Africa, BIT, Business and Human Rights Arbitration, Human Rights, Regime Interaction, Treaty, Treaty drafting

, (K&L Gates Straits Law LLC) and (University of Sydney Law School)/ /Leave a comment

This post shares a development of potential significance, i.e., the drafting of the Sustainable Investment Facilitation & Cooperation Agreement (SIFCA), a next-generation model bilateral investment treaty (BIT) developed for The Gambia, a sovereign State in West Africa and one of the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). This post continues the discussion raised in January 2021,…

Award Scrutiny, Awards, Court Proceedings, India

(JSA, Advocates & Solicitors) and , (J. Sagar Associates)/ /Leave a comment

It is no secret that Indian courts have previously faced criticism over their excessive interference in arbitral awards. However, there has been a course-correction in recent years, through legislation and judicial decisions. With the 2015 amendments to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 (“Act”), it is clear that judicial scrutiny of arbitral awards should be…

Construction arbitration, ICDR, M&A

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On 20 October 2021, the Bucharest International Arbitration Court (“BIAC”) and the American Arbitration Association – International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”) held a conference on the latest arbitration trends and the new ICDR International Dispute Resolution Procedures (“Conference”). The Conference kicked off with a welcome speech by Annet van Hooft (FCIArb, BIAC Honorary President,…

Canada, Domestic arbitration

(Fasken LLP, VanIAC)/ /Leave a comment

British Columbia (“BC”) was the first Canadian jurisdiction to introduce modern arbitration legislation based on international standards in the UNCITRAL Model Law in 1986. Despite being an early leader in arbitration in Canada, BC did not update its domestic legislation for over two decades, which caused some increasing discrepancies between BC’s arbitration legislation, the UNCITRAL…

Admissibility, English courts, English Law, Jurisdiction, Pre-arbitral procedure, UK

, (Jenner & Block)/ /Leave a comment

Arbitration agreements often provide that certain procedural steps must be undertaken before arbitration is commenced, such as mediation or negotiation. This provides a ‘cooling-off period’ in which the parties can seek to resolve their dispute amicably before resorting to formal proceedings. When a party fails to satisfy a pre-arbitration procedural step and launches prematurely into…

New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Null and void, United States, United States Courts, USA

(Musick, Peeler & Garrett LLP)/ /Leave a comment

In CLMS Mgmt. Servs. et al. v. Amwins Brokerage et al., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit considered whether a state law (by operation of the federal McCarran-Ferguson Act, which gives states the authority to regulate the business of insurance) voiding arbitration agreements in insurance contracts reverse-preempted Article II, Section 3 of…

Arbitrators, Party appointed arbitrator, Party autonomy, party-appointed

(Africa Arbitration Academy ), (Addis Law Group LLP), and / /Leave a comment

On 12 October 2021, the Africa Arbitration Academy organized its annual debate themed “Battle of the Titans” as part of its 2021 Flagship Training Programme. The debate was moderated by Dr. Emilia Onyema, Professor of International Commercial Law, SOAS University of London and featured two pre-eminent arbitration practitioners – Prof. Gary Born and Prof. Jan…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitration, Arbitrators

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Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory U.S. announced enhancements to Arbitrator Tool and a new Relationship Assessment Tool within Kluwer Arbitration Practice Plus (KAPP). Integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning with Wolters Kluwer’s arbitration expertise, the new features will provide arbitration professionals with valuable insights to assess arbitrators, properly advise their clients, and increase their rate…

Conflicts of interest, Law Firms, Legal Practice, United States

(Arizona State University, Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law) and (University of Iowa College of Law)/ /Leave a comment
Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

For years, Australia and the U.K. have been the pioneering jurisdictions regarding ownership of law firms. Now, there’s a new kid on the block.  Recent developments in a few U.S. states, predominantly Arizona, and a new approach by the American Bar Association (ABA) signal a broad reexamination of the long-entrenched prohibition on non-lawyer participation (ownership…

M&A, Paris Arbitration Week

(Addleshaw Goddard LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Jeantet

This post is a non-exhaustive summary of a hybrid conference organised during the Paris Arbitration Week 2021 by Jeantet. The panel discussed international arbitration of M&A Disputes, and in particular the types of non-monetary relief which parties to such transactions may seek. The panel, moderated by Dr. Ioana Knoll-Tudor (Jeantet, partner), was composed of Francois…

Double taxation, Nationality, Tax Obligations, Treaty Shopping, UNCTAD

(KPMG Switzerland)/ /Leave a comment

The two worlds are not that apart. In March 2021, UNCTAD released a report which addresses the potential implications of International Investment Agreements (IIAs) for tax-related measures. According to UNCTAD, both the IIAs regime and double taxation treaties (DTTs) address similar challenges, eg. indirect ownership, mailbox companies and time-sensitive restructuring. The report emphasizes that some…

Arbitration Agreements, Dubai, Jurisdiction, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law

(Al Owais Advocates & Legal Consultants)/ /Leave a comment

The United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) has taken strides in increasingly accepting arbitration as the parties’ chosen dispute resolution mechanism. It is now well established that UAE courts would respect the parties’ agreement on arbitration and uphold valid arbitration clauses. In fact, Article 8(1) of the Federal Law on Arbitration, No. 6 (2018) (“UAE Arbitration Law”)…

