Climate change, Energy Charter Treaty, Germany, Investment Arbitration, Legitimate Expectations, Parallel Proceedings

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

Swedish state-owned power energy company Vattenfall operated two nuclear power plants located in Brunsbüttel and Krümmel, Germany. Vattenfall owns a 50% interest in the Krümmel plant, and a 66.6% interest in the Brunsbüttel plant. In August 2011, against the backdrop of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, the German Parliament amended the Act on the…

Arbitration – The International Journal of Arbitration

, (Queen Mary University of London), (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators), and (Three Crowns)/ /Leave a comment

As we slowly turn the corner of this brutal year, a mixed set of thoughts and reflections come to mind. For a start, one cannot help but feeling a sense of measured optimism that after a vicious tally of human losses worldwide and unprecedented disruption of every single aspect of our social and professional lives…

COVID-19, Enforcement, Investment Arbitration, New York Convention, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Public Policy

(Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP/ Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

Exceptional times call for exceptional measures. We have all been experiencing a global pandemic for almost a year now. In an era where the legal exception tends to become the mainstream rule, one is left to wonder how far can this reversal of odds go. Is the global public health crisis susceptible to calling into…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrators

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Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI)

On 27 January 2021, the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) hosted the second webinar of its series “The Rising Arbitrator’s Challenge: Navigating the Premise and Perils of Your First Appointment(s)”. The aim of the series of events is to support practitioners who are seeking or tackling their first appointments and each webinar is focused on a…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Institutional Rules, International arbitration, PCA, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Space Arbitration

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Nearly a decade ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) published its Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Outer Space Activities (“PCA Outer Space Rules” or “Rules”).  Unlike the five United Nations treaties on outer space, the Rules provide for a voluntary and binding dispute resolution process accessible to all space actors.  Notably,…

Annulment, Constitutional Court, Ecuador, Latin America, Revision of Award

(Tobar ZVS)/ /Leave a comment

I .The Annulment of an Arbitral Award under Ecuadorian Law Pursuant to article 30 of the Arbitration and Mediation Law (AML), arbitral awards are final and binding for the parties. In other words, parties cannot file recourses to challenge an award, with the exception of a clarification or extension petition before the arbitral tribunal. However,…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrator's decision-making, Deliberations, Draft Award

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Season two, episode twelve of Delos Dispute Resolution’s esteemed “Tagtime” webinar and podcast series is titled ‘Inside the Black Box: What Happens During the Deliberations and Drafting of an Award.’ The episode features Professor Pierre Tercier who is, among others, one of the most respected legal scholars in Switzerland. He is the Honorary President of…

Confidentiality, Consolidation, DIFC, Emergency Arbitrator, Expedited Proceedings, LCIA Rules, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

At the dawn of the New Year, following their adoption in November 2020, the revised DIFC-LCIA Rules of Arbitration (the “2021 DIFC-LCIA Rules”) have now entered into force with effect from 1st January 2021. Readers of this blog will recognise the DIFC-LCIA as the free zone sister organization of the London Court of Arbitration (LCIA)…

Anti-suit injunction, Brexit, Brussels Regulation, CJEU, European Union

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While the United Kingdom (“UK”) was a member of the European Union (“EU”), the power of the English courts to grant anti-suit injunctions was considerably constrained by EU law. Now that the UK has left the EU, it is worth asking the question: are anti-suit injunctions back on the menu? This blog post provides a…

Appeal, Appellate Body, Appellate Court, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Investment Arbitration, Reform, Working Group III

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Introduction In the past few years, the world has been following the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) reform debate under the aegis of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). This discussion started in 2017, when the UNCITRAL Working Group III began its work on ISDS reform. Among the proposals submitted by member States…

Antitrust arbitration, Arbitrability, Competition Law, India

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Despite traditionally being considered unsuitable for arbitration, recent practice evidence that the concrete lines separating antitrust disputes and arbitration have blurred. Ever since the US Supreme Court approved arbitrability of antitrust disputes in Mitsubishi Motors v Soler (“Mitsubishi Motors”) (discussed here and here), similar understanding has been accepted in EU (Eco Swiss v Benetton), England…

Arbitration, Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrator's decision-making, Arbitrators, Bias, Cognitive biases, Investment Arbitration

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This post summarizes the International Court of Justice President Joan Donoghue’s discussion, on Delos Dispute Resolution’s TagTime series, with Dr. Kabir Duggal and Amanda Lee regarding cognitive biases of arbitrators, which are also applicable to judges. Judge Donoghue analogized the origin of those cognitive biases to how flamingos obtain their pink color, provided some examples…

Court Proceedings, Emergency Arbitrator, Germany, Preliminary relief

(DLA Piper)/ /2 Comments

Introduction An emergency by definition is a “sudden serious and dangerous event” that requires “immediate action”. For instance, shareholder A needs to prevent shareholder B from publicizing confidential information that will negatively affect the share price. Shareholder A finds herself in an emergency situation and needs to act immediately. According to a recent decision of…

