Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Australia, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, United States, USMCA

(University of Wollongong)/ /1 Comment

The investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) arrangements provided in Chapter 14 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) are a radical shift from those that have been in force for the past 25 years under Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). As explored in Wednesday’s post, Canada has effectively opted-out of ISDS under…

Financial Services Arbitration, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, NAFTA, Trade and investment agreements, USMCA

(Clark Hill PLC)/ /Leave a comment

As North America embarks into a post-NAFTA era with the USMCA, it is crucial to analyze the new agreement’s disciplines. The USMCA Investment Chapter, for instance, has been the subject of many articles that have reviewed relevant differences with respect to NAFTA, particularly on investment arbitration. This post will explore the arbitration rules applicable to investment disputes…

Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investment Treaties, United States, USMCA

(Jenner & Block LLP)/ /Leave a comment

The Investment Chapter of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement “USMCA,” Chapter 14 has had a controversial trajectory.  Chapter 14 reflects a remarkable evolution in United States (“U.S.”) policy on the protection of its investors and their investments in Canada and Mexico.  It is remarkable because – from 2023 – it will limit the scope of protected…

Canada, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment law, USMCA

(De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek) and (Three Crowns LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Amid global economic uncertainty, the years-long project of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”) (also known as “the new-NAFTA” or “NAFTA 2.0”) has finally reached fruition. On March 13, 2020, Canada became the final North American party to ratify the agreement and now the treaty will enter into force on July 1, 2020. Kluwer Arbitration Blog has…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Investment Arbitration, NAFTA, USMCA

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On July 1, 2020, the investment chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expired quietly in its North American home, at the age of 26.  It left behind a generation of investment treaties and investment chapters in free trade agreements that are its direct descendants.  It served as inspiration for many other agreements. …

Canada, International agreement, International arbitration, Investment agreements, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investment Treaties, Mexico, NAFTA, United States, USMCA

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

On July 1, 2020, the United States – Mexico – Canada Agreement (USMCA) will enter into force. Although the media widely refers to the treaty by its American name, USMCA, it also carries two other names: Canada has adopted it as the Canada – United States – Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), while Mexico has settled on…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Arbitration Proceedings, Enforcement, Investment Arbitration

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The filing of new actions continues in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (“D.D.C.”) to enforce ICSID awards rendered against Spain. The latest petition was filed on April 24, 2020, by Watkins Holdings S.à.r.l. and Watkins (Ned) B.V., both affiliates of the UK company Bridgepoint Advisers Limited, seeking the enforcement of…

Deliberations, Dissenting opinions, Germany, Ordre Public, Set aside an arbitral award

(Taylor Wessing)/ /Leave a comment

The Frankfurt Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) has recently taken the view that the publication of a dissenting opinion by the minority arbitrator violates the procedural ordre public, thus constituting a reason to set aside the arbitral award pursuant to Section 1059 para. 2 no 2 b) of the German Code of Civil Procedure (Zivilprozessordnung, ZPO).1)To…

Code of Conduct, ICSID, ICSID Arbitration, ICSID Convention, ICSID Proceedings, UNCITRAL

(University of Paris Descartes)/ /3 Comments
ArbitralWomen

On 1 May 2020, ICSID and UNCITRAL released the long-awaited Draft Code of Conduct for Adjudicators in Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) (“Draft Code”) as previously reported and discussed. Article 1.1 of the Draft Code provides that it applies to “all persons serving as adjudicators in ISDS proceedings”, defined broadly to include arbitrators, ad hoc committee…

Due process, Set aside an arbitral award, Singapore, Virtual hearings

(Withers KhattarWong LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction The use of virtual hearings is not new in international arbitration. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated, and accelerated, a shift from in-person hearings to virtual hearings. With travel bans in place and no visibility of when countries will open their borders again, in-person hearings will likely be the exception rather than the norm…

Adverse Inference, China, Document Production, Evidence, Legislation

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Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SHIAC)

The practice of adverse document production or disclosure is largely foreign in civil law jurisdictions like mainland China. Despite resistance, the growth of judicial practice on document production prompted the Supreme People’s Court of China (“SPC”) to make the new Rules of Evidence on Civil Procedure (“Rules of Evidence”) on December 25, 2019, effective as…

Arbitration institution, Consolidation, Institutional Arbitration, Virtual hearings

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“Success in life is not for those who run fast, but for those, who keep running and are always on the move.” Bangambiki Habyarimana, Pearls Of Eternity   This expression may work in both, personal and professional situations. Indeed, there seems to exist a consensus that “arbitration has become a big legal business” and a…

