International arbitration News, analytics and practice

3Aug/110

SCHIEDSGERICHTSBARKEIT UND STREITSCHLICHTUNG IM MITTELMEERRAUM

Die Wirtschaftskammer Schweiz-Afrika organisiert, gemeinsam mit weiteren namhaften Partnern, die Tagung "Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit und Streitschlichtung im Mittelmeerraum", die am Freitag, den 07. Oktober 2011 in Basel (Schweiz) stattfinden wird.

Eine Sorge, die zahlreiche kleine und mittlere Unternehmen (und damit die Hauptakteure im Mittelmeerraum) von einem Engagement in diesem Gebiet abhält, ist, dass Streitigkeiten vor lokalen Gerien ausgetragen werden müssen, die oftmals als langsam, schlecht qualifiziert und korrupt wahrgenommen werden. Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit und Streitschlichtung bieten hier Alternativen, über die die KMU aber in vielen Fällen nur unzureichend informiert sind. Namhafte Redner mit langjähriger praktischer Erfahrung werden diese Möglichkeiten unter Berücksichtigung der Besonderheiten der Märkte im Mittelmeerraum näher beleuchten.

Swisscham Africa SCHIEDSGERICHTSBARKEIT UND STREITSCHLICHTUNG IM MITTELMEERRAUM

Weitere Informationen und das Anmeldeformular finden Sie auf der Homepage http://www.swisscham-africa.ch bzw. direkt über folgenden Link

14Jun/110

Costs of International Arbitration

“We invite all legal representatives, in-house counsel and arbitral tribunal members

to contribute to this major survey into costs in international arbitration. The survey

report and conference will provide an invaluable contribution to the debate on costs,

helping to generate proposals to restore speed and cost-effectiveness to the arbitration process.

This is essential if international arbitration is to maintain its position

as the commercial dispute resolution method of choice."

 “To make the survey effective, we need corporate counsel, party representatives, arbitrators and tribunal members to give us as much data as possible on arbitrations in which they have been involved.”

Doug Jones SC FCIArb, Vice President of CIArb

 

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) has launched a major survey into the costs of international arbitration. The ‘Costs of Arbitration’ survey gathers data to inform parties, legal representatives and arbitrators about the overall costs of international commercial arbitration and how these are incurred at each stage.

CIArb 500x500 Costs of International Arbitration 

14May/110

Energy Charter Treaty: Remington Worldwide Limited vs Ukraine

On 28 April 2011 the Arbitral Tribunal of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce rejected most of the claims filed by Remington Worldwide Limited against Ukraine. The company accused Ukraine in violating the Energy Charter Treaty ratified by the Ukrainian Parliament, Verkhovna Rada in 1998.

27Mar/110

UNCTAD publishes its annual review of investor-State dispute settlement cases

UNCTAD's annual review of investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) cases, part of the IIA Issues Notes series, provides up-to-date and country-specific information about ISDS developments in 2010.

2010 saw the lowest number of new treaty-based ISDS cases filed under international investment agreements since 2001. The number of known new cases was 25, bringing the total of all known cases to 390 by the end of the year. However, as most arbitration forums do not maintain a public registry of claims, the actual number of cases could potentially be higher. In 2010, Grenada and Uruguay saw the first claims directed at them, with one case each. As a result, the cumulative total of countries that have responded to investment treaty arbitration rose to 83.

22Mar/110

Conference Report: Vienna Arbitration Days 2011 by Markus Schifferl

Introduction

On 4 and 5 March 2011, the Vienna Arbitration Days, the leading arbitration conference in Austria, took place for the fourth time. Over 240 arbitration practitioners from more than 25 countries followed the call of the organizers, the Austrian Arbitration Association ArbAut, the editors of the Austrian Yearbook on International Arbitration and the Young Austrian Arbitration Practitioners YAAP, and came to Vienna.

16Feb/110

Vienna Arbitration Days 2011

The leading arbitration conference in Austria (the Austrian Conference for Arbitration Practitioners, Vienna, Austria, 4-5 March 2011) is being supported by the leading arbitration institutions and associations. It offers the opportunity to meet arbitration practitioners from all over the world, with a focus on the Central and Eastern European arbitration world.

This year’s topics are:

  • Arbitration goes Brussels (the intended modifications to the Brussels I directive, critique and practical consequences; other interfaces of community law and arbitration);
  • Witness and expert evidence in arbitration: Efficiency vs. ethics, clash of different ethics, impact of professional rules and disciplinary bodies;
  • Arbitration rules on the move (ICC-Rules, UNCITRAL Rules and others);
    Keynote address: Recent trends in arbitration in the CEE-region.
14Feb/110

UNCITRAL improves investment arbitration. Ukraine is invited to assist

On February 7-13, 2011 UNCITRAL holds the 54th session of its Working group on arbitration. During the session important issues of settlement of disputes between investors and states have to be discussed. The Secretariat of the UNCITRAL invited Ukrainian delegation to take part in the session. The delegation is composed of representatives of the Ministries of justice, economy and foreign affairs. UNCITRAL UNCITRAL improves investment arbitration. Ukraine is invited to assist

9Feb/110

Securities industry arbitration: diametrically opposite approaches

Securities industry arbitration is rather young ADR instrument in Ukraine. Though the security industry is one of the spheres that particularly needs its own mechanism of resolution of specific disputes, arbitration in this market is still at the beginning of its development process. Apart from arbitration courts established by several banking associations there are specialized securities market arbitration courts created by self-regulatory organizations and business associations. Since there are no unified practice or resolving particular legal problems, participation of the specialist from the industry as arbitrators is usually highly recommended. The main reason of the involvement of industry arbitrators is that they know the rules and customs of the industry.

 new york stock exchange Securities industry arbitration: diametrically opposite approaches

26Nov/100

CIArb Costs of International Arbitration Survey. Participate and obtain the results of the Survey!

