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…
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…
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…
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 –…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
On 15 January 1986, Ecuador signed the Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of other States (“ICSID Convention”). During President Rafael Correa´s administration (2007-2017), President Correa publicly expressed his hostility towards the ICSID Convention and the international investment protection system. In 2008, Ecuador denounced over a third of its bilateral…
The relationship between commercial arbitration and European human rights law raises a number of conceptually difficult issues. How can the State be regarded as responsible at all for conduct of private arbitral proceedings? And how does the concept of an independent and impartial tribunal apply to a decision-making body appointed by the parties themselves? The…
In the wake of BEG (see Part I), what conclusions can we draw about the place of arbitral independence and impartiality in the ECtHR’s Article 6 jurisprudence? State Responsibility and Private Arbitral Proceedings Is a contracting State now in principle answerable under the Convention for the conduct of all private arbitral proceedings taking place…
The Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC) has further strengthened its arbitration offering by adopting brand new, stand-alone investment arbitration and mediation rules, the VIAC Rules of Investment Arbitration and Mediation (VRI), which entered into force on 1 July 2021. The VRI apply to disputes involving a State, a State-controlled entity or an intergovernmental organization that…
Conflicts of interest between parties and arbitrators are common in arbitration proceedings. However, the academic community has not yet examined whether arbitral institutions may also run into conflicts of interest. This post will deal with this question and also examine measures that can mitigate any such risks of conflicts of interest for arbitral institutions. The…
An increasing number of anti-arbitration injunctions applications have come before the Malaysian courts within the last two years. Anti-arbitration injunctions can take various forms but are essentially judicial orders restraining the initiation or continuation of arbitration proceedings in Malaysia or, as the case may be, a foreign jurisdiction. What has emerged from the Malaysian courts…
In a judgment dated 22 June 2021, the Paris Court of Appeal ruled that liability claims against arbitrators fall within the “arbitration exception” of Article 1(2)(d) of the Brussels I recast regulation, leading to the application of French private international law rules to determine the competent courts. The Paris Court of Appeal further considered that…
The Singapore Court of Appeal (“CA”) recently handed down CBX and anor v CBZ and ors [2021] SGCA(I) 3 (“CBX”), setting aside, exceptionally, the awards.1)The views expressed in this article are solely the views of the authors, and are not representative of the organisations they are affiliated with. Significantly, the law was clarified, to a…
The institution of emergency arbitration (EA), in general, and its usage in investment treaty-based disputes, in particular, is a relatively new procedural tool. In investment disputes, EA has reportedly been carried out in practice only under the Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (the “SCC Rules”). Conducting EA proceedings in…
There have been significant legal developments in recent times in Australia concerning the proper choice of law applicable to an arbitration agreement. Cases have centred on how to give effect to parties’ choice. But there are other laws which, despite not being chosen by the parties as the law applicable to the arbitration agreement, may…
In a series of recent posts (Part I, Part II and Part III), I argued that states should not ratify the Hague Choice of Court Agreements Convention (“Convention”) and, if they had already done so, that they should denounce the Convention. Two good friends, Trevor Hartley and João Ribeiro-Bidaoui, recently responded on Kluwer Arbitration Blog…
This post continues from Part I. Party Autonomy and Consent: How the Convention Undermines Them My previous posts argued that the Convention undermines vital protections that existing law provides for party autonomy and genuine consent. In response, Mr. Ribeiro argues that the Convention advances notions of party autonomy: it supposedly serves to “enable parties to…
Gary Born, in a three-part series in Kluwer Arbitration Blog last month, addressed why States should not participate in the 2005 Hague Convention on Choice Of Court Agreements (“Hague Convention”). We assume that readers are familiar with Mr. Born’s posts (available as Part I, Part II, and Part III), and so we will confine ourselves to recalling this…
The HCCH 2005 Choice of Court Convention (“Convention“), adopted over fifteen years ago, has recently become the subject of damning criticism from Gary Born in a series of posts published on the Blog (see Part I, Part II, and Part III). In the series, Born dramatically suggests that states bound by the Convention should denounce…
Founded in 2013, the New York International Arbitration Center (“NYIAC”) is a non-profit organization that promotes and enhances the conduct of international arbitration in New York, offers educational programming, and operates arbitration hearing facilities in New York City. Rekha Rangachari is NYIAC’s current Executive Director. In addition to her work with NYIAC, Rekha holds leadership…
