On January 23, 2024, the Paris Court of Appeal (“CoA”) dismissed an action for annulment of an arbitral award on public policy grounds, namely a violation of EU competition law. The ruling casts further light on the standard of judicial review applicable to annulment proceedings in France. In particular, it is instructive with regard to…
Latvia has recently taken significant steps to amend its arbitration law, introducing a set-aside mechanism among other necessary changes. This article provides an overview of the background to these changes, the specifics of the new set-aside mechanism, and other amendments made to the Latvian arbitration law. Background Elimination of any or all grounds for…
In a recent judgement rendered in H1 and another v W and others [2024] EWHC 382, the English Commercial Court removed a sole arbitrator under section 24 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “EEA”). This removal was based on statements made by the arbitrator regarding the way he would treat expert witness evidence that gave rise…
One month after the conclusion of the 26th ICCA Congress, we look back and reflect on this remarkable event in the narrative around international arbitration. This ICCA Congress had as its theme “International Arbitration: A Human Endeavour,” which highlighted arbitration as a human activity and the importance of arbitration in human society. The opening keynote…
The role of the United Kingdom (“UK”), particularly London, and of the European Union (“EU”) in the landscape of investment arbitration has been a central topic of discussions during the London International Dispute Week 2024 (“LIDW”). This post aims to provide a non-exhaustive account of some of the events which tackled this theme. On the…
Day 3 of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) featured an extensive discussion (the “Arbitral Institutions’ Congress”) by representatives of various arbitral institutions at the historic Parliament Chamber at Middle Temple co-hosted by McNair, Clyde & Co, and Osborne Clarke. The present post summarises the discussions held during the event. Statistics and Views From…
The 2024 London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) was stage to several discussions regarding mass litigations. This was definitely not by chance. Europe has been seeing an exponential rise in mass litigation, particularly in the last twenty years, where aspects arising from environmental, social and governance issues have started to become a trend worldwide. This post…
On 6 June 2024, Hogan Lovells and Twenty Essex co-hosted a London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) event on the topic “How Can Investment Protection Contribute to the Energy Transition?“. The event brought together leading experts to discuss the intersection of investment law and the global shift towards sustainable energy. The discussions were held under the…
The fourth day (06 June) of 2024 London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) tackled several complex issues in arbitration. This post will provide a brief overview of two such sessions, focusing on the rule of law in arbitration and on arbitration and regulations. These sessions provide a rather useful snippet into the complex challenges faced by…
On the final day of London International Disputes Week 2024 (“LIDW”), LALIVE and Kobre & Kim hosted an event on arbitration and enforcement involving sovereign States. The panel of speakers comprised Andrew Stafford KC and Nicholas Surmacz of Kobre & Kim, as well as Sandrine Giroud and Marc Veit of LALIVE. They explored issues relating…
This post summarizes an event hosted by Stewarts LLP as part of the 2024 London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) on the topic of third-party funding (“TPF”) regulation across various jurisdictions. Professor Rachael Mulheron (QMUL) covered England and Wales, Sanjeev Kapoor (Khaitan & Co) offered the Indian perspective, Dr Aseel Zimmo covered the Middle East and…
As part of the 2024 London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”), Kirkland & Ellis hosted an event titled “Panel Session on Sanctioned Countries”. The panel, comprised of Anna Bradshaw (Peters & Peters), James Freeman (A&O Shearman), Maya Lester KC (Brick Court Chambers), David Lorello (Covington & Burlington), Jon Newman (Kirkland & Ellis), and Dara Shagal (Pinna…
As part of the 2024 edition of the London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”), Reed Smith LLP hosted a panel on “Bank Collapse and ISDS: Arbitration Strategy and Dramatis Personae”. The panel, moderated by Lucy Winnington-Ingram (Reed Smith), comprised Kathleen Garrett (Reed Smith), Cameron Miles (3 Verulam Buildings), Lorena Fatás Pérez (Ministry of Justice of Spain),…
London International Disputes Week (“LIDW”) once again revisited the much-debated topic of ‘role played by artificial intelligence (“AI”) in arbitration’ with renewed vigour. There were more than seven events related to arbitration and AI at the LIDW. This post offers a brief insight into three key AI-related events at LIDW from the third day of…
As part of Day 3 of the London International Dispute Week (“LIDW”) 2024, Freeths LLP, Gatehouse Chambers and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb, London branch) organized a panel on “Lawyer (Mis)Behaviour International Arbitration”. The panel featured Mr Justice Robin Knowles CBE (High Court Judge of England and Wales), Dr Crina Baltag (University of Stockholm),…
As part of the London International Disputes Week 2024 International Arbitration Day, Kirkland & Ellis hosted a “Panel Session on Space – Arbitration for Low Earth Orbit Disputes and Beyond.” The panel comprised Artem Doudko (Osborne Clarke), Dr. Jan Frohloff (SRP, Germany), Oliver Grazebrook (Viasat), Rachael O’Grady (Mayer Brown), and Dr. Tanja Masson-Zwaan (Leiden University)….
London International Dispute Week (“LIDW”) 2024 kicked off with more than 700 people attending events starting with a thought-provoking keynote speech by Jan Paulsson – President of the, Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (“SCCA”) Court – on the topic “International Arbitration in the Year 2050: Shipwrecked or Basking on the Shores of the Promised Land?”,…
The centerpiece of the 2024 London International Disputes Week was the full day main Conference on Tuesday, 4 June, bringing together leaders from across the dispute resolution world to discuss the topical issues of the moment under the theme of Uniting for Global Challenge and Opportunity. The Conference was opened by Luke Harrison, partner…
For decades, Pakistan’s arbitration framework has faced criticism for its inconsistency and inefficiency, contributing to the country’s staggering backlog of over 2.26 million cases in the courts. This backlog includes cases affected by an ineffective arbitration regime that encourages arbitral matters to be taken to courts as a result of their extensive interventionist powers pursuant…
In recent years, the electronic signature of awards has become widely accepted under various laws and institutional rules, particularly as a result of the increased reliance on the virtual world caused by the pandemic. As discussed in a previous blog post, while some jurisdictions still require awards to be signed by wet ink signatures, many…
Can the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) be applicable to arbitration agreements? The literature has been divided on this matter, with several discernible approaches. This post explores the topic of applicability of the CISG to arbitration agreements from the perspective of the now (in)famous Enka v. Chubb case,…
On March 11, 2024, an ICSID arbitral tribunal (Juan Fernández-Armesto (President), Wendy Miles, Alexis Mourre), rendered an award in Encavis AG and Others v. Italy. The controversy follows some other 14 disputes initiated by EU investors against the Italian State under the Energy Charter Treaty (“ECT”) (some of these discussed here) and falls into the…
Although parts of CETA have been provisionally applied since 21 September 2017, the parts not subject to provisional application – including the investment chapter (CETA’s Chapter Eight) which covers investment protection and dispute resolution – are still pending domestic ratification procedures in 10 EU Member States. In parallel, CETA’s framework for investment protection and dispute…
In April 2023, the Chief Justice of Pakistan directed the formation of an Arbitration Law Review Committee (“ALRC”) to carry out a review of arbitration laws in Pakistan and propose reforms. The ALRC, which was formed under the aegis of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, was also directed to prepare legislation that would…
