Uruguay Hints at Compromise in Arbitration with Philip Morris
A string of mainstream media reports are suggesting that Uruguay is looking to compromise with Philip Morris International in relation to a sensitive international arbitration.
On Tuesday, The UK-based Guardian newspaper reported that Uruguay
has promised to water down anti-smoking laws after pressure from the tobacco giant Philip Morris, prompting accusations of corporate bullying.
More specifically, the paper reports that Uruguay will make certain changes to its strict tobacco control laws in order to comply with its “international trade obligations”:
“On some arguments, Uruguay is very strong from a legal point of view and changes aren’t necessary. On other points, we need to make chan [...]
LCIA India Arbitration Rules – First Impressions
- By Rajiv Naik, Advani & Co.,
for YIAG
The recent publication of the LCIA India Arbitration Rules (the ‘Rules’) has sparked a fair amount of discussion and interest, not in small measure owing to the fact that this is the first instance when an international arbitral institution has published a set of arbitration rules tailored for the Indian scenario. One of the ways it does this is by providing parties with an extremely attractive framework of arbitration costs. This post focuses on this key aspect of costs, and how the Rules have the potential to bring about a change in perception that institutional arbitration is less cost-effective than ad hoc proceedings and which has hitherto deterred a more widespread use of instituti [...]
The International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry: New Developments and a Short Comment on the Rumor Mill
Last month a number of noteworthy arbitration-related developments took place in Moscow.
Firstly, the international conference “Commercial Arbitration in Russia, Sweden and the UK: New Business Opportunities”, was held on 9-10 June at the Congress Center of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The conference was jointly organized by the Center of Arbitration and Mediation at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in cooperation with the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, CIA and BE Capital. More than 100 lawyers from Russia and abroad attended the conference with a wide range of interesting topics. In conjunction with this event, a meeting of the newly elected SCC Secretary G [...]
More on Corporate Criticism of International Arbitration
I recently spoke at a conference co-sponsored by the Milan Chamber of Arbitration and the ICC on the occasion of the publication of the new Italian arbitration treatise entitled Commentario Breve al Diritto Dell’Arbitrato Nazionale ed Internazionale (CEDAM 2010) by my colleague Massimo Benedettelli, along with co-authors Claudio Consolo and Luca Radicati di Brozolo. The topic of my panel was general trends in international arbitration.
Although I would have liked to have spoken on a substantive trend in international arbitration, I decided I could not ignore a much bigger, procedural trend that has been the topic of conferences in both the United States and Latin America – that is the [...]
A View from the Mountain Top: A Challenge to International Arbitral Practice in Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain
Switzerland may be one of the world’s most important arbitral seats, even so one would scarcely expect arbitration to hold much interest for the tubercular residents of Davos in Mann’s novel Der Zauberberg or The Magic Mountain. Yet aficionados of arbitration who persevere to the sixth chapter of his lengthy book are treated to a little exchange on the subject. In a usually overlooked passage, the Italian Ludovico Settembrini, purporting to speak as the voice of progress, and the conservative Jesuit Leo Naphta cross swords over the merits of arbitration during an afternoon of tea and chocolate “Baumkuchen” cake in the company of the main character Hans Castorp and his cousin Joachi [...]
Here Comes the Sun …
The 2010 World Cup may have come and gone (good, or perhaps bad news, depending where you stand on this), as by the looks of it (at least from where I’m sitting in London, SE1), has our short-lived summer. Thoughts spring to mind: why did we ever complain about the sweaty carriage on the London Underground, the lack of air conditioning, or the lack of outside tables with umbrellas to sit and enjoy our summer Pimms?? So, for all those who are not reveling in Spain’s World Cup victory, and need a summer ‘pick-me-up’, here it comes …
The last time I had the pleasure of blogging was back in December, when I introduced several significant enhancements to Kluwer Arbitration, including a [...]
