The New York Convention compels its 157 contracting Parties to enforce arbitration awards: “A New York Convention award may, by leave of the court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment or order of the court to the same effect”. This enforcement requirement, found in Section 101 of the Arbitration Act 1996, is however […]
United Kingdom Arbitration
New English-Speaking Commercial Court in Paris
On 1 March, a new appeals court in Paris opened its chamber doors. Similar to courts in other EU cities,[1] this commercial court resolves international commercial disputes using English and common law practices. It also hears appeals from the lower commercial court[2] involving foreign businesses or foreign law. It also expects to ultimately oversee arbitration award enforcement […]
The Seat of Arbitration in International Commercial Arbitration
The seat of arbitration (also known as the place or locale) is one of the most important factors to take into consideration when drafting international arbitration clauses in a contract and is often confused with the venue of the arbitration, which is not the same thing. The choice of the seat of arbitration can have […]
The LCIA Arbitration Clause – London Court of International Arbitration
An LCIA Arbitration Clause in a contract contains the parties’ agreement that their dispute will be resolved by an arbitral tribunal and that the arbitration proceedings will be governed by the procedural rules in the LCIA Arbitration Rules, in addition to any mandatory rules at the seat of arbitration. The inclusion in the contract of an […]
Enforcement of an ICSID Arbitration Award in the United Kingdom and EU Law
The enforcement of an ICSID investment arbitration award in the United Kingdom can be a complex matter, especially when doing so would arguably violate EU law. In January 2017, the UK High Court delivered a judgement to stay enforcement proceedings of the final ICSID award in the case of Ioan Micula and others v Romania, […]
Arbitration and World Wide Freezing Orders: U&M Mining Zambia v. Konkola Copper Mines, English High Court (2014)
U&M Mining Zambia Ltd v Konkola Copper Mines Plc [2014] EWHC 3250 (Comm) (10 October 2014) concerns the issuance of world wide freezing orders (“WFO”) against a losing party to an arbitration. By way of background, a dispute had arisen out of a contract entered into by the parties for the provision by U&M Mining […]
MALICORP LIMITED V. THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT (ICSID CASE NO. ARB/08/18) – AWARD
The dispute between Malicorp Ltd, an English Company, and the Republic of Egypt, arose out of the allegedly illegal termination of a concession contract amounting to a violation of the Bilateral Investment Treaty between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Egypt of 1975 (the “BIT”). In 2000, Malicorp was awarded a […]
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 […]
