Premium article - May 02, 2019
Are the big global law firms falling out of love with international arbitration? And if not, then why are international arbitration boutiques forming - and what role might third-party funding play in dictating whether the boutique or larger-firm model flourishes from here on? These questions formed the basis of last year's GAR Live London Inquisition. The GAR Live Inquisition mimics a legislative committee hearing: three inquisitors are tasked with getting at the truth of a matter, by interviewing...
Premium article - May 01, 2019
As the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre becomes the first foreign arbitral institution to be licensed to administer cases in Russia, Alexey Yadykin of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Moscow considers what it could mean for arbitration of Russian M&A disputes. On 25 April, the HKIAC became the first foreign arbitral institution to receive a government permit under Russia's Federal Law on Arbitration dated 29 December 2015. It is a remarkable event in itself and comes on top of recent...
Premium article - April 29, 2019
John Gaffney, senior counsel at Al Tamimi & Company in Abu Dhabi, considers the implications of the Achmea judgment for international commercial arbitrations involving the interpretation or application of EU law. "Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." (William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet) Much has been written on the implications of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Achmea case for intra-EU investment treaty arbitration. Less attention has been paid...
Premium article - April 24, 2019
A Swedish court recently upheld two intra-EU BIT awards, rejecting arguments by Poland based on the European Court of Justice's decision in Achmea and Swedish public policy. Stephen Fietta QC of Fietta in London, who represented the investor in the arbitration, and Robin Oldenstam of Mannheimer Swartling in Stockholm, who acted as its counsel before the Swedish court, explain how the decision relied on long-established rules of Swedish arbitration law and was consistent with the Achmea judgment....
Premium article - April 23, 2019
As the treaty establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area, or AfCFTA, is poised to come into force, Hogan Lovells partner Thomas Kendra, associate Thibaud Roujou de Boubée and trainee Claire Dumbill in Paris consider what it may mean for investment arbitration in the region. The AfCFTA Agreement seeks to unite 1.2 billion people, 55 nations and a gross domestic product of more than US$ 3.4 trillion under a single continental market. Adopted in 2018, it has been signed by 52 African member...
Premium article - April 18, 2019
As Singapore announces it is considering allowing appeals of arbitration awards on a point of law, Kohe Hasan and Justine Barthe-Dejean, partner and associate at Reed Smith (in alliance with Resource Law) in Singapore consider whether such a reform would be a move in the right direction. The Singapore Ministry of Law announced on 1 April that it is considering amending the International Arbitration Act (IAA) to allow parties to appeal to the Singapore courts on a question of law arising out of an...
Premium article - March 28, 2019
Delivering the inaugural HKIAC Annual Lecture in Beijing, Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler proposed guidelines for settlement facilitation by arbitrators and considered Western and Eastern attitudes to the practice. Weina Ye, senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills in Shanghai, reports. On 1 March, Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler, president of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration and partner at Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler in Geneva, delivered the inaugural HKIAC Annual Lecture, "In Search of Efficiency...
Premium article - February 19, 2019
Andi Kadir and Bernard Sihombing of HHP Law Firm (Baker McKenzie in Jakarta) consider recent trends in challenges to the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Indonesia. Since the Indonesian Supreme Court's landmark decision in 2004 in Perusahaan Pertambangan Minyak dan Gas Bumi Negara (Pertamina) v Karaha Bodas Company case, the court has consistently inclined towards confirming the position under the 1958 New York Convention and held that Indonesian courts have no jurisdiction to set aside...
Premium article - February 13, 2019
Nassib G Ziadé, chief executive officer of the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR-AAA), used a speech in Manama to question whether proposals to establish a permanent court to hear investment disputes would address the flaws in the current investor-state arbitration system or be in the best interests of developing countries. A shortened version of his speech appears below. I can hardly be labelled as someone who is an advocate of the investment arbitration system in its current form. I...
Premium article - February 04, 2019
Promod Nair and Shivani Singhal of Arista Chambers in Bangalore discuss "problematic" aspects of a recent decision by the Delhi High Court that refused to enjoin a bilateral investment treaty arbitration against India. In its recent decision in Union of India v Khaitan Holdings (Mauritius) Limited, the Delhi High Court refused India's request to enjoin BIT proceedings commenced against it by a Mauritian investor. The court found no evidence of abuse of process and held that interfering with investment...