Aviation, Construction, Construction arbitration, COVID-19, Energy, Financial Industry, Insurance, Procedure, Remote hearings, Virtual hearings

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London), (Hanotiau & van den Berg), and (Zulficar & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

This is the second of a two-part blog post series for an upcoming publication titled International Arbitration and the COVID-19 Revolution edited by us. As detailed in Part 1 of this series, the book contains 17 chapters from 31 leading international arbitration practitioners. The focus of the contributions range from procedural topics in international arbitration…

Bribery, Corruption

(FTI Consulting) and (Ernst & Young UK)/ /Leave a comment
ArbitralWomen

Corruption has been a hot topic in investor-state arbitration in recent years. This is particularly the case in situations where Claimant investors are alleged to have procured their original investment through bribery, which, if proven, may lead to tribunals denying their claims, especially under ICSID. Many commentators have focused on legal aspects such as the…

Anti-arbitration Injunction, Arbitration, Foreign seat, India

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A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court (Calcutta HC) recently delivered a judgement in Balasore Alloys Ltd. v. Medima LLC which revived the debate regarding whether a ‘civil court has jurisdiction to grant anti-arbitration injunctions in foreign seated arbitrations?’ This decision requires a careful examination because of its impact on 1) the arbitration-friendly reputation…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration institution, China, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Arnold & Porter) and / /Leave a comment

In any arbitration, the parties’ choice of seat normally determines the legal regime under which an arbitration is conducted and any award is enforced.1)At the beginning of her career, Tereza was a tribunal secretary to Dr. Jane Willems in her role as sole arbitrator in the arbitration case at hand: Brentwood Industries, Inc. v. Guangdong…

Arbitral seat, Arbitration Agreement, Arbitration institution, China, Recognition and enforcement of arbitral award

(Arnold & Porter) and / /Leave a comment

In Part I of our post, we discussed the long-standing uncertainties existing in China about what legal regime governs arbitrations administered by foreign arbitral institutions.1)At the beginning of her career, Tereza was a tribunal secretary to Dr. Jane Willems in her role as sole arbitrator in the arbitration case at hand: Brentwood Industries, Inc. v….

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration Agreement, Choice of Law, English courts, International arbitration, Law governing the arbitration agreement, Proper law of arbitration agreement, UK Supreme Court, Validation

(Mihaela Maravela Law Office)/ /Leave a comment

In its recent decision of 9 October 2020 in Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO “Insurance Company Chubb” & Ors [2020] UKSC 38 (Enka), the UK Supreme Court upheld the decision of the England and Wales Court of Appeal earlier this year restraining Chubb Russia from proceeding with parallel court proceedings in Russia, but…

Arbitration, Enforcement, Insolvency, Thailand

(Tilleke & Gibbins)/ /Leave a comment

The economic downturn in Thailand has resulted in increased pressure on Thai debtors. Several banks have forecasted Thailand’s gross domestic product (GDP) to contract 8.1 percent in 2020 due to a more severe than expected COVID-19 pandemic and the containment measures implemented by governments in many countries including Thailand. Creditors who are party to an…

CISG, International arbitration, Party autonomy

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The relationship between arbitration and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“CISG” or “Convention”) is not a clear one, and the question of when an arbitrator is bound to apply the CISG is still not answered with clarity either by scholars or by practitioners. At a recent conference organized…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, Investment Arbitration

(McNair International )/ /1 Comment

In its decision of 11 June 2020, an ICSID Annulment Committee annulled an award in Eiser and Energia Solar Luxembourg v. Spain, ICSID Case No. ARB/13/36. It did so on the grounds that the arbitrator appointed by the investors, Stanimir Alexandrov, and his former law firm, Sidley Austin, had worked so closely and frequently with…

ASA Bulletin

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE) and (LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

We are happy to report that the latest issue of the ASA Bulletin is now available and includes the following articles and cases:   ARTICLES Felix DASSER, ASA – Swiss Home of Arbitration In his message as ASA President, Felix DASSER addresses the future of Swiss arbitration and the initiatives recently launched by ASA to…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration Proceedings, arbitrators’ conduct, Challenge of Arbitral Award, COVID-19, Procedure, Remote hearings, Virtual hearings

(WilmerHale & Queen Mary University of London), (Hanotiau & van den Berg), and (Zulficar & Partners)/ /Leave a comment

The COVID-19 pandemic has exerted an unprecedented impact on individuals, entities, businesses, and states. National court systems and alternative dispute resolution regimes have also been severely affected. Yet, international arbitration has demonstrated itself to be both adaptable and resilient throughout the crisis and emerged more strongly positioned as a method of dispute resolution for a…

Abu Dhabi, ADGM

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Offshore courts in the UAE have long been used as conduit jurisdictions, particularly by international parties seeking to enforce foreign arbitral awards. The Abu Dhabi Global Markets (“ADGM”) and Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) have signed Memoranda of Understanding (“MoU”) with onshore authorities, pursuant to which onshore Emirati courts agree to recognise and enforce ADGM/DIFC…

