One of the main reasons that parties choose to arbitrate is the ability to select their own arbitrators. Parties are able to choose arbitrators that, they believe, will have the requisite expertise to resolve their arbitration effectively. This ability has now evolved somewhat and parties are increasingly carving out discrete issues to be resolved by an independent expert selected by the parties. Continue reading
A week before Christmas 2018, the Rules on the Efficient Conduct of Proceedings in International Arbitration (Prague Rules) were published. The title suggests that, without them, arbitral proceedings are condemned to be inefficient. The prefatory note from the working group reinforces that impression: Continue reading
On 20 December 2018, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) released a revised Note to parties and arbitral tribunals on the conduct of the arbitration under the ICC Rules of Arbitration (the note to parties). The revised text, which came into effect from 1 January 2019, adopts a new and very different default position that, barring party opt out, ICC arbitral awards will be published two years after they have been notified to the parties.
Are users behind this shift and is it essential to the future of arbitration?
In part 1 of this blog, we considered the ICC’s approach to the publication of awards and what it means in practice, as well as the move towards transparency. In part 2, we consider what users want from the transparency conundrum and whether there should be a pause.
On 20 December 2018, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) released a revised Note to parties and arbitral tribunals on the conduct of the arbitration under the ICC Rules of Arbitration (the note to parties). The revised text, which came into effect from 1 January 2019, adopts a new and very different default position that, barring party opt out, ICC arbitral awards will be published two years after they have been notified to the parties.
Are users behind this shift and is it essential to the future of arbitration?
In part 1 of this blog, we consider the ICC’s approach to the publication of awards and what it means in practice, as well as the move towards transparency. In part 2, we consider what users want from the transparency conundrum and whether there should be a pause. Continue reading
After focusing on the conditions for obtaining an anti-suit injunction from an arbitral tribunal under Swiss law in Part 1, this second blog will discuss how Swiss courts deal (or should deal) with anti-suit injunctions in support of arbitration. Continue reading
Technology has a thorny reputation in arbitration circles. Practitioners distrust it, clients don’t want to pay for it and tribunals often prefer paper. All of this adds up to many hours at the photocopier and late-night bundle-checking for the more junior members of the team. Continue reading
This blog discusses the resolution of Islamic banking and finance disputes in a modern world of dispute resolution, in which litigation and arbitration as the main contentious forms of dispute resolution contend for taking prime position before any other form of dispute resolution. Given the high degree of specialty required in the resolution of disputes arising from more modern complex financial products, arbitration has more recently moved to the fore in this area of practice. This trend has also been strengthened by an increased offering of Islamic finance products, which in turn has spurred the need for Shari’a-compliant dispute resolution. Continue reading
The recent decision in Chartered Institute of Arbitrators v BCD raises again the question of the proper scope of the public interest/interests of justice exception to confidentiality in arbitration. Continue reading
The ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC) has recently announced that the ICC Report on Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings (report) will be released on 3 April 2019, as a part of the Paris Arbitration Week 2019. Considering the previous comprehensive analysis of the emergency arbitrator provisions was undertaken in 2014 when a study was conducted on the first ten emergency arbitrator cases (first emergency arbitrator report), an updated, more detailed report would be a welcome move. The report promises to analyse all aspects, including procedural and substantive issues, which may arise in emergency arbitrator proceedings. It will be based on an empirical study of the first 80 applications that have been filed with the ICC since the inception of the emergency arbitrator provisions.
Whether it is in the context of a jurisdiction challenge or by way of response to an application to restrain proceedings said to be in breach of an arbitration agreement, the wording of the arbitration clause is the usual starting point for determining the arbitrability of a dispute. The courts will be generous in their construction of an arbitration clause guided by the now well-known principles found in Fiona Trust, namely that: Continue reading