New French Arbitration Law Clarifies Role of National Courts and Reinforces Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitration Awards
The new French arbitration law, published on 14 January 2011, further reinforces Paris’ position as a leading arbitration centre. The new law, which comes thirty years after the previous 1980 law regarding domestic arbitration and the 1981 law dealing with international arbitration, maintains the distinction between domestic and international arbitration. It clarifies and enhances an already arbitration-friendly law by codifying case-law and including innovative provisions in the Code of Civil Procedure (Articles 1442 to 1527). This is apparent, in particular, in the new provisions governing the role of French courts in supporting arbitration and those regarding the recognition and enforce [...]
New Arbitration Law in the Republic of Georgia
- By Michael Wietzorek,
for YIAG
In an analysis published last year, the Georgian authors Mgalobishvili and Kiknavelidze concluded that “there is no doubt that Georgia needs a lot of time and efforts in order to be finally established as a country friendly towards arbitration […].” 1 They identified measures which, in their opinion, should be taken by Georgia in order to accomplish this goal. Among these measures, they listed the adoption of legislation based on the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law.
Less than a year later, it can be announced that Georgia has successfully taken this step: On 19 June 2009, the Parliament of the Republic of Georgia passed a new law “On Arbitration“, which came into force on 1 January 2010 [...]
Who’s A Respondent In Light of Art. 207 of the Lisbon Treaty?
Art. 207 of the Lisbon Treaty defines the new common commercial policy of the European Union, and states that it shall furthermore relate also to “foreign direct investments”. This provision has the appeal of an outright earthquake, given that the field of foreign investment, and in particular investment treaties, has always been the exclusive realm of the member states (at least in theory, the legal reality was different, though: the EU has concluded mixed free trade agreements with third states not only comprising matters of commercial policy, but also of investments). It has accordingly drawn the comments and critique of numerous scholars. Yet, to my mind it seems that this provision [...]
New Rules on Domestic Arbitration and Their Relation to the Rules Governing International Arbitration in Switzerland
As of 1 January 2011, Swiss domestic arbitration proceedings will be governed by Articles 353 et seq. of the new Swiss Code on Civil Procedure (“CCP”). Articles 353 et seq. CCP will replace the Concordat on Arbitration (“Concordat”), currently governing domestic arbitration proceedings. The dichotomy between domestic arbitration and international arbitration will continue to exist, i.e., international arbitration proceedings will continue to be governed by Chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Act (“PILA”). However, there are new possibilities for parties to chose between the two systems.
Currently, parties to an international arbitration can opt out of Chapter 12 PILA and subjec [...]
Possible reinforcement of the negative effect of the “competence-competence” principle in Swiss legislation
The Swiss Parliament is currently contemplating a reinforcement of the negative effect of the “competence-competence” principle in the Swiss legislation. According to a parliamentary initiative, a Swiss court that is seized on the merits and faced with a plea of lack of jurisdiction based on the existence of a valid arbitration agreement should review such arbitration agreement only on a prima facie basis. Unlike today, the initiative provides that this should be the case regardless of the seat of arbitration. After a positive vote from the first chamber of the Swiss Parliament, the initiative will now come before the second chamber.
Article 7 of the Private International Law Act (PILA) [...]
Diplomatic Friction
At first glance, the Alien Torts Statute (ATS) doesn’t have a lot to do with arbitration – which may explain why Roger Alford wrote about it over on Opinio Juris, rather than here.
(The ATS permits non US nationals to bring claims in the U.S. Federal Courts for alleged breach of the law of nations, and has led to a multitude of claims seeking to hold multinational corporations liable for their actions abroad)
Lately, I’ve been wondering why critics of the ATS raise the alarm about the negative diplomatic consequences of exposing important allies to embarrassing human rights lawsuits, while overlooking the potential for diplomatic friction to arise when business interests use arbitration mech [...]
