On 15 January 2021, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“DC Circuit Court”) handed down its decision in LLC SPC Stileks v. Republic of Moldova, No. 19-7106 (D.C. Cir. 2021)—a case concerning the confirmation of an arbitral award against the Republic of Moldova. The US courts confirmed the award…
The onset of COVID-19 has brought significant volatility to financial markets and increased uncertainty for investors and businesses of all classes. In the arena of international arbitration, where stakes can be in the multibillions, the ability to assess damages despite this uncertainty is of paramount importance. This post will address some insights from the webinar…
Cases involving African parties contribute to a significant number of International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) cases. Indeed, 15% of ICSID cases involve parties from sub-Saharan Africa and 18% of ICSID cases involve parties from Middle East and North Africa. The UNCTAD database of Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) cases records 145…
On 21 January 2021, the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) had the opportunity to speak with Claudia Salomon, the incoming first woman President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC Court), with closing remarks by Yves Derains, a former ICC Secretary General. RAI founders Rocío Digón (White & Case), Ana Gerdau de Borja Mercereau (Derains…
In accordance with S20.C of the Code of Sports-Related Arbitration (the Code), the Appeals Arbitration Division (AAD) of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) has jurisdiction “to resolve disputes concerning the decisions of federations, associations or other sports-related bodies insofar as the statutes or regulations of the said sports-related bodies or a specific agreement…
Latvia is an infamous unicorn in the field of arbitration because of its record-number of institutional arbitration courts. In November 2013, there were 214 arbitration courts in Latvia. Regretfully, this is not because we as a nation love arbitration that much. Liberal regulations have allowed any legal entity to establish an arbitration court which to…
On 23 February 2021, the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) and HK45 co-hosted the third installment of the webinar series The Rising Arbitrator’s Challenge: Navigating the Promise and Perils of Your First Appointments. As the webinar series aims to shed light on different jurisdictions, the third installment focused on Asia. The overarching topic addressed the thorny…
Technology continues to transform the practice of law at a blistering pace – something obvious to all of us who suddenly find ourselves holding Zoom meetings from home in professional tops – and pyjama bottoms. However, technology’s continuing integration into the daily fabric of dispute resolution is much more than endless Zoom meetings, or even…
In a recent High Court case, it was held that a reference in a contract to the “court” did not mean a court at all but meant instead – perhaps alarmingly – arbitration. This decision in Helice Leasing S.A.S. v PT Garuda Indonesia (Persero) TbK [2021] EWHC 99 (Comm) may be a cause of concern…
This month, we formed the arbitral tribunal in our billion dollar investment dispute. Against the odds, the parties selected a majority female tribunal. What is more, they chose a female President. At around the same time, a leading US firm picked a woman as both its chair and managing partner for the first time ever….
Each of the major arbitral institutions requires that parties furnish some form of advance on costs before an arbitration can proceed. The advance on costs is a deposit paid by the parties to cover fees and expenses of the tribunal and the institution’s administrative expenses (“Advance”). Whilst payment of an Advance is often perceived as…
The recent crisis between the Brazilian president Jair Messias Bolsonaro and the Brazilian national oil company Petrobras may result in a wave of investors’ claims submitted to arbitration against the Brazilian Federal Government for abuse of controlling power and breach of fiduciary duties under the Brazilian Companies Act 1976. During a live broadcast on February…
In recent years the arbitration community has embraced digitalisation. Already before the pandemic we were exploring the use of legal tech and even thinking of how artificial intelligence would profoundly change our business and our profession. Most likely the form and content of the services we provide will be different in the future due to…
Investor-state international arbitration may provide a way forward for Survivors and their heirs after the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision denying claims in two restitution cases regarding Holocaust-era stolen property: Federal Republic of Germany v. Philipp (for return of Medieval art stolen by the Nazis) along with the companion case of Republic of Hungary v. Simon…
The 2015 Arbitration Regulations of the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”), the Abu Dhabi-based financial free zone, (the “2015 ADGM Arbitration Regulations”) (consolidated text The Amendment focuses on a number of areas to enhance the efficient operation of the 2015 ADGM Arbitration Regulations, including in particular a clarification of the scope of an arbitration agreement…
When starting as the secretary general of the Finland Arbitration Institute (FAI) almost two years ago I wanted to properly understand what it is that we do and how we can reach our full potential in it. I had been a part of the arbitration community, arbitrating, teaching and doing research for long enough to…
“To disclose or not to disclose?” no longer seems to be a question for international arbitrators. The narrative and policy space surrounding the independence and impartiality of international arbitrators has been consistently driven towards maximum disclosure obligations. This is evidenced in recent legal instruments seemingly blurring the lines between the recognized ethical standards for arbitrators,…
For more than a decade, it was evident that anti-suit injunctions are not permitted in the European Union. Recently, however, there have been developments that could signal the beginning of a new dawn. In late 2019, the Higher Regional Court Munich confirmed the first anti-anti-suit injunction in German history. The court prohibited Continental from further…
Regardless of whether you are a sports enthusiast, the Swiss Federal Tribunal’s recent revision of the CAS award in WADA v. Sun Yang is unlikely to have escaped your attention. In its judgment of 22 December 2020 (4A_318/2020), the Swiss Federal Tribunal referred the Chinese swimmer’s case back to CAS, overturning an eight-year ban. A…
There is still a common misconception among foreign arbitration practitioners that in post-soviet countries the courts often tend to refuse recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards based on public policy. Is this characterisation fair with respect to Ukraine? There have been five recent cases in Ukraine on violation of public policy, with some landmark decisions…
On 23 October 2020, Japan and the United Kingdom (UK) signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the agreement coming into force on 1 January 2021. This signifies a historic landmark as the UK’s first trade deal as an independent nation, and represents a key milestone for international trade in a post-Brexit UK. The…
Five years ago, the Brazilian Arbitration Act (Law No. 9,307/96 or BAA) was amended by the Law No. 13,129/2015. Law No. 13,129/2015 repealed the item V of Article 32 of the BAA which provided for the annulment of an arbitral award when it does not address the entire dispute submitted to arbitration (infra petita award)….
The “2019 in Review: India” started with a quote from Jeff Bezos that the 21st century belongs to India. Little did we know then that, one year later, Jeff Bezos’ Amazon would be fighting tooth and nail in a SIAC arbitration and related litigation in the Indian courts to claim a share of the burgeoning…
What is perhaps the greatest source of praise for an arbitrator? A party or lawyer who believes that they lost the case, but has positive things to say about that arbitrator. That is the criteria Arbitrator Intelligence started with to select its Arbitrators of the Year for 2020 and other Distinguished Arbitrators. Intensive debate exists…
