Professor Hess is the author of the chapter of the Heidelberg Report on the interplay between arbitration and the Regulation 44/2001 (“the Regulation”). As such, and quite understandably, he actively promotes the suggestion that the arbitration exception should be deleted from the Regulation.
The Heidelberg proposal has been followed by a Green Paper of the European [...] read more »

On January 15, 2010, the United States Supreme Court granted a writ of certiorari in Rent-A-Center West, Inc. v. Jackson, Case No. 09-497, agreeing to revisit the oft-litigated issue of whether the court or arbitrator should determine arbitrability under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). The Court’s prior jurisprudence has established the general rule, as [...] read more »

On 8 July 2009, the French Supreme Court rendered a decision confirming its position that the existence and the validity of an arbitration agreement should be determined primarily in light of the common intent of the parties (Société d’études et représentations navales et industrielles (SOERNI) et autres vs. Société Air Sea Broker limited (ASB), July [...] read more »

One of the major problems related to the doctrine of the New Lex Mercatoria (NLM) is to determine its contents. The UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts, of which a third edition will perhaps be finalized this year, have used the Restatement technique of the American Law Institute as a means to “codify” transnational contract [...] read more »

Handicapping investor-state arbitration cases is a tough business. Indeed, it’s difficult to predict when decisions will come down – much less what they will say.
The following somewhat-hastily-cobbled-together list constitutes my best guess as to the 10 most notable awards which may come down in 2010. I won’t hazard a guess as to what’s in [...] read more »

As a political slogan, re-Belizeanization was supposed to have a brief shelf life.
When the Government of Belize announced last August the “re-Belizeanization” of the tiny Central American country’s dominant telecommunications company, Belize Telemedia Limited, the government disavowed any intention to embark upon a broader programme of economic nationalization.
“It is not part of any pattern, part [...] read more »