The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators commenced collection of information on the costs of international commercial arbitration proceedings. The aim is to gather data which will inform parties, legal representatives, and arbitrators about the overall costs of international commercial arbitration. The survey is also gathering data about how those costs are made up, the allocation of costs by arbitrators and the extent to which these may depend upon the nature of the dispute, the seat of arbitration, the amount in dispute, the composition of the arbitral tribunal and the costs incurred prior to, and during, the arbitration.

 The findings will be analyzed and disseminated through a report and a conference, organized by CIArb, which will take place on 27 – 28 September 2011 in London, England.

24Nov/100

Final point in RosUkrEnergo v. Naftogaz Ukrainy case

On November 24, 2010 the Supreme Court of Ukraine adopted its final ruling on RosUkrEnergo v. Naftogaz Ukrainy JSC case. The Court supported the position of the court of first instance and the appeal court. As we informed in our previous posts that after the arbitral tribunal had issued its award in favor of RosUkrEnergo, the respective motion on its enforcement was filed to the Ukrainian court. The court of first instance satisfied the motion, however its ruling was appealed.

Now, after the cassation instance ruled about the enforcement, there is a chance to challenge the court ruling on the grounds of new circumstances revealed or on the extraordinary grounds. The chance is rather theoretical.

21Nov/100

Holen Sie sich für 2011 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Wettbewerb bereit

Wie Sie wahrscheinlich wissen, ist der Willem C. Vis Arbitration Moot einer der weltweit größten Studentenwettbewerbe in den Rechtswissenschaften. Die Teilnehmer erstellen ab Anfang Oktober auf der Grundlage eines realitätsnah aufgearbeiteten Sachverhalts in einem fiktiven Schiedsgerichtsverfahren Schriftsätze als Kläger- und Beklagtenvertreter und bereiten mündliche Plädoyers vor. 

18Nov/100

RosUkrEnergo investigation commission of the Verkhovna Rada assumes that Naftogaz Ukrainy JSC lost the SCC case because of change of its legal position

On November 17, 2010 RosUkrEnergo investigation commission of the Verkhovna Rada presented draft report regarding the award of the arbitral tribunal under the rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

 The draft is subject to consideration of the core committee, thus it is not the final version yet. However, the draft contains assumptions and conclusions that may be interesting for our readers who follow the RosUkrEnergo case. After the arbitral tribunal had issued its awards of March 3, 2010 and June 8, 2010, they were recognized and permitted to be enforced according to the ruling of August 13, 2010 adopted by the Shevchenko District court of Kyiv. The ruling was then appealed. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. As we may say the state officials and bodies pay great attention to the outcomes of the case, which already lead to criminal proceedings instituted against former officials of customs authorities.

12Nov/100

Alpha Projektholding has won the investment dispute against Ukraine under ICSID rules

The Tribunal found that Ukraine conducted the expropriation of  Alpha Projektholding’s rights and interests in the 1998 and 1999 Joint Activities Agreements in violation of Article 4 of the the Agreement for the Promotion and Reciprocal Protection of Investments between the Republic of Austria and Ukraine (Compensation for Expropriation) and denied fair and equitable to Claimant’s investments in violation of Article 2 of the UABIT (Protection and Promotion of Investments).

However, the Tribunal ruled that Ukraine had not violated Article 8 of the UABIT (Other Obligations) and the national treatment obligation in Article 3 of the UABIT with respect to claimant’s investments. The recognition of violation of the Ukrainian Foreign Investment Law was declined as well.

Ukraine has been ordered to pay USD 2,979,232 with additional interest accruing from July 1, 2004, at a rate of 9.11 percent compounded annually. As stated in the Award, if payment were made on December 31, 2010, total damages owing as of that date would be USD 5,250,782.

26Oct/100

If the case was lost in arbitration, let’s win in the Parliament

After the award in Rosukrenergo (we followed the case in our previous posts)  case was issued against the Ukrainian respondent, Ukrainian authorities and state officials announced several options of further actions, including filing an appeal against the award issues by the arbitral tribunal of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce.

Parliament If the case was lost in arbitration, let’s win in the Parliament

In addition to those measures the members of the Ukrainian Parliament invented another one.

25Oct/100

International Dispute Resolution: Ukraine, Russia and CIS countries

On 23 November 2010 Ukrainian Bar Association organizes 1st Ukrainian International Conference "International Dispute Resolution: Ukraine, Russia and CIS countries"

 The conference provides a unique opportunity for dispute resolution lawyers and in-house counsels from Western countries and CIS to discuss practical issues of cross-border litigation and international arbitration. The conference will also address differences in various jurisdictions and how to deal with exchange of experience.