2019 In Review, Arbitration, Australia, New Zealand, Reform, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership

(Australian National University)/ /Leave a comment

2019 has seen a series of important arbitration-related developments for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. This post highlights selected key arbitration developments in these States from the past 12 months. It focuses on several domestic arbitration law reform efforts and on important developments in respect of investor-State arbitration.   Domestic Arbitration: Legal Developments and…

Court Proceedings, India, Jurisdiction, time-limits

, (Khaitan & Co LLP)/ /3 Comments

Section 29A was inserted, by way of amendments to the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act (the Act), in the year 2015. With the introduction of this provision, the time-period for passing the award has been fixed at twelve months from the date the arbitral tribunal enters upon reference and is extendable by another six months…

Arbitration, Arbitration Quiz, Domestic arbitration, New Year Arbitration Quiz

(MDisputes)/ /Leave a comment

Should odd domestic arbitration practices be forgot, and never brought to mind!   Planning to be more international in the coming decade? Just in time for your New Years resolutions, we have the 2020 Kluwer Arbitration New Years Quiz.  This year, the blog’s editors have helped assemble questions about domestic arbitration practices from around the…

International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Renewable energy, Royal-decree law, Settlement, Spain

/ /1 Comment

On November 22, 2019, the acting government of Spain passed a long-anticipated legislation in response to more than four dozen of international arbitrations that, since late 2013, have been filed continuously against the country.1)See Clifford J. Hendel & María Antonia Pérez, ‘The Past, Present and Possible Future of the Spanish Renewable Energy Arbitration Saga,’ New…

2019 In Review, Arbitration, Europe, Legislation

(Brunel University London)/ /Leave a comment

The year 2019 has seen some important legislative and case law developments in the European jurisdictions and Kluwer Arbitration Blog, as always, has been closely monitoring the developments on the ground.   I. Summary of Important Legislative Developments   a) Sweden: Aligning Arbitration Law with International Developments and Eliminating Duplicate Proceedings In March 2019, a…

Arbitration institution, Investment Arbitration, Investor-State arbitration, Third party funding, Treaty

(Kabine Law Office) and (Columbia Law School)/ /Leave a comment

As part of International Investment Law and Policy Speaker Series, on November 14, 2019, the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment  hosted Dr. Mouhamadou Kane, Project Lead and Manager for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (“OIC”) Investment Dispute Settlement Organ. During the program, Dr. Kane explained the text of a draft investment protocol for the OIC…

ISDS Reform, Workshop

(Saarland University)/ /Leave a comment

On the 1 October 2019, the Europa-Institut of Saarland University and the International Investment Centre Cologne (IILCC) co-organized a workshop on the Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Reform and the creation of a Multilateral Investment Court (MIC). At the event, the IILCC Study Group presented its preliminary conclusions regarding a comparative report on the Multilateral…

Emergency Arbitrator, ICDR, United States, United States Courts

, (Fitch Law Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (the “District Court”) put the problem with emergency arbitration front and center: it refused to confirm and enforce an emergency interim arbitration award (the “Emergency Award”) awarded by an emergency arbitrator (the “Emergency Arbitrator”) under Article 6 of the American Arbitration Association’s International Center…

Business and Human Rights Arbitration, Human Rights, ISDS Reform, Transparency

(Durham Law School)/ /Leave a comment

Introducing the Rules Playing its part in the twenty-first century movement to protect human rights, the international legal community has taken a significant step forward by providing for a framework to resolve business and human rights disputes by arbitration. Lead by the former ICJ justice, Judge Bruno Simma, The Hague Rules on Business and Human…

2019 In Review, Arbitration, Kluwer Arbitration Blog

(Notre Dame Law School) and (Stockholm University)/ /Leave a comment

It has now become a tradition that in December of each year, Kluwer Arbitration Blog offers you several posts with a retrospective of the year in specific regions and fields. We also take this opportunity to present ourselves and thank you for your immense support, as readers and contributors. Entering a New Year has also…

Construction, Construction arbitration, Energy, Infrastructure, Third party funding

, (Hogan Lovells)/ /Leave a comment

It is well known that disputes arising from the realisation of major energy and infrastructure projects are often exceptionally complex, long, and expensive. They are of high factual and technical complexity with a great volume of evidence, witnesses and experts and involve multiple parties with the fragmentation of responsibilities. As such, one of the main…

Africa, LCIA-MIAC, MARC, Mauritius, MIAC

(5 Fifteen Barristers, Mauritius) and (Hogan Lovells, London)/ /Leave a comment

On 12 November 2019, the Mauritius International Arbitration Centre (“MIAC”) hosted an event to celebrate its relaunch following the termination of the institution’s joint venture with the London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”) in July 2018. Like many other arbitral centres that have emerged across Africa,1)G. Travaini, ‘Arbitration Centres in Africa: Too Many Cooks?’, Kluwer…

2019 In Review, Australia, Cambodia, European Union, Free Trade Agreements, Indonesia, Investment protection, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, YSIAC Conference

, and (Clifford Chance Asia)/ /Leave a comment

Amidst the typical hustle and bustle of year-end festivities, our Southeast Asia editorial team takes a moment to look back on the arbitration developments in Southeast Asia in 2019.   New Free Trade Agreements and Developments in National Laws In 2019, states comprising the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (“ASEAN”) continued to demonstrate their commitment…

