On September 19, 2022, the Guatemalan Congress enacted the Act for Promotion of Investment of Foreign Capital, 46-2022 (Ley de Fomento de Inversión de Capital Extranjero) (the “Act”), which came into force on September 27, 2022. The Act aims to promote investment projects from foreign capital in Guatemala. The Act gives special treatment to foreign…

Applicable Law, Civil Law, Common Law, Iura Novit Curia

and (Linklaters)/ /2 Comments

An arbitrator’s authority to rely on a law that was not pleaded by the parties has been the subject of extensive discussions in the literature. Anecdotal evidence suggests that civil law jurisdictions broadly tend to adopt a more liberal approach to recognizing such authority in international arbitration, while common law jurisdictions, on the other hand,…