According to a recent announcement (see the official DIAC website at https://www.dubaichamber.com/en/news/dubai-international-arbitration-centre-opens-an-office-in-difc), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre, widely known by its acronym as the “DIAC”, is set to open a branch in the Dubai International Financial Centre, in shorthand the “DIFC”. This anticipated move is no doubt a promotional exercise to address concerns that the…
As previously discussed, the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Bosnian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Association ARBITRI organized in April 2016 two arbitration events in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina [“BiH”], with the aim to promote awareness of modern international practice and developments of law, and to encourage the reform of national laws, regulations…
European institutions have established the European Account Preservation Order procedure (“EAPO”) to facilitate the cross-border debt recovery through the attachment of bank accounts (see here the Regulation (EU) No. 655/2014, which will apply from 18 January 2017, except for Denmark and the United Kingdom). The EAPO in particular provides creditors with a measure alternative to national…
According to the last “Scoreboard” published by the European Commission in 2015 regarding the civil justice system in each Member State, the average length of first instance proceedings in Italy is 608 days. Only Cyprus and Malta take more time to reach a decision. As if this was not enough, the number of proceedings which…
Choice of dispute resolution mechanism is crucial in drafting and negotiation of financial transactions. Usually lenders insist on having their preference inserted into the financial agreement and this is why dispute resolution clauses in such transactions reflect primarily the interests of lenders, and lenders seek efficient settlement of disputes. Traditionally large international banks and other…
By an order of late last year (ARB 002/2014 – A v. B, Order of Justice Sir David Steel of 16 December 2014), Justice Sir David Steel dismissed an application by an award debtor seeking a number of orders to avoid the recognition and enforcement of an award rendered by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre…
and Paul Tan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP Short answer: Yes for some actions, but not all. Here is why. The Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”) was launched in January 2015 and provides litigants with the benefits of court proceedings and international arbitration without the constraints and setbacks of either option. Thus far, murmurs of…
Prior to 2012, India faced widespread criticism from the international arbitral community over a series of judgments concerning arbitration. Much has changed since 2012 – in the post-Bharat Aluminium (“BALCO”) era. A pro-arbitration approach by the judiciary was reflected in a series of judgments that came after the BALCO judgment, such as Reliance Industries (Reliance…
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ordered a fund management committee (‘SBC’) to arbitrate its dispute with Navistar International (‘Navistar’) – at Navistar’s request – despite the fact that Navistar refused SBC’s own request for arbitration, ignored SBC’s formal notice of arbitration, and then litigated SBC’s claim in court for over a year (Art…
Arbitrating in the Gulf The oil and gas sector constitutes one of the most important and competitive market in Gulf countries and despite the recent slide in oil prices, the majority of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members have reserves and savings from the boom period of 2003-2014 that can underpin spending programmes. It is…
The question of what constitutes an “arbitration” is unlikely to be one that arbitral practitioners have cause to ponder on a daily basis. In fact, such a question might appear at first to be purely theoretical or academic. A recent case (ASADA v 34 Players) from the Victorian Supreme Court in Australia, however, shows the…
The Pechstein decision of the Munich Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) of January 15, 2015 has made headlines (see here and here). The Munich court refused to recognise an arbitral award of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), since it held the underlying arbitration agreement between Claudia Pechstein, the speed skater, and her sport’s governing…
International arbitration must of necessity rely on the courts to uphold and enforce arbitral awards and to support the arbitral process. In words of Professor Jan Paulsson, “the great paradox of arbitration is that it seeks the cooperation of the very public authorities from which it wants to free itself.” (Jan Paulsson, Arbitration in Three…
In April 2014, Tiulei Hagalil and Klal Teufa, two Israeli companies providing tourism and flight services, commenced an action against Royal Jordanian Airlines and two other respondents in the Israeli District Court for monetary and declaratory relief (Tiulei Hagalil Transport (1987) Ltd. and others v. Royal Jordanian Airlines and others, Tel-Aviv-Jaffa District Court, 56420-03-14, 15…
The pronouncements of the highest-ranking court are key indicators of a legal system’s stance vis-à-vis arbitration and other private means of dispute resolution. Over the past decade, the Supreme Court of Canada has dealt with arbitration in a number of cases, and it initially did so in a manner that revealed a very supportive attitude….
The Bombay High Court recently upheld an Order passed by the Company Law Board (CLB) refusing to refer disputes, arising from a shareholders agreement, to arbitration. The proceedings before the CLB arose from a dispute between Rakesh Malhotra (Rakesh) and certain members of the Malhotra family for control of the Supermax Group of Companies a…
and Irina Tymczyszyn, Bryan Cave LLP An M&A dispute between Travis Coal Restructured Holdings LLC (“Travis”) and Essar Global Fund Limited (“EGFL”) and related parallel proceedings in England and New York have shone the spotlight back on the issue of summary judgment in international arbitration. The United States District Court for the Southern District of…
Recently, the Kluwer Arbitration Blog published a post regarding the ongoing saga between the The Clorox Company and the Petroplus Companies. That post sought to answer two general questions: 1) the power of international arbitrators to overturn interim measures granted by Brazilian courts, and 2) the power of Brazilian courts to stay international arbitrations. While…
Do international arbitrators have the power to overturn interim measures granted by a Brazilian court? Do Brazilian courts have the power to stay international arbitrations? A recent decision rendered in the Petroplus Sul Comércio Exterior S.A. (“Petroplus”) et al. v. First Brands do Brasil Ltda. et al. (“First Brands”) dispute has just provided its answer…
In a recent, worldwide yet unprecedented move, the DIFC Courts have circulated for public consultation a draft Practice Direction (see Practice Direction No. X of 2014 amending Practice Direction No. 2 of 2012 DIFC Courts’ Jurisdiction, electronically accessible on the official website of the DIFC Courts at www.difccourts.ae), which essentially aims to provide for the…
and Li Meng, AnJie Law Firm Whether foreign arbitration institutions could conduct arbitration in the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”) is a question that many industry insiders are curious about. Back in 2006, when the Wuxi Intermediate People’s Court (“Wuxi Court”) refused to recognize and enforce an arbitral award issued by the ICC Court of…
By Karl Pörnbacher and Lars Pütz, Hogan Lovells LLP An arbitral tribunal’s preliminary ruling on its jurisdiction can be challenged by application for state court decision according to Sec. 1040 (3) German Code of Civil Procedure, following the example of Art. 16 of the UNCITRAL Model Law. Such a case has been decided by the…
Authors: Geoff Hansen, Partner and Jennifer Galatas, Senior Associate1)The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Nuwan Dias in preparing this article. 1. Introduction – APRAG and Beyond On 27 to 28 March 2014, international dispute experts converged on Melbourne, Australia to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Asia-Pacific Regional Arbitration Group (APRAG) Conference. APRAG is…
The most quintessential element of international arbitration is an impartial, independent and neutral tribunal. Where impartiality and independence of the arbitrators is equated with direct relation to or bias towards one of the parties, neutrality is related to the nationality of the arbitrator. In international sphere, the “appearance of neutrality” is considered equally important, meaning…
