Practical Law

In Russia, there is a kind of superstition that a leap year brings troubles. Yet, even by those standards, 2020 has already brought about too many (and it is not even over yet); of course, the COVID-19 pandemic stands out by any standards.

In November 2018, the Russian Arbitration Association (the RAA) published its study on the Application of the New York Convention in Russia during 2008-2017. The study is a significant work performed by the working group headed by Roman Zykov and comprising lawyers from leading law firms who thoroughly studied published cases over the period of … Continue reading Enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Russia: what we can learn from recent statistics? →

The so-called Prague Rules were published in draft form very early on. Since then, there have been a number of revisions with updated drafts being published. This was perhaps one of the reasons why they attracted so much attention (primarily in the form of criticism) from the arbitration community. With one final revision of the … Continue reading Why the Prague Rules may be needed? →

In a recent article, Constantine Partasides QC and Simon Maynard argued that the presumption of confidentiality in the English Arbitration Act 1996 (AA 1996) should be reversed. According to the authors, this would not prevent parties who wish to opt for confidentiality from doing so, but would hopefully address the concerns which the public at … Continue reading Presumption of confidentiality in international commercial arbitration →

A recent ruling of the Supreme Court of Russia took upon an interesting, even though not very common question of whether an arbitral tribunal has a duty to determine the law applicable to the merits of the case as a preliminary issue (Case No. А40-42294/2016). Usually, the parties to a cross-border contract ensure that the … Continue reading Should arbitral tribunals determine applicable law as a preliminary issue? →

It is trite law that arbitration is a consensual matter. The source of arbitrators’ powers is found in the relevant arbitration agreement. By contrast, parties have access to at least some competent court as of right, and the court’s power is vested in the relevant procedural law. This distinction has a number of important practical … Continue reading Arbitration of shareholders disputes in Russia: bending natural limits of arbitration? →

It is no secret that arbitration can be expensive. Clearly, many parties do not take this into account when agreeing to an arbitration clause in a contract. But can the fact that the proceedings turn out to be too expensive for one of the parties be a ground for walking away from the agreed method … Continue reading No money: no arbitration? Reflections on recent Russian cases →

Sanctions imposed against certain Russian persons in relation to the situation in Ukraine have been a hot topic for the Russian arbitration community over the past two years, triggering discussions at numerous seminars, conferences and symposia. However, a recent survey conducted by the Russian Arbitration Association (RAA) suggests that all of this may have been … Continue reading The RAA Survey shows that sanctions imposed on Russia have had a very limited impact on Russia-related arbitrations →

Legal writings and conference papers discussing technology in arbitration almost inevitably touch upon the ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to assume the decision-making role. In a recent Young ICCA blog post on machine arbitration and machine arbitrators, Jack Wright Nelson offers an interesting analysis as to why this type of dispute resolution would be acceptable. 

Legal privilege was developed in common law jurisdictions to limit the scope of parties’ disclosure obligations under the local rules of civil procedure. However, since the disclosure obligations in continental procedural law traditionally were very limited, no corresponding privilege rules were developed in civil law jurisdictions.

Russian commercial courts, among other things, are known for their reluctance to issue interim measures. For that reason alone, two recent rulings, where the courts at first instance actually granted anti-arbitration injunctions, were bound to attract more attention than they would otherwise deserve. These decisions were successfully overturned, demonstrating that the risks of Russian courts granting … Continue reading Anti-arbitration injunctions in Russia? →

Currency exchange fluctuations are an inherent risk in international trade and consequently in cross-border disputes. While contractual risks can be taken care of at the time of contracting, disputes will inevitably unfold over a certain (rather unpredictable) period of time. This makes parties particularly vulnerable to developments affecting the value of the currency of the debt.

It is no secret that Russia is not among the most popular venues for international commercial arbitration. There may be many reasons for this, including purely logistical ones (such as visa requirements and lack of appropriate hearing centres). Nevertheless, in addition to considerations of convenience, the real reason is likely to be users’ concern regarding … Continue reading Will Russian arbitration law reform make Russia a more attractive arbitration seat? →