Arbitrator Intelligence, Arbitrators, Bias

(Debevoise & Plimpton) and (Fordham University School of Law)/ /Leave a comment
ArbitralWomen

In the beautiful surroundings of the Palais Niederosterreicher, the 200+ delegates at Vienna Arbitration Days (VAD) 2019 were warmly welcomed by members of the Organising Committee, representing ArbAut, VIAC, AYIA (the Austrian Yearbook of International Arbitration), ICC Austria, YAAP (Young Austrian Arbitration Practitioners), and UNCITRAL.  Anna Joubin-Bret, UNCITRAL’s Secretary, provided an overview of UNCITRAL’s work…

Investment Arbitration, Tribunal Secretary, Tribunal's assistant

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Most investment treaties do not expressly provide for the appointment of assistants or secretaries to the arbitral tribunal. It is an institutional practice that has been subsequently codified by several arbitral institutions, while some institutions are still silent on the subject. Despite the significant attempts being made, the apprehension that arbitral secretaries may overstep their…

Cybersecurity, Data Protection, India

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  For a country with a significant corpus of the world’s personal data, India’s data protection framework is notoriously deficient. Improperly scoped, imprecisely drafted, and with no real enforcement culture, the extant framework1)as contained within the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Reasonable Security Practices and Procedures and Sensitive Personal Data or Information)…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arab World, Fork in the road, Indonesia, Investor-State arbitration, Libya, MENA, Middle East, PCA, Permanent Court of Arbitration

(Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University)/ /5 Comments

On 27 March 2017, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA“) designated an appointing authority in an OIC arbitration by applying the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, despite the absence of any reference to these Rules in the OIC Agreement. This decision, which concerns a pending case, DS. Construction v. Libya , could mark the…

Brexit, EU Withdrawal Act, European Law, European Union, Intra-EU BIT's, Micula

(Iordache Partners)/ /Leave a comment

Introduction It has by now become amply clear that nothing truly prepares the jurist for an analytical maze run of predicting the effects of Brexit. In some way, it reminds one of “Nebel des Krieges”, the “fog of war” faced by military decision makers once on the battlefield. The best you can hope for is…

Anti-suit injunction, Arbitration, England, ICC Arbitration

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In international commercial arbitration, issues relating to the unconstitutionality of national law (or national legislation) are very rarely raised before the arbitral tribunal. Within a purely academic setting, Jan Paulsson once commented that “[t]here [was] nothing at all unorthodox about the proposition that international tribunals empowered to apply national law [are also entitled to] make…

Amparo, Arbitration, Guatemala

(Universidad Francisco Marroquín)/ /Leave a comment
Young ICCA

The amparo is a constitutional action available in several Latin American countries by means of which a person can request the protection of her fundamental rights when an authority has violated or threatened to violate them.  Because of the amparo’s broad scope, it can be used as a guerrilla tactic in many of those jurisdictions,…

Common Law, Online Arbitration

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Young ICCA

This post presents an overview of online arbitration (e-arbitration’) as part of online dispute resolution (‘ODR’) techniques from both theoretical and practical perspectives.1)For a more detailed analysis of these issues see: Ihab Amro, Online Arbitration in Theory and in Practice: A Comparative Study of Cross-Border Commercial Transactions in Common Law and Civil Law Countries, Cambridge…

ASA Bulletin

(Editor in Chief, ASA Bulletin; LALIVE) and (LALIVE)/ /Leave a comment

We are happy to inform you that the latest issue of the ASA Bulletin is now available and includes the following articles and cases: ARTICLES Elliott GEISINGER, From Licence to Licence to Licence Points? (Yet Another Revolutionary Idea) In his message, ASA President Elliott GEISINGER, inspired by the gilets jaunes and the French driving licence…

Arbitration, Arbitration Awards, Enforcement, New York Convention, Philippines

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On the 60th year of the signing of the New York Convention, the Philippines’ Supreme Court, for the first time, declared its adoption of a narrow definition of “public policy” under the said convention. In Mabuhay Holdings Corporation v Sembcorp Logistics Limited, G.R. No. 212734, 5 December 2018, it held that “[m]ere errors in the interpretation of…

Arbitration Agreement, China, kompetenz-kompetenz, PRC

(Arnold & Porter) and / /Leave a comment

Introduction Parties to international commercial transactions not infrequently find themselves in disputes over whether a valid arbitration agreement exists between them or whether a court or an arbitral tribunal has the jurisdiction to hear this issue. These situations are especially perplexing because – despite the general international acceptance of the “kompetenz-kompetenz” doctrine – national laws…

Brazil, India, Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mediation, Singapore, Singapore Convention on Mediation

(Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London)/ /2 Comments

“Conversation – respectful, engaged, reciprocal, calling forth some of our greatest powers of empathy and understanding – is the moral form of a world governed by the dignity of difference.” Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, The Dignity of Difference, quoted by Ian Macduff in “Signs of hope” Following on from yesterday’s post, this second post offers…

Kluwer Mediation Blog, Mediation, Negotiation, Singapore Convention on Mediation

(Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London)/ /Leave a comment

“[…] one of the several paradoxes of mediation is that in many cases, the more logical, the more persuasive the argument, the more contrary and extreme the response. And in fact, what is needed, is the ability of advocates, and more so mediators, to build trust and create rapport.  A mystical concept for some, instantly…

Achmea, Energy Charter Treaty, European Union, Intra-EU ISDS

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The Lisbon Treaty granted to the EU the competences on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). The exercise of those competences on FDI has not been smooth in the area of Investor-to-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS), in particular, regarding the application of ISDS between a Member State and the investor of another Member State either whether those ISDS…

Enforcement, India, Investment Arbitration

(National Law School of India University)/ /3 Comments

Introduction The Delhi High Court’s recent judgment in Union of India v. Khaitan Holdings (Mauritius) marks the third instance of an Indian court adjudicating upon issues related to arbitration under an international investment treaty. Within these three judgments, courts have fundamentally disagreed on a crucial point – the applicability of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act,…

Azerbaijan, Domestic arbitration, Enforcement, New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, UNCITRAL Model Law

(ICC)/ /1 Comment

I address the regulation and practice of arbitration in Azerbaijan, a topic which has not been discussed widely on an international level. While there is a significant uniformity in international arbitration legislations around the world due to the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (hereinafter the “New York Convention”) and…

China, HKIAC, Interim measures

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In a significant development for the region, Mainland China and Hong Kong have announced a bilateral arrangement by which the Chinese courts will now recognise and enforce interim measures in support of institutional arbitration seated in Hong Kong (the “Arrangement”).1) Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the…

Arbitrators, English Arbitration Act, English courts, Set aside an arbitral award

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In RJ v HB [2018] EWHC 2833 (Comm) (‘RJ’), Andrew Baker J (‘Baker J’) found that the facts disclosed a serious irregularity under s68 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (‘the Act’).1)The author wishes to thank Ms Rachel Foxton, Mr Harry Francis Millerchip, and Ms Jenna Hare. The views in this article should not be…

Arbitrators, Diversity

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While the gender imbalance in arbitrator appointments is widely known,1) L. Greenwood, Getting a Better Balance on International Arbitration Tribunals, Arbitration International, Issue 4 (2012). the causes are still debated. Before our exhaustive study, however, no one had seriously examined gender taxonomy as a possible cause of variations in the selection of male and female…

Arbitration, BIT, Cybersecurity, Energy

(Vinson & Elkins LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Young ITA

The 6th Annual Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration, co-hosted by the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the Institute for Energy Law (IEL), and the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), took place on January 24-25, 2019, in Houston, Texas. Under the guidance of conference co-chairs Andrew T. Clarke (ExxonMobil…

ADR, Arbitration institution, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), Interview, Interviews with Our Editors, United States

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

Mr. André, welcome to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog. We were pleased to have Mr. Hanft join us recently and are thrilled to have the opportunity to also share your perspective with our readers.  To start, can you briefly introduce yourself and explain your role at CPR? Thank you very much for the invitation Kiran.  At…

Hong Kong, Investment Arbitration, Investment protection, Investment Treaties, Investor, Investor-State arbitration, ISDS, ISDS Reform

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /Leave a comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

The year of the pig was off to a good start in Hong Kong at the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Reform Conference organised by the Hong Kong Department of Justice and the Asian Academy of International Law on 13 February 2019. Like the fabled pig, ISDS reform has been slow in coming, and the aim…

Arbitration, Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Cost allocation mechanisms, Costs, Costs in arbitral proceedings, Evidence, Vis Moot, Willem C. Vis Moot

(University of Aberdeen)/ /Leave a comment

The admissibility of illegal evidence in international commercial arbitration is for sure, at the moment, a widely discussed topic among law students and arbitration lawyers thanks to this year’s problem at the Willem C Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot competition (“Vis Moot Problem”). The Kluwer Arbitration Blog (“KAB”) covered the topic extensively as well in…

Art and Arbitration, CAfA, WIPO

(Crefovi)/ /Leave a comment

Having practising in the art law field since 2012, I have drawn the following observations from this experience: litigation is not the most time-efficient and cost-efficient approach to adequately resolving disputes in the art sector; the absence of secrecy in court proceedings is a major issue for the buy side of the art market, i.e….