Arbitration, Civil Procedure, Corporate disputes, Poland, Shareholder Resolutions

, (Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak)/ /Leave a comment

As discussed in our previous post (available here), Polish civil procedure, including arbitration law (contained in Part V of the Polish Code of Civil Procedure or ‘CCP’) has undergoing significant changes. This post focuses on those amendments that substantially modify the legal framework for arbitration of corporate disputes.   Problems with the Arbitrability of Shareholder…

Annulment, Egypt, Jurisdiction, National Courts, Sport arbitration

(Shehata & Partners, Maastricht University)/ /1 Comment

Introduction There have been three main long-standing controversies concerning arbitration in Egypt. First, interest rates and whether they are truly part of Egyptian substantive public policy.1)Ismail Selim, ‘Egyptian Public Policy as a Ground for Annulment and Refusal of Enforcement of Arbitral Awards’ (2016) 3 BCDR International Arbitration Review, Issue 1, pp. 65–79. Second, whether the…

Enforcement, Foreign arbitral awards, New York Convention, South Africa, Tanzania

, (Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr Inc)/ /1 Comment

In this post we consider the soundness of the legal conclusion of the Johannesburg High Court in the recent matter of Government of the United Republic of Tanzania v Hermanus Philippus Steyn (28994/2019) [2019] ZAGPJHC 312 (4 September 2019); 2019 JDR 1690 (GJ) (“Reconsideration Judgment“) to confirm jurisdiction over foreigners in South Africa in order…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Civil Procedure, Poland

, (Sołtysiński Kawecki & Szlęzak)/ /Leave a comment

Polish civil procedure is in the midst of a very significant makeover. The bulk of amendments came into effect on 7 November 2019 (the Polish version of the amending act to the Polish Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) is available here). This blog post discusses the nature of those amendments and their significance for arbitration….

2019 In Review, Amparo, Arbitration Act, arbitrators’ conduct, Brazil, Bribery, Colombia, Commercial Arbitration, Constitutional Court, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guaidó, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Latin America, Mexico, OAS Guide, Odebrecht investigation, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela

(Herbert Smith Freehills)/ /Leave a comment

2019 was a lively year for international arbitration in Latin America – especially in the international commercial arbitration arena, which is the focus of this post. Contributors to Kluwer Arbitration Blog reported mostly on favorable developments on arbitration-related legislation, case law and other initiatives. The year, however, ended with a regrettable situation in Peru, where…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrator's Fees, Public Policy, Set aside an arbitral award, Thai Arbitration Act, Thai Arbitration Institute, Thailand, Thailand Arbitration Center

(University of Paris Descartes)/ /Leave a comment

There have been some false dawns but Thailand has become significantly more arbitration-friendly in recent years. This post briefly canvasses the recent developments and identifies potential areas for further development.   Amendments to the Thai Arbitration Act – Arbitrators and Representatives Allowed to Work in Thailand Previously, foreign arbitrators were required to undergo an onerous…

Artificial Intelligence, China, Online Arbitration, Online Dispute Resolution, Robojudge

(PRK Partners)/ /1 Comment

Introduction At the latest ODR Forum which was held on 29-31 October 2019 in Williamsburg, Virginia, Dr Anyu Lee presented on China’s vision of online dispute resolution (“ODR”). He discussed how far China has progressed in developing artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools for online courts, arbitration and mediation. He also described the potential of AI in…

2019 In Review, Africa, Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, International arbitration, Investment Arbitration, Nigeria, Tanzania

(University of Oxford)/ /Leave a comment

2019 has been a busy year for international arbitration in Sub-Saharan Africa. Indeed, the year has brought an interesting wave of precedents, new domestic statutes, modern international investment agreements, and arbitration events. This post highlights and summarises some of the African developments covered in the Blog in 2019, with many thanks to the authors who…

b-Arbitra | Belgian Review of Arbitration

(Bird&Bird) and (Tossens Goldman Gonne)/ /Leave a comment

To mark the 50th anniversary of the CEPANI, we are pleased to present you with this special issue of b-Arbitra, devoted to Supreme Courts and Arbitration. We are grateful to the eminent specialists who have agreed to deliver, for their respective jurisdictions, comprehensive reports of the Supreme Courts’ rulings in arbitration matters. Their overviews cover…

Arbitration, Arbitration institution, International arbitration, Madrid International Arbitration Center, Spain

(Clifford Chance)/ /Leave a comment

The swift and far-reaching development experienced by arbitration in Spain over the past few decades is unprecedented in the context of other arbitration-friendly jurisdictions. In little more than 40 years, a fully-fledged arbitration system was set up virtually from scratch. In 1977 Spain ratified the New York Convention without reservation, thus entering the international arbitration…

Abu Dhabi, ADR, Arbitration institution, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

(Blanke Arbitration LLC)/ /Leave a comment

This year, I had the extraordinary pleasure of speaking at the Emirate Maritime Arbitration Centre (the “EMAC”) inaugural event of Dubai Arbitration Week 2019 (for the full presentation, see here). The EMAC, as readers may know, is the only arbitration institution specialized in the administration of maritime disputes through arbitration in the UAE and the…