Chile, COVID-19, Emergency Law, International Commercial Arbitration, Santiago, Suspension of Proceedings

, (Ugarte & Correa)/ /Leave a comment

Chile confirmed its first case of COVID-19 on March 3, 2020. Since then, Chilean institutions have designed several solutions to adjust their operation during the sanitary crisis.1) Specifically, the President declared a “state of constitutional exception of catastrophe”, which allows the Executive branch to take an array of measures to face the sanitary crisis. See:…

Arbitrability, Fraud, India

(School of Law, Christ University)/ /Leave a comment

The Supreme Court of India (“Supreme Court”) recently ruled on the arbitrability of fraud in the case of Avitel Post Studioz Ltd. v. HSBC PI Holdings [2020] (“Avitel”). The judgement lays down the tests to determine “serious allegations of fraud” and thereby disputes which cannot be resolved through arbitration. Various developments in the jurisprudence of…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitration, Court Assistance, International arbitration, Provisional measures, Removal of arbitrator, Swiss Civil Procedure Code, Swiss Private International Law Act, Switzerland

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The draft bill for the revision of the 12th Chapter of the Swiss Private International Law (“PILA”) was recently approved by the Swiss legislator (as analyzed previously on this blog). Besides permitting the filing of set-aside motions in the English language, the provisions regulating the court assistance have also been revised and adjusted with the…

Additional Award, Arbitral Award, Arbitration, Functus Officio, New York, Partial award, United States

(Chaffetz Lindsey LLP)/ /1 Comment
International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR)

In a recent decision, New York State’s highest court (the New York Court of Appeals) rejected an argument that a tribunal exceeded its authority, as to warrant vacatur, when it reconsidered and corrected an earlier decision rendered in a “partial final award.”  The Court concluded that arbitrators are not functus officio to reconsider an interim…

China, CIETAC, Hong Kong, Party Representation

(Zhong Lun Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

The arbitration laws of many established arbitral jurisdictions, for instance, the English Arbitration Act 1996, German Code of Civil Procedure, the Swedish Arbitration Act 2019 (see post on the revised Act here) and the US Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, place no restrictions as to who may act as a party representative in an arbitration. The…

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:   Mees Brenninkmeijer & Fabien Gélinas, Execution Immunities and the Effect of the Arbitration Agreement The prevailing view in international legal practice is that a state does not waive its immunity from execution by…

Discovery, SCOTUS, Section 1782 Discovery, United States Courts

(MacGrath Arbitration) and (Omni Bridgeway)/ /Leave a comment
ArbitralWomen

On 22 September 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit joined the Second and Fifth Circuits1)The Seventh Circuit includes the U.S. federal district courts of Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin. in narrowly interpreting the statutory language “foreign or international tribunal” in 28 U.S.C. § 1782(a), holding that Section 1782 does not authorize U.S. discovery for…

Arbitrability, Brazil, Franchising Contracts

(Salusse, Marangoni, Parente e Jabur Advogados) and (CAM-CCBC)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Brazil’s new Franchising Law (Law No. 13.966/19) was published on December 27th, 2019 and became effective as of March 27th, 2020. One of the innovations (more of a confirmation) set forth by the new legislation is the provision contained in article 7, paragraph 1, which states that “the parties may resort to arbitration to resolve…

Arbitration, Brexit, European Union, UK

(Schoenherr)/ /Leave a comment
Schoenherr

In early September 2020, the United Kingdom (‘UK’) Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, conceded in no uncertain terms that the UK Internal Market Bill would violate public international law, albeit only in “a very specific and limited way“. This immediately caused controversy, to put it mildly. The EU Commission did not take…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, investor-State arbitration and mediation, Mediation, Mediation and Dispute Management

(Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes )/ /Leave a comment

Of the six States that have ratified the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (“Convention”) only Singapore seems to have made any requisite preparation for its implementation, by passing the Singapore Convention Mediation Act in February 2020. Yet, following the Convention’s entry into force on 12 September 2020, forthcoming developments in…

AfCFTA, Africa, International Investment Law, International Mediation, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, Investor-State arbitration, investor-State arbitration and mediation, ISDS

(Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation)/ /2 Comments

Many see the Pan-African Investment Code (PAIC), a model instrument adopted by the African Union (AU) in 2015, as the first step toward the ‘africanization’ of international investment law. While several national and regional instruments on foreign investments had been adopted by African States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) prior to the PAIC, the latter’s…

International Mediation, Investment Treaties, investor-State arbitration and mediation

, , (Centre for International Law)/ /Leave a comment

Aron Broches, the chief architect of the ICSID Convention, said in 1964 that the role of conciliation in the Convention’s framework may prove to be more important than arbitration. There is little doubt that more than 50 years later, this forecast by one of international investment law’s giants has not yet become a reality. The…