Many parties fail to realize that the wording of an arbitration clause is important for arbitration to function smoothly. In practice, one may observe, however, recurrent scenarios where arbitration clauses contain defective wording and, thus, are subject to unnecessary incidents and procedural debates. Such clauses are called “pathological clauses“. They are defined in Fouchard, Gaillard, […]
Rome I, Rome II, Applicable Law and International Arbitration
The relevance of the Rome I and Rome II Regulations for determining the law applicable to the merits of an international arbitration is a hotly-debated issue. Within the European Union (“EU”), Regulation (EC) No. 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations (“Rome I”)[1] and Regulation (EC) No. 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual […]
Initiating Arbitrations Under Multiple Arbitration Agreements
The filing of arbitrations based on multiple arbitration agreements, contained in two (or more) separate contracts, in a single arbitration proceeding may be possible, but must be done with caution. The development of major projects in the fields of engineering, construction, oil and gas, and mining often give rise to situations where related disputes regarding […]
Ambitious New 2020 LCIA Arbitration Rules, with an Increase in Costs
On 11 August 2020, the LCIA released a surprisingly ambitious update to its Arbitration Rules (the “2020 (LCIA Arbitration) Rules”) and a new Schedule of Arbitration Costs (the “2020 LCIA Schedule of Costs”), increasing the costs of LCIA Arbitration, among other notable changes. The 2020 LCIA Arbitration Rules and the 2020 LCIA Schedule of Costs […]
Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Courts: Moving from Litigation to Arbitration?
The global difficulties caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19), various State measures imposing restrictions on the movement of people, social distancing and complete lockdowns, while necessary to protect health, are inevitably having an impact on litigation in national courts, globally. In certain countries courts have had to limit, or to even entirely close, their operations due […]