Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Brazil, Case Management, Commercial Arbitration, Institutional Arbitration, Interview of our editors, Interviews with Our Editors, Latin America

(Locke Lord LLP) and (Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

Welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Ms. Coelho!  We are grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada (CAM-CCBC), and its administration of complex disputes, as well as about the attractiveness of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as seats for international arbitration. …

Annulment, Arbitral Secretary

, (QUINZ)/ /1 Comment

A recent, still unpublished, judgment of the French-speaking section of the Brussels Court of First Instance (Belgium) (the “Brussels court” or the “court”) provides an excellent opportunity to take stock of recent developments on the much-debated topic of delegation of tasks to arbitral secretaries. Russia famously put the arbitral secretary in the spotlight in the…

CAS arbitration, Court of Arbitration for Sport, double hatting, European Convention on Human Rights, European Court of Human Rights, Independence and Impartiality

, (Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler)/ /Leave a comment

On 8 June 2021, the Paris Court of appeal (CoA) rendered an interesting decision dealing with the issue of so-called “double hatting” in sports arbitration. The issue of double hatting can no longer arise with respect to proceedings before the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as Article S18(3) of the Code of Sports-related…

Africa, Arbitration Act, Arbitration Proceedings, Stay of Proceedings, Tanzania

, , (Bowmans Tanzania)/ /1 Comment

This post is in response to the post titled “The First Year of Tanzania’s 2020 Arbitration Act” published on the Kluwer Arbitration Blog on 21 April 2021. In the above-mentioned post, Katarina Jurisic and Michael Wietzorek analysed the provisions of Tanzania’s Arbitration Act 2020 (‘the Act’) and the effect that the Act would have on…

Arbitration Agreement, Choice of Law, New York Convention, Non-signatory, United States, United States Courts

, (Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

The United States Supreme Court’s June 2020 decision in GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC (“GE Energy“) made clear that, under U.S. law, a non-signatory to an arbitration agreement may invoke equitable estoppel to compel arbitration under Article II(3) of the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of…

Advocacy, International arbitration, Persuasion, Soft skills, Theater

(Law School of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru)/ /2 Comments

A few days ago I had the fortune of attending the fourth webinar of the Young ITA Mentorship Program – Speaker Series, entitled The (Sometimes Forgotten) Importance of the Arts and Psychology in Advocacy in International Arbitration. Part of the dialogue focused on reviewing whether theatrical study could be useful to lawyers in enhancing their…

India, Investment Arbitration

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In May 2021, India’s National Company Law Tribunal (‘NCLT’) ordered the liquidation of Devas Multimedia (‘Devas’), on grounds of it having been incorporated for fraudulent purposes. This is the latest turn in a long running dispute contested across multiple fora. In this post, I highlight that this could give rise to a third BIT claim…

Canada, Domestic Courts, forum non conveniens, Stay of Proceedings

, (Baker McKenzie)/ /Leave a comment

The COVID-19 pandemic has normalized virtual hearings. According to the Ontario Superior Court, this has made the doctrine of forum non conveniens obsolete. In Kore Meals LLC v Freshii Development LLC, 2021 ONSC 2896, in the context of an application to stay Canadian court proceedings in favour of arbitration in the U.S., the Ontario Superior Court…

Enforcement, India, Sovereign Immunity

, (Trilegal)/ /Leave a comment

There has been much debate about immunity this last year. While, most were discussing concepts of “herd immunity” against the novel coronavirus, the Delhi High Court (Court) ventured into and addressed aspects of “sovereign immunity”. In a batch of petitions (KLA Const Technologies v. The Embassy of the Afghanistan and Matrix Global v. Ministry of…

Arbitration Agreements, Construction arbitration, Dubai, MENA

, (MRP Advisory)/ /Leave a comment

The Dubai Court of Cassation, in its recent judgement, DCC 1308 of 2020, explored the effect of incorporation of arbitration clauses by reference. Typically, “incorporation by reference” refers to parties agreeing to incorporate arbitral clauses found in separate standard-form agreements (“SFAs”) into the agreement between the parties by making reference to the same. Such reference…

Investment Arbitration, ISDS, Japan, Trans-Pacific Partnership, Treaty

, (Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Singapore LLP)/ /1 Comment

On 2 June 2021, the British government announced that the existing 11 signatories (the “Parties”) to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (“CPTPP”) have agreed to the United Kingdom’s bid to begin the accession process.1)The signatories consist of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. International Trade…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration clause, India

(Khaitan & Co)/ /Leave a comment

This blog has previously discussed the illegality of unilateral appointments of sole arbitrators in India. However, a good beginning is only half the battle won.  Before one dwells further, it is important to gauge the Indian position on unilateral appointments.  First, as stated in TRF Ltd. v. Energo Engineering (“TRF”), if the nominated arbitrator is…

