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…
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…
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…
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…
As has been previously reported in this blog (e.g., here and here), there exists a rising interest globally for alternative forms of dispute resolution (ADR) for investor-state disputes. Indicative examples from investment treaty-making confirm this, including the USMCA, CPTPP, the EU’s investment agreements with Canada, Singapore and Viet Nam, ACIA, and the China-Hong Kong CEPA…
In their reform discussions, States and arbitration institutions have been exploring the potential for investor-State mediation to work alongside arbitration, or even to replace it altogether for some disputes. While investor-State mediation has strengths relative to arbitration, any reform must carefully integrate mediation with existing processes and reform efforts.1)This post builds on: Esmé Shirlow, ‘The…
“Lo que yo sostengo es que el sol no durará eternamente”, fue la verdad resumida que uno de los personajes del cuento de ciencia ficción de Isaac Asimov, llamado “La última pregunta”, expresó a otro, mientras hablaban sobre qué pasaría con la humanidad cuando el sol se quede sin brillo. Su discusión sucedió durante el…
The Singapore Convention on Mediation entered into force on 12 September 2020. Its entry into force compels a deeper look at dispute resolution design for investor-state disputes, and encourages a reconsideration of the common choice of arbitration in favour of mediation for two main reasons. The first reason relates to enforcement as the entry into…
Arbitration has undoubtedly become the dominant international procedure for settling investor-State disputes. Over the years, we have published various posts on the Blog that have considered intersections and tensions between arbitration and other, alternative, forms of investor-State dispute settlement (‘ISDS’). To mark this month’s entry into force of the Singapore Convention on Mediation, our series…
There have been six Ukrainian proceedings concerning the enforcement of ICSID awards to date. All have been successful, but Ukrainian courts have erroneously applied the New York Convention’s regime for this purpose. In this post, the authors analyze the inconsistency of such an approach with the ICSID Convention regime and related implications, suggesting options to…
On August 11th, 2020, the Cayman Islands Court of Appeals overturned the decision that denied the enforcement of the arbitral award that ordered the MatlinPatterson Global Opportunities Partners private investment fund (“MP Funds”) to pay approximately USD 55 million to Gol Airlines. The amount refers to the purchase of the airline Varig by Gol. …
Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) follows the logic that if all attributes of learning and intelligence is accurately traced in-depth, it can be simulated through a computer program. In other words, ‘what holds good for [Human Intelligence], also applies to AI’.1)See H.J. Snijders, Arbitrage en AI: Van arbitrage naar robotrage en van menselijke arbiter naar robotarbiter?, Tijdschrift…
Over the past decade, technology has been seeping into our everyday life at an exponential rate. Accordingly, much like any other industry with rapid growth, contractual agreements are required to form the framework in which lasting relationships can be maintained and provide for mutually beneficial dispute resolution mechanisms (“DRMs”). As we introduce technology into almost…
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in the interest in alternative dispute resolution, especially arbitrations conducted online. The greater utilization of online platforms and digitization has coincided with the growing frequency and sophistication of cyber-attacks. Reportedly, by 2021 a business will fall victim to cyber-attacks every 11 seconds. Therefore, it is critical for…
Negotiations on the Investment Protocol of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) are set to start later this year. An AfCFTA Investment Protocol would provide significant opportunities for African countries. However, the negotiations will be complex, taking place amidst a backdrop of existing African international investment agreements (IIAs) already negotiated at the bilateral and…
Since the enactment of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) Arbitration Law (1994), Chinese arbitration commissions have had exclusive access to the mainland China arbitration market. This is primarily because the establishment and operation of arbitration institutions are subject to the prior approval of the “administrative department of justice of the relevant province, autonomous region…
The Rutas de Lima v. Metropolitan Municipality of Lima case shows how arbitral tribunals deal with corruption allegations in disputes related to government contracts. The tribunal, chaired by current ICC International Court of Arbitration President, Alexis Mourre, issued its Award this May, which came to light when the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima (the “Municipality”) requested…
Global arbitration centers such as Paris or London are well known and need no introduction. In contrast, there are many other arbitration sites around the world that seek a larger role on the international stage of dispute settlement. Lithuania and its capital Vilnius in particular is no exception. In 2014 the Vilnius Court of Commercial…
Like many other industries, the field of international arbitration has adjusted to the Covid-19 pandemic. Hearings have gone virtual; arbitrators, counsel and experts have adapted to working from home; and conferences have become webinars. The transition from in-person conferences to online webinars has brought great opportunities. Rather than being limited to candidates that would be available in a particular…
In a recent judgement in the proceedings for setting aside an arbitral award, the Swedish Court of Appeal addressed issues concerning the law applicable to an arbitration agreement, the validity of an arbitration agreement, the due process standard applicable in cross-examination, and the procedural error of rendering an award without considering all the arguments raised…
The “right of clarification” (in German: Aufklarungsrecht) is a product of the inquisitorial method of hearing. It refers to a judge’s right to ask, suggest to or require the parties to clarify or supplement their ambiguous, insufficient or improper claims, submissions or evidence. In international arbitration, which is strongly influenced by the adversarial system, arbitral…
Expedited arbitration is often associated with smaller value disputes. For example, the International Chamber of Commerce suggests expedited arbitration for disputes of $2 million or less, while the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre has a $3 million threshold for expedited arbitration. Expedited arbitration makes procedural tradeoffs that are deemed warranted because there isn’t that much…
Introducing a regulation of early determination in the context of expedited proceedings, highlights a series conflicting interests. Therefore, the UNCITRAL Working Group II on dispute resolution has not yet taken a final position on whether such a regulation should be inserted in the context of expedited arbitration, or whether it should rather be considered as…
UNCITRAL’s Working Group II (“WGII”) resumes next week its work on drafting expedited arbitration provisions (“EAPs”) for use with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (“UARs”). One of the key “aims” underlying development of these procedures is “to improve the efficiency and quality of arbitral proceedings.” This post examines why efficiency matters, how the EAPs encourage efficiency,…