AfCFTA, AfCFTA Investment Protocol, Africa, Intra-African BITs, Investment law

(University Cadi Ayyad)/ /Leave a comment

As Phase II negotiations of the African Continental Free Trade Area (“AfCFTA”) have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a draft legal text of the AfCFTA Investment Protocol (“Protocol”) has not been submitted to the January 2021 Session of the Assembly, as originally expected.  There are reasons to believe that with the recent start…

International arbitration, International Arbitration Law Library Series, School of International Arbitration (SIA), sociology of international arbitration

(Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

The publication of the 60th volume of the International Arbitration Law Library Series (“IALL” or “Series”) is a remarkable anniversary. The purpose of this blog post is to offer a brief assessment of the Series’ contribution to the field in the light of the evolution of international arbitration’s scholarship in the last 40-50 years. It…

International arbitration, International Arbitration Law Library Series, School of International Arbitration (SIA), sociology of international arbitration

(20 Essex Street and Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

Professor Stavros Brekoulakis has written a blog post commemorating the 60th volume of Kluwer Law International’s International Arbitration Law Library Series (“Series”), of which he and I are co-editors. His blog post considered the Series’ contribution to the field in light of the evolution of international arbitration’s scholarship in the last 40-50 years. In particular,…

2020 In Review, Arbitration Agreement, Consent, Equal Treatment, Good Faith, Interim Award, Interpretation of Contracts, Partial award, Res Judicata, Right to be heard, Switzerland

(Rihar & Thouvenin Dispute Resolution)/ /Leave a comment

This report highlights the most significant arbitration related decisions of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (the “SFSC”) issued in 2020.   Tribunal’s Jurisdiction – Scope of Arbitration Agreement In 2020, the SFSC issued several decisions on the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal and on the determination of the objective (ratione materiae) and subjective (ratione personae)…

Bankruptcy, Brazil, COVID-19, Insolvency, International Commercial Arbitration, Latin America

(Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan UK LLP)/ /Leave a comment

On 24 December 2020, the New Brazilian Insolvency Act (“NBIA” – a slight misnomer, as the Act is in fact an amendment to an existing statute) was published in the official Brazilian gazette. The act implements important modifications in the field, including a few related to arbitration, which came into force on 23 January 2021….

Arbitration, Fee Agreeements, Hong Kong, outcome related fee structures, Third party funding

(Shearman & Sterling LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Hong Kong currently prohibits lawyers from using outcome related fee structures (“ORFSs”), including “No-Win, No-Fee” type arrangements, for arbitrations and other contentious matters. This looks set to change for arbitrations, however, following the publication late last year of a compelling Consultation Paper by the Outcome Related Fee Structures for Arbitration Sub-committee of the Law Reform…

2020 In Review, Diversity, Due process, Remote hearings, sociology of international arbitration, Sustainability, Virtual hearings, Vis Moot

and (Law Offices of Kiran N Gore PLLC; The George Washington University Law School)/ /Leave a comment

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 public health crisis, a seismic event in history, many of us feel as if 2020 is the year that did not happen. While it certainly was not business as usual, in a display of flexibility and resilience, the arbitration community ensured that the (virtual) show did go on. With…

BIT, Energy Charter Treaty, Fair and Equitable Treatment, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investment Treaties, Investor-state tribunals, Legitimate Expectations

(University of Passau)/ /Leave a comment

In the early 2000s, several European states introduced generous incentive programs to attract investors to renewable energy, triggering an investment boom. In the wake of the global financial crisis of 2008, however, the incentive payments put a strain on regulators. The subsequent changes to the regulations of the renewable energy sector implemented by Spain, Italy,…

Journal of International Arbitration

(ArbBoutique & 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:   Sundaresh Menon, Arbitration’s Blade: International Arbitration and the Rule of Law The legitimacy of a system of dispute resolution depends intrinsically on the trust and confidence of its users in its decision-making processes,…

2020 In Review, Arbitrator's mandate, Corruption, Disclosure, Economic Sanctions, Enforcement, France, Immunity, Independence and Impartiality, kompetenz-kompetenz

and (Talma Dispute Resolution)/ /Leave a comment

The pandemic did not prevent French courts from bringing their share of arbitration-related developments, although they remained almost inactive from March to June. This post succinctly reviews some of 2020’s noteworthy developments.   Important Decisions of the Paris Court of Appeal’s International Section Operational since March 2018, the International Chamber of the Paris court of…

Arbitration, Disclosure, Domestic Courts, Emergency Arbitrator, Public Procurement, State Aid, Tender Dispute, UNCITRAL Model Law

, (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Competitive tendering for construction and engineering contracts is an essential element of business for the industry. Huge expenditure is devoted to public infrastructure projects and effective competition is essential to achieve value for money and appropriate use of public funds. The World Bank estimates that Governments worldwide spend US$9.5 trillion in public contracts every year….