Uncategorized

(Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, National Law University)/ /1 Comment

In December 2020, the EU and UK concluded the negotiations of the  Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). This Agreement is a crucial step towards maintaining a long-standing relationship between the EU and the UK. One of the principal goals of the TCA is to achieve climate neutrality by 2050; with this objective, the treaty establishes…

Class arbitration, Institutional Rules, KCAB, Korea, Legislation

, (Barun Law LLC)/ /Leave a comment

In a class action lawsuit, a plaintiff or group of plaintiffs bring claims on behalf of similarly situated individuals. The legislatures in some civil law countries including Korea, have recently proposed or implemented measures allowing or expanding the use of class actions in their court systems. Considering that Korea currently does not have in place…

Enforcement, Piercing the Corporate Veil, Sovereign Immunity, state-owned

(Jindal Global Law School) and / /Leave a comment

In May 2021, Cairn Energy PLC filed a lawsuit before a New York Court to enforce a USD 1.2 billion investor-State arbitral award against India passed by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. It sought, in particular, a proclamation that State-owned entity (SOE), Air India “should be held jointly and severally responsible for India’s debts, including…

Colombia, Denial of Benefits, Italy, Model BIT

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First appearing in the 1970s, denial of benefits (DoB) clauses have proliferated, became more sophisticated, and evolved significantly and even beyond recognition as in the 2017 Colombian Model BIT. This post discusses such evolution and provides a taxonomy of the different versions of the clause.   Denial of Benefits Clauses in Outline Traditionally, DoB clauses…

Canada, Domestic Courts, Evidence, UNCITRAL Model Law, Yukos

(Woods LLP)/ /1 Comment

Much ink has been spilled on the 2014 Yukos arbitral awards, and rightfully so. They are notorious for collectively breaking the previous record for the largest arbitral award in history. Their magnitude (these were, in the tribunal’s words, “mammoth arbitrations”) also commands our attention, as do the issues at stake and the multiple companion arbitrations…

ECT Modernisation, Energy Charter Treaty, ISDS Reform

(Durham Law School) and (Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

From 20-26 July last year, this Blog ran a series on the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) modernisation process. The Energy Charter Conference (the Conference) had recently established a Modernisation Group (the Subgroup) to conduct the modernisation negotiations, and the series aimed to provide updates to readers on various aspects of that process. At the time…

ADR, SCC, SCC Rules

, (Hannes Snellman)/ /Leave a comment

In late May 2021, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce (“SCC”) announced its most recent dispute resolution tool – SCC Express, a process conducted under the SCC Rules for Express Dispute Assessment (the “Rules”). SCC Express is marketed as “… a fast and simple way to get a neutral, legal assessment of the disputed matter –…

Australia, Enforcement, ICSID, ICSID Convention, International Investment Arbitration, Sovereign Immunity, State Immunity, UK

, , (Clayton Utz)/ /Leave a comment

The International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID Convention) contains two provisions regulating compliance with arbitral awards. Article 53(1) provides that an award shall be binding on the parties. Article 54(1) requires each contracting State to recognise an ICSID award as binding. In this regard, it is common for parties to comply with…

Arbitration, Interim measures, Reform, Ukraine

(Selepey, Volkovetsky & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

In recent years, arbitration has been gaining traction in Ukraine as a fast and efficient method for dispute resolution. It was against this background that in December 2017 a long-awaited reform of procedural legislation was carried out (hereafter referred to as the ‘Reform’). The Reform introduced several pro-arbitration measures. Among these, the Reform sought to…

Accession to the EU, Achmea, CJEU, Micula, Romania, State Aid

(Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler)/ /Leave a comment

According to Advocate General Maciej Szpunar, the Micula case is symbolic of the ‘conflictual relationship’ between EU law and international investment law. Indeed, the European Commission has persistently objected to the execution of the ICSID award issued in Micula, not because of the principles of autonomy and mutual trust that underpinned the Achmea judgment, but…

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:   Gary Born, The 1933 Directives on Arbitration of the German Reich: Echoes of the Past? In 1933, the National Socialist government of the German Reich issued a collection of directives regarding the use…

Anti-arbitration Injunction, Russia, Sanctions

(Enyo Law LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In mid-2020, changes were enacted to the Russian Arbitrazh (Commercial) Procedure Code (“APC”) which established the exclusive jurisdiction of Russian Arbitrazh courts over cases where a Russian party is subject to sanctions or where the dispute has arisen out of sanctions. This raised concerns that sanctioned Russian parties would be able to easily avoid arbitration…