Arbitrability, Brazilian Superior Court of Justice, Challenge of Arbitral Award, Competence-Competence, Malicious prosecution

, , (Centro Brasileiro de Mediação e Arbitragem)/ /Leave a comment

On November 3, 2021, a decision rendered by the Third Panel of the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice in the Special Appeal No. 1.953.212-RJ (OSX Construção Naval v. AGF Engenharia) was published under the opinion of Minister Nancy Andrighi. The decision addresses relevant issues for arbitration in Brazil and demonstrates the support given by Brazilian…

Confidentiality, Netherlands

(Houthoff)/ /2 Comments

Confidentiality is perceived to be one of the advantages of international (commercial) arbitration. Despite this, institutional arbitration rules are largely (or even completely) silent on the parties’ confidentiality obligations, leaving such issues to be determined by the parties and/or the tribunal or, in many cases, the applicable law. Defining what the duty of confidentiality –…

Washington Arbitration Week

(Derains&Gharavi, KU Leuven), , and (Xtrategy LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The Second Edition of the Washington Arbitration Week (WAW) took place from 29 November to 3 December 2021, hosting 16 panels. This post discusses the key issues raised in the panel called ‘Is the EU a Recalcitrant Entity? The Case of Domestic and Regional Judicial Decisions Non-Compliant with Invest­ment Awards’. Gene Burd (Fisher Broyles) moderated…

Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights, Washington Arbitration Week

, (Xtrategy LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The second edition of Washington Arbitration Week (WAW) drew attention to areas of synergy between corporate social responsibility (“CSR”), human rights assessments and international arbitration. Consistent with these themes, the panel “What can Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights Assessments teach to International Arbitration?” discussed the current legal status of this topic and future developments….

arbitration rules, Commercial Arbitration, Expedited arbitration, Latin America, Uruguay, Virtual hearings

, (FERRERE)/ /Leave a comment

As of January 1, 2022, the Conciliation and Arbitration Center of the Uruguayan Chamber of Commerce and Services (“Center”) has new Arbitration Rules (the “2021 Rules”) in force. They apply to cases filed from January 1, 2022 onwards. Following the trend of several other institutions in the region, who updated their rules in 2021, in…

Case Management, England, Insolvency, International arbitration

and (Brunel University London)/ /Leave a comment

Insolvency-related claims arising from contracts containing arbitration clauses continue to culminate in intriguing cases before the England and Wales High Court (a previous post on the Blog analysed the Riverrock Securities Limited v International Bank of St Petersburg (Joint Stock Company) [2020] EWHC 2483 (Comm)). In a recent case titled The Deposit Guarantee Fund for…

Canada, Interviews with Our Editors, VanIAC

(Woods LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Established in 1986, the Vancouver International Arbitration Centre (“VanIAC”, formerly known as the British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre) is an organization committed to offering additional dispute resolution paths, providing services to individuals and businesses who wish to resolve conflicts through mediation and arbitration.  Barry Penner Q.C. serves as VanIAC’s Managing Director. Mr. Penner, thank…

Arbitration Agreement, England, English courts, France, Law governing the arbitration agreement

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The recent judgment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court (the UKSC) in Kabab-Ji v Kout Foods (the Kabab-Ji judgment) has reopened issues concerning the differing approaches of English and French courts to determining the law governing arbitration agreements. The Kabab-Ji saga provides a case study on the English-French law divide and has been discussed at…

2021 in Review, Award Scrutiny, Derivative Claims, India, Joinder, Non-signatory, Seat of the arbitration, Third Party

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While the second wave of Covid-19 hit India harder in 2021 than in 2020, this did not hamper progression in the legal sphere. 2021 saw several notable arbitration-related developments including another amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Indian Arbitration Act”). Following on the tradition of the “2020 in Review: India” and “2019 in…

2021 in Review, Admissibility, Annulment, Corruption, Dual Nationals, French Law, Independence and Impartiality

(Laborde Law) and (Pinsent Masons)/ /Leave a comment

Following a fruitful 2020, 2021 also brought some noteworthy developments in France, that this post proposes to review on a general level. Overall, the Paris Court of Appeal (“the Court”) seems to have taken a slightly more exigent approach towards arbitration this year, while the Cour de cassation has overturned regrettable decisions. Admissibility and Waiver…

Costs, Court Proceedings

(KIAP) and (WKB)/ /Leave a comment

A party to arbitration proceedings may incur ancillary litigation costs, such as those associated with interim measures. Most academic commentary considering whether such expenditures actually constitute arbitration costs refers to professor Hanotiau, who states that costs related to litigation proceedings ancillary to arbitration do not generally fall under the umbrella of arbitration costs. As such,…

Cyprus, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Uncategorized

(Christos Georgiadis & Associates) and (University of Nicosia)/ /Leave a comment

Cyprus is a hub for international business transactions and tax structures. It is also a place where the assets of numerous multinational corporations and businesses are maintained. As such, it is a place which where the enforcement of international arbitration awards is frequently sought. In light of the above, one would expect Cyprus to be…

2021 in Review, International Investment Law, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investment protection, Investor-State arbitration, Ukraine

(Visiting Lawyer at Linklaters) and , (AVELLUM)/ /Leave a comment

The year 2021 has been the busiest year for Ukraine since 2008, with four investment arbitrations initiated against Ukraine. The odds were not always in Ukraine’s favour. Having secured the dismissal of the case for lack of jurisdiction in Littop and others v. Ukraine, Ukraine was defeated by the investor in Olympic Entertainment v. Ukraine….