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

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On 27 October 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (the Court) issued a judgment in Kabab-Ji SAL v Kout Food Group [2021] UKSC 48. The Court upheld the earlier decision of the Court of Appeal finding that the law applicable to the arbitration agreement was the English choice of law for the whole…

DIAC, DIFC, Dubai

(Baker McKenzie Habib Al Mulla) and (Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi)/ /1 Comment

Dubai’s Decree 34 of 2021 (“Decree”) and its appended statute on DIAC (“Statute”) were promulgated on 14 September 2021. The Decree consolidates the local arbitration centres under a new-and-improved DIAC (“DIAC 2.0”), and notably abolishes the DIFC Arbitration Institute (“DIFC-LCIA”), marking the beginning of a new era for arbitration in Dubai. From the outset, DIAC…

Damages, Fair market value, World Arbitration Update

, (Concepción Global, PLLC, Universidad Complutense de Madrid), and (Xtrategy LLP)/ /1 Comment

The first edition of the World Arbitration Update (WAU) founded by Ian Laird (Crowell) and Jose Antonio Rivas (Xtrategy) took place on-line from October 11 to October 15, 2021, hosting 15 panels with over 4,000 registrations and 1,476 attendees. The WAU addressed key and novel topics of investment and international commercial arbitration, and public international law in…

Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Enforcement, NFT, Smart Contracts, Technology, YSIAC Conference

(Hogan Lovells Lee & Lee)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

On 10 November 2021, YSIAC Conference 2021 ARBXTalk and panel discussion canvassed a myriad of dynamic developments in the arbitration space, amongst which included the impact of cryptocurrency, blockchain and non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) (collectively referred to as “CBNFT”) on arbitral disputes, the enforcement of awards, and how practitioners can adapt to digital transformations and disruptions…

Corruption, Environment, ESG, International Investment Arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Investment Disputes, Investment law, Investor-State arbitration, Renewable energy, YSIAC Conference

(Oon & Bazul LLP)/ /Leave a comment
YSIAC

Earlier this week, the YSIAC Conference 2021 took place virtually for the first time since its inception. The opening webinar was a panel discussion titled “Resolving ESG Disputes Through International Arbitration”, which agenda was to analyse the disputes in the buzzing environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) domain, distil the trends and lessons learnt therefrom, and…

Iran, Sanctions, United States

, (AZHA Avocats)/ /Leave a comment

This post, which follows up on a recent submission in respect of the impact of asset freezes on arbitral and financial institutions, addresses some of the issues that may be faced by such institutions as a result of restrictions that form part of the United States’ secondary sanctions against Iran. A third and final post…

arbitration rules, CMAP, France, Paris

, (Signature Litigation Paris)/ /Leave a comment

Established in 1995 by the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Paris Centre for Mediation and Arbitration (“CMAP”) is a prominent Parisian institution specializing in both arbitration and mediation, which adopts a resolutely business-focused approach to dispute resolution. If the CMAP mostly deals with internal matters, approximately one third of the disputes submitted to…

Korea, Maritime Arbitration, Shipping, Singapore

(Virtus Law LLP (Stephenson Harwood (Singapore) Alliance)) and (Peter & Kim)/ /Leave a comment

This post examines the distinctive features and positive aspects of the maritime arbitration infrastructure of Singapore and South Korea while also exploring areas in which there is room for improvement in order to make these regional centers attractive to a wider international audience.1)Inni In Young Choi of Shin & Kim also contributed to this post. …

Emergency Arbitrator, Enforcement, India, Interim measures

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 In August 2021, the Indian Supreme Court (‘Court’) in Amazon v. Future found an emergency award rendered in an arbitration seated in India (New Delhi) to be enforceable as if it were an interim order of an arbitral tribunal under Section 17(1) of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act (“Act”). The Court also found that such…

Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, Arbitration Proceedings, Language of arbitration

(McNair International )/ /Leave a comment
Peter & Kim

The claim that arbitrators do not speak Esperanto may seem so obvious that it should not be stated at all. The artificial language was conceived in the late nineteenth century by Ludwik Lejzer Samenhof as a simple, neutral language that was not tied to any one culture. People of different national and ethnic groups would…

Arbitration Agreements, Litigation, SCOTUS, United States, United States Courts

(Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP)/ /2 Comments

John Steinbeck’s classic novella, “Of Mice and Men,” took a modern day form in the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this week – appropriately enough, for purposes of this blog, in an arbitration matter.  As others have commented on social media, during oral argument in Badgerow v. Walters, Case No. 20-1143 (U.S. S. Ct.), the Supreme…

Appeal, Procedural Error, Procedural Fairness, Procedural Order, Set aside an arbitral award, Set aside an international arbitral award, Singapore, Witness

and (WongPartnership LLP)/ /Leave a comment

It is trite that an award may be set aside if there has been a breach of the rules of natural justice. This may arise from, among others, a tribunal’s procedural ruling. However, during the arbitration, there is no recourse for parties to challenge such procedural rulings. This was the situation in CBS v CBP…