What makes disputes in banking and finance different? After all, like most commercial disputes, their determination often requires the interpretation of contracts, deciding whether a party is liable in contract or tort, and quantifying damages. Furthermore, financial institutions are, in many respects, no different from other commercial parties to disputes. Yet, in practice banking and…
Ndanga Kamau is a Vice President of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration and the President of the ICC Africa Commission. She is an international lawyer who specialises in international dispute settlement and international law. She sits as arbitrator and represents clients in international disputes. She also provides consultancy work and…
There may have been a lot of government restrictions limiting physical gatherings this year, but these restrictions surely did not limit our enthusiasm in gathering (virtually and intellectually) for the first-ever United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (‘UNCITRAL’) Working Group III (‘WGIII’) Pre-Intersessional Meeting. The virtual event, with the theme “The Use of Mediation…
In this issue, the Brazilian Arbitration Journal pays tribute to Professor Theophilo de Azeredo Santos, one of the pioneers of arbitration in Brazil, in a Note In Memoriam by Selma Ferreira Lemes and Fabiane Verçosa. This edition also marks the last one coordinated by our Editor-in-Chief Flavia Mange, who has diligently and competently directed the…
Nicolas Maduro was “reelected” President of Venezuela for the constitutional period from 2019 to 2025. This presidential election was the subject of serious questions by large representative sectors of Venezuelan society, as well as by the United States, the European Union, and most Western Hemisphere countries. Given this situation, Juan Guaidó, as head of the…
Corruption, annulment of arbitral awards and court intervention mark the main developments for 2020 in Latin America. Our contributors this year reported on the most important judicial decisions and legislative measures impacting the legal framework of various jurisdictions in the region. A new ‘hot topic’ arising from the COVID-19 pandemic is the interplay between arbitration…
On 6 July 2020 the Swiss Federal Tribunal has issued a decision in which it has held that the COVID-19 pandemic does not serve as a sufficient justification to impose virtual hearings in state court proceedings against a party’s will. With a view to field of arbitration, the question thus arises whether the respective reasoning…
Welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Ms. Sámano! We are grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the Arbitration Center of Mexico – CAM; the type of disputes it handles and the way it is addressing recent developments, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the adoption of new policies from the Andrés Manuel López…
The Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Centre (“CIMAC”) convened its sixth edition of the Casablanca Arbitration Day (“CAD”) on December 3, 2020. The virtual CAD presented four panels focusing on one burning issue: “Is Arbitration Helping or Hindering the Protection of the Environment and Public Health?” This question deepens the discussion focused on during the…
COVID-19 has already destroyed many businesses, and insolvencies will only increase as governments withdraw temporary protections. Recent decisions highlight the potential for external administrators of these insolvent companies to use investment treaty arbitration to recover assets, even from the state that appointed the administrators. Generally, external administrators are appointed by directors, creditors or courts to…
Introduction In spite of delays and shifting priorities owing to the pandemic, institutional efforts to reform the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) regime have continued throughout 2020. In this post, we look back at our coverage of the work of UNCITRAL Working Group III (“WGIII”) on investor-State arbitration reform, especially in light of the 2021 reform…
The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA”), concluded on 24 December 2020 and provisionally applicable since the end of the transition period on 31 December 2020, regulates the relationship of the EU and the UK after Brexit. It forms a basis for an evolving relationship between the Parties and may further change, depending on scrutiny…
On 1 October 2021, the Rising Arbitrators Initiative brought together an esteemed group of arbitration practitioners for the organization’s inaugural event, which tackled due process concerns. The event, which was divided into two sessions to allow participants to join from Asia, Australia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, addressed substantive and procedural due process. Substantive…
The doctrine of separability of arbitration agreements recognises that an arbitration clause contained in a broader agreement is separate and valid despite the invalidity of the rest of the agreement. The doctrine also raises a fundamental question: what is the governing law of the separable arbitration agreement as compared to the remainder of the contract…
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, The Revised Swiss Lex Arbitri: A Story of Two Dozen Jewels In his message, ASA President Felix DASSER commends the light touch revision of the Swiss lex arbitri…
The Chilean Supreme Court recently issued a decision that, on its face, respects party autonomy in international arbitration. But, it could do more harm than good. On September 14, 2020, the Chilean Supreme Court (the “Court”) entered a final judgement in the case CCF SUDAMERICA SPA, Rol Nº 19568-2020 (“CCF Sudamericana” or the “Decision”). The…
Since its creation, the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration (CCJA) has been at the forefront of promoting international arbitration in Africa, particularly with respect to creating a favourable setting for international and regional arbitration under the Uniform Act on Arbitration adopted by the seventeen OHADA Member States. This momentum continued with the recent adoption…
Third-party funding (TPF) has come a long way from its humble beginnings at the fringes of various jurisdictions, where it was historically a tort and even a crime. Today, the doctrines of champerty and maintenance have been decriminalized and in most jurisdictions no longer fall foul of public policy considerations. TPF is now perceived as…
The 2021 ICC Arbitration Rules introduce new procedures, update key provisions, and formalize the existing practices of the ICC Secretariat and the Court in order to allow for greater flexibility, efficiency and transparency in the administration of ICC arbitration cases. We will focus in this post on the changes made under the new Rules to…
Multi-party and multi-contract complex disputes are now ubiquitous in international arbitration practice. This is unsurprising given the increasingly complex nature of international trade and commerce. Institutional statistics show substantial growth in the number of disputes involving multiple parties and multiple contracts. The 2019 International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) Dispute Resolution Statistics reveal that out of…
2020 saw important case law developments concerning the proper law of arbitration agreements, where the seat of the arbitration is in a different jurisdiction from the governing law of the main contract, particularly in the UK. However, various jurisdictions have adopted different approaches to this issue. It remains to be seen which jurisdictions will follow…
The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of three positions with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor for Europe, Assistant Editor for Middle East North Africa (MENA), and Assistant Editor for Investment Arbitration. For each respective position, the Assistant Editor reports directly to the coordinating Associate Editor and is expected to (1) collect, edit…
Today is the last day of 2020. For most of us, 2020 has been a particularly unusual year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prompted by necessity, arbitration in Southeast Asia adapted to the sea-change by: (i) using technology for virtual hearings, events and to build on existing diversity initiatives, (ii) developing domestic arbitration case law…
The past decade has witnessed a surge in popularity of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Agreement for the Promotion and Protection of Investment, which is a multilateral treaty that binds twenty-seven states and allows for the resolution of investor-state disputes by ad hoc arbitration. There has been much scholarly discussion about this treaty as cases under…