ASA Bulletin

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

We are happy to report that the latest issue of the ASA Bulletin is now available and includes the following articles and case; we also add a brief glimpse of the articles of the first issue of 2022.   ARTICLES Felix DASSER, Calling a Spade a Spade In his message ASA President Felix DASSER invites…

Arbitration Act, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration institution, Belt Road Initiative, China, judicial review

(Tsinghua University Faculty of Law, Institute for International Dispute Settlement)/ /Leave a comment

A key characteristic of an international commercial arbitration award is its binding nature, although parties may still consent to non-binding arbitration. A consent to non-binding arbitration is problematic when the applicable law explicitly prescribes arbitration to be binding. Mainland China is such a jurisdiction. Thus, the issue of the validity of a non-binding arbitration agreement…

Achmea, Enforcement, EU Law, Europe, European Law, European Union, Intra-EU BITs, Intra-EU Investment Arbitration, Intra-EU ISDS

(Lenz & Staehelin)/ /Leave a comment

The extent to which different dispute resolution fora are willing to pay deference to the Court of Justice of the EU’s (“CJEU”) seminal (and controversial) Achmea decision is being closely observed by investors and States alike. 1) Not to mention the European Commission, which has sought to make itself heard in numerous proceedings relating to intra-EU…

Admissibility, Arbitrability, Jurisdiction, Singapore

, (Singapore Management University)/ /Leave a comment

The distinction between jurisdiction and admissibility (the “Distinction”) has important consequences in international arbitration. Chief among these is the determination of the permissible extent of a national court’s intervention regarding a final award;1)Gretta Walters, “Fitting a Square Peg into a Round Hole: Do Res Judicata Challenges in International Arbitration Constitute Jurisdictional or Admissibility Problems?” (2012)…

Journal of International Arbitration

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the journal is now available and includes the following contributions:   Kimberley A. Wade & Ula Cartwright-Finch, The Science of Witness Memory: Implications for Practice and Procedure in International Arbitration Witness evidence plays a lead role in international arbitrations, yet the reliability of witness…

Arbitration Agreement, Conflict of Laws, Hungary

(SMARTLEGAL Schmidt & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Conflict of laws issues can have a pivotal effect on the effectiveness of arbitration when state courts are asked to enforce arbitration agreements. Has the approach of Hungarian courts crystalized in the last few years in this respect? Can the contemporary Hungarian judicial practice and the new domestic legislation be characterized as arbitration friendly? This…

Arbitration Agreement, Canada, Non-signatory

(Woods LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Canadian courts are frequently asked to rule upon the effects of arbitration agreements in the context of potential class actions. For example, the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) has upheld arbitration clauses for most, if not all issues, disallowing class action recourse in Dell Computer Corp. v. Union des consommateurs(2007), Rogers Wireless Inc. v. Muroff…

Arbitration Tech Toolbox, Innovation, Metaverse, Online Dispute Resolution, Technology, Videoconferencing, Virtual hearings

(MetaverseLegal) and (Longriver Investment Partners)/ /Leave a comment

A lot has been said about virtual reality (VR) and the metaverse in recent months, but what is it like to actually use it? With one of the authors having recently organised the first-ever gathering in VR for international arbitration practitioners, we share some thoughts on the potential and limitations of this new medium for…

Corporate Restructuring, ICSID, ICSID contract-based disputes, ICSID Convention, ICSID denunciation, MFN extension, Peru, Sunset clause

(GST LLP) and (B. Cremades & Asociados)/ /Leave a comment

Before winning Peru’s presidential race in June 2021, Peruvian President Pedro Castillo vowed to withdraw Peru from the ICSID Convention and to renegotiate several of the country’s Bilateral Investment Treaties (“BIT’s”). According to the then-presidential candidate’s government plan (chapter XXI), ICSID tribunals are biased and “at the service of the multinational companies” in prejudice of…

Arbitrability, Arbitration, Corporate disputes, Turkey, Turkish Court of Cassation

, (Koç University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

Arbitration of commercial disputes is a common practice in Turkey, especially for those with an international element. The same, however, cannot be said for corporate law disputes, i.e. intra-corporate claims based on or concerning statutory rights, articles of association (“AoA”) or corporate resolutions. This has been the case due to a couple of judgments rendered…

Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award, Statistics, Ukraine

(Integrites), (Avellum), and (AVELLUM)/ /Leave a comment

In 2019 – 2020 a group of Ukrainian arbitration practitioners set out on an ambitious study of Ukrainian court decisions on recognition of arbitral awards. In this blog post, members of the group describe the background and methodology of the study and, most importantly, share its results.   Ukraine as an Arbitration Jurisdiction Ukrainian law…