The Yukos group of companies, whose controlling shareholders were OAO Yukos Oil Company, Hulley Enterprises Limited (Cyprus), Yukos Universal Limited (Isle of Man) and Veteran Petroleum Limited (Cyprus), was supposed to benefit from tax exemptions. However, in 2002, these exemptions were revoked at the Closed Administrative Territorial Units (“ZATOs”). Then, starting in 2003, Yukos suffered […]
International Arbitration
OPIC KARIMUM CORPORATION V. THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA (ICSID CASE No. ARB/10/14) – DECISION ON THE PROPOSAL TO DISQUALIFY PROFESSOR PHILIPPE SANDS, ARBITRATOR, MAY 5, 2011
This decision concerns the rejection of a challenge to the arbitrator Professor Phillipe Sands, who had been appointed by Respondent, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The challenge was made by Claimant on the basis that Phillipe Sands had been appointed previously by Respondent, and also previously by Respondent’s counsel, as arbitrator in ICSID and non-ICSID […]
BG GROUP PLC. V. REPUBLIC OF ARGENTINA – CASE NO. U.S. 12-138 (2014) – U.S. SUPREME COURT
In this dispute, the Claimant was part of a consortium owning majority shares in MetroGas, for the distribution of natural gas in Buenos Aires. Before the 2001 financial crisis, Argentinean law provided that gas tariffs were calculated in US dollars for profitable returns. However, the crisis led to emergency measures, one of which implemented a […]
SAINT-GOBAIN PERFORMANCE PLASTICS EUROPE V. THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA (ICSID CASE NO. ARB/12/13) – DECISION ON PROPOSAL TO DISQUALIFY ARBITRATOR of 27 February 2013
On 25 May 2012, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Europe filed a request for arbitration against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for breaches to the Agreement on Encouragement and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between France and Venezuela of 15 April 2004. After appointment of the arbitrators by each party, Claimant filed for the disqualification of the arbitrator […]
The Presumption of Separability in International Arbitration
The presumption of separability in international arbitration means that the validity of an international arbitration agreement is separate and analyzed independently from the rest of a contract. It may be the case that only the arbitration agreement itself is valid while the rest of the contract is not, or vice versa. This presumption is recognized […]
Formal Requirements an Arbitration Award Must Satisfy to Be Enforceable in England and Wales: Anthony Lombard-Knight v Rainstorm [2014] EWCA Civ 356
This case concerns the formal requirements that an arbitration award must satisfy in order to be enforceable in England and Wales under the New York Convention of 1958 and the Arbitration Act 1996. Those instruments require that an arbitration award be duly authenticated or that its copy be duly certified. This case concerns the meaning […]
Denial of Justice in Investment Arbitration – Claims Commission, L.FAY H. NEER AND PAULINE NEER (USA) V. UNITED MEXICAN STATES
The famous case Neer v. United Mexican States set a standard of treatment with respect to denial of justice, fair and equitable treatment and the minimum standard of treatment in international law, which is still relevant and largely applied and relied upon today in investment arbitrations. This decision was rendered on 15 October 1926 by […]
Bias in International Arbitration
One of the most acclaimed aspects of international arbitration is its neutrality, but charges of bias in international arbitration are frequent. Arbitrators constituting an international tribunal must be independent and free from any bias. In case of doubt, any party can challenge the independence of an arbitrator after being appointed. Bias can be real, which […]
ENFORCEMENT OF AN ANNULLED ARBITRATION AWARD: SOCIETE PT PUTRABALI ADYAMULIA v. RENA HOLDING French Court of Cassation (2007)
The case Société PT Putrabali Adyamulia v Société Rena Holding et Société Moguntia Est Epices is one of the French landmark cases concerning the enforcement of an arbitral award in France, where the enforcement of an annulled arbitration award is possible. In the case, Putrabali sold a cargo of white pepper to Rena Holding. The […]