Anti-arbitration Injunction, Court Proceedings, Draft Award, judicial review, Review on the merits

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Background In a recent blog post, Luis Capiel and Alicia Larrazabal of Herbert Smith Freehills commented on the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice’s decision to stay institutional arbitration proceedings initiated by Modexel Consultores e Servicios S.A. (MODEXEL) against Alimentos Polar Comercial C.A. (POLAR) under the Business Center for Conciliation and Arbitration (CEDCA) arbitration rules. In…

Enforcement, Foreign arbitral awards, Kingdom of eSwatini

(Taylor Wessing)/ /Leave a comment
YIAG

The answer to the question of how to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards in currently at least 164 jurisdictions worldwide usually starts with a reference to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention). Not so in the Kingdom of eSwatini, one of the few…

ICSID, Investment protection, Mediation

(Arbitrator Intelligence) and (White & Case)/ /Leave a comment

Co-organised by YSIAC’s Ms Kirsten Teo and Young ICSID’s Ms Celeste Salinas Quero, this YSIAC-Young ICSID webinar on the impact of the Singapore Convention on Mediation (“Convention”) on international investment disputes brought together five visionary speakers across four time-zones and attracted hundreds of attendees from 50 countries worldwide. With Mr Diogo Pereira (Partner, De Almeida…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Human Rights, ICSID Amendments, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Reform, Working Group III

(Georgetown Law) and (Columbia Law School)/ /Leave a comment

Reforms Are Afoot Calls for investor-State dispute settlement (“ISDS”) reform have catalyzed efforts to evolve the regime. Concurrently, the ISDS system continues to wrestle with tensions between an investment regime primarily oriented towards protecting investor rights, and the human rights normative architecture for protection of individual rights and associated State obligations for protection of such rights. ISDS…

Due process, judicial review, Malaysia, Singapore

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Due process is an essential aspect of international arbitration or, indeed, any contentious proceeding. Due process rules act as a shield for parties against unfairness. They ensure that the exercise of a tribunal’s jurisdiction is constrained, such that all parties are given a reasonable opportunity to present their cases. There has been a notable increase…

ADR, ADR Clauses, International arbitration, Technology

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Not all technology is born equal. In 1739, the French inventor and artist Jacques de Vaucanson unveiled a head-scratching automaton that fascinated contemporaries for more than a century. It was a ‘digesting duck’, which had the apparent ability to eat kernels and actually digest them. The invention was a trick, of course, and it was…

COVID-19, Force majeure, India, Insolvency, Public Policy, United States, United States Courts

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The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns have the legal community debating and exploring force majeure. That, however, does not rule out the imminent likelihood of international arbitration locking horns with domestic insolvency law. Arbitration agreements and subsequent awards may possibly be left redundant and award-holders remediless where insolvency proceedings are commenced in respect of…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Corruption, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration

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Young ITA

Recent years have seen an uptick in the expansion and enforcement of anti-corruption laws worldwide. In 2017, China amended its Anti-Unfair Competition Law, broadening the scope of bribe recipients covered by the law, and increasing penalties. In 2019, Italy widened its anti-bribery law, No. 3/2019, increasing penalties for both individuals and companies found guilty of…

Africa, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, BIT, Investment Arbitration, Investor duties

, (Addis Law Group LLP)/ /Leave a comment

Africa is in the vanguard of investor obligations in international investment law. As it prepares to seek a continental investment code for the second time, it finds itself at a crossroads. In tracing the emergence and trajectory of investment instruments toward the historic juncture to which Africa presently arrives, one glimpses the promise of a…

Arbitration institution, Interview, Interviews with Our Editors, SCC, SCC Rules, Sweden, UNCITRAL

(Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

    Welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Ms. Magnusson! We are grateful for this opportunity to learn more about the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) and your experience with international arbitration in the region.   To start, could you briefly introduce yourself and explain your role at SCC? Thank you….

Arbitration, bankruptcy, Commercial Code of Iran, Iran, TRAC

, (Tehran Regional Arbitration Centre)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction For the purpose of this article, there are some words and principles that shall be defined before raising the main issue. Article 412 of the Commercial Code of Iran (CCI) defines the bankruptcy of an entity (natural or legal person) as the result of its cessation in payment of its debt. In this situation,…

China, Commercial Arbitration, Discovery, Document Production

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP) and (Kewei Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

Document production in China – getting to maybe Document production (also known as “discovery”) is still a very foreign concept in China’s civil law court system. The traditional notion of “who claims, proves” (“谁主张，谁举证“) in China’s Civil Procedural Law has ingrained in people’s mind that one has to prove its case by its own evidence….