On 2 November 2016, the American Chamber of Commerce in Bucharest launched a new centre in Bucharest, called the Bucharest International Arbitration Court (“BIAC”), presided by Annet van Hooft, the Paris-based co-head of Bird & Bird’s international dispute resolution group. The Bucharest International Arbitration Court is an independent arbitration court gathering 60 local and foreign […]
International Arbitration
Commercial Arbitration in Saudi Arabia: Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the largest economy in the Arabian Gulf, has seen significant positive developments for commercial arbitration in Saudi Arabia over the past few years. We previously reported on the New Saudi Arbitration Regulations passed in 2012. However, another important development was the opening of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA)[1], […]
Court for Arbitration for Sports (CAS): Serbia v. Kosovo, Round 2.
There have been interesting developments at the Court for Arbitration for Sport (CAS) based in Lausanne, Switzerland: a more political than legal dispute only adding to the worsening of Serbia’s and Kosovo’s already tense political relations. In May 2016, Kosovo became 55th Member of the UEFA by a decision passed by 28 to 24 votes. […]
Judgment-Proof Claimants in ICSID Arbitration
The issue of judgment-proof claimants in ICSID arbitration has recently been a focus of attention. As a matter of fact, the Republic of Panama sent a memorandum to ICSID on 12 September 2016, available below, exposing the difficulties of sovereigns being unable to collect costs awards in their favour and requesting the ICSID to examine […]
Spain Energy Treaty Arbitrations
On 12 August 2016, another Spain energy treaty arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty was registered at the ICSID. The claimants are two Dutch companies, Cordoba Beheer B.V. and Sevilla Beheer B.V., together with Cross Retail S.L and Spanish Project companies, both registered in Spain.[1] This case is just another in line with dozens of arbitrations […]
The Arbitrator’s Duty to Disclose in International Arbitration
The arbitrator’s duty to disclose potential conflicts of interest depends on the applicable law. The arbitrator, in France, is bound by a duty of sincerity towards the parties that can be seen on two levels, in a chronological manner. First, he must reveal all and any potential conflict of interests before accepting his or her […]
The Admissibility of Evidence in International Arbitration
The admissibility of evidence in international arbitration has long been a debated issue. A piece of evidence must be admitted in order to be considered by the arbitral tribunal, which will then evaluate its probative value in light of the facts of the dispute. Evidence is in principle admitted if it is relevant and material […]
Supplementation of an Arbitration Award under the ICSID Convention
The supplementation of an arbitration award under Article 49(2) of the ICSID Convention is a remedy for inadvertent omissions in the award due to an oversight on the part of the tribunal which is likely to be corrected by it once this oversight is pointed out. This oversight should however concern a “question” before the […]
2016 UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings
The first version of the UNCITRAL Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings, aimed at assisting arbitration practitioners with the issues typically associated with arbitral proceedings, was adopted by the UNCITRAL Commission in 1996 and has been replaced by a new version in July 2016, available below. The Notes have proven to be a useful tool for […]
