Life sciences globalization fuels new developments in international arbitration
A warning to all consumer-facing businesses: the UK’s Court of Appeal has upheld the enforcement of a US$64 million Hong Kong-seated arbitration award against a Mrs Zhang, rejecting her argument that she was protected by the...more
When parties plan to resolve disputes by arbitration, there are several key considerations regarding procedure. In the first of a multi-part series, we look at two key features to consider when drafting (and applying) your...more
In a final twist to this long and winding litigation, the UK Supreme Court has allowed MUR Shipping’s appeal, holding that ‘reasonable endeavours’ provisions in force majeure clauses (express or implied) do not require...more
The English Court has, for the first time, considered the meaning of a “catastrophe”, as well as how Hours Clauses work in the context of non-damage business interruption losses claimed under two Property Catastrophe Excess...more
The English Court has upheld a challenge to an US$11 billion arbitration award against Nigeria on grounds that it was obtained fraudulently and “only by practising the most severe abuses of the arbitral process”, contrary to...more
The High Court has recently handed down its judgment in the case of The Federal Republic of Nigeria v Process & Industrial Developments Limited [2023] EWHC 2638 (Comm). The case concerned the Federal Republic of Nigeria's...more
The UK Supreme Court’s recent judgment in Republic of Mozambique v. Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL and others,[1] provides an extremely valuable analysis of the proper basis for staying legal proceedings in favour of arbitration...more
We have previously reported on changes the Law Commission was considering to the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). The Law Commission has now published its final report (the Final Report, available here). The report draws...more
The UK Law Commission has published a final report containing recommendations for reform (the “Report”) of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”) – the law governing the procedure around every arbitration seated in London. ...more
December 14 of this year will mark the five-year anniversary of the Rules on the Efficient Conduct of Proceedings in International Arbitration (the “Prague Rules”). At the 17th Century Renaissance Martinic Palace in Prague,...more
In 2023, the international arbitration landscape is dominated by macroeconomic factors. The inflationary pressures combined with price volatility and the use of sanctions by governments following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine...more
The Law Commission of England and Wales has completed its long-awaited review of the Arbitration Act 1996. On 6 September it published its final report that set out its recommendations on how the regime governing arbitration...more
On 6 September 2023, the Law Commission of England and Wales published its final report recommending some limited reforms to the Arbitration Act 1996 (“the Arbitration Act”).1 This final report follows a lengthy review...more
The UK Law Commission’s review of the Arbitration Act 1996 has concluded with the publication of its final recommendations. The final recommendations present a welcome set of practical changes that fine-tune legislation that...more
In Eternity Sky Investments Ltd v Mrs Xiaomin Zhang [2023] EWHC 1964 (Comm), the English Commercial Court refused to set aside an order for the enforcement of an arbitration award made in Hong Kong. The court rejected the...more
If an online business thinks it is insulated from court proceedings by an arbitration clause in standard terms, the English Commercial Court decision in Payward Inc. v Chechetkin will give pause for thought, particularly...more
In Chechetkin v. Payward Ltd and Others, the High Court of England and Wales ruled that the existence of an arbitration clause in an agreement between the parties should not prevent the court from hearing the UK consumer’s...more
Cost and delay remain the two areas of greatest concern to parties in arbitration. A particular source of frustration is that it can sometimes take many months for arbitrators to deliberate and issue an award. As a result, we...more
In Alphamix Ltd v The District Council of Riviére Du Rampart (Mauritius) [2023] UKPC 20, an appeal from the Supreme Court of Mauritius, the UK Privy Council has allowed the appeal and upheld the arbitrator’s award, where the...more
The Law Commission has published a second consultation paper as part of its ongoing review of the Arbitration Act 1996. An initial consultation paper containing proposals for reform was published in September 2022....more
In autumn last year, the Law Commission of England and Wales published its review of the U.K. Arbitration Act 1996 (the First Paper). We outlined some of the Law Commission’s proposals in the First Paper in our update from...more
In one of the first published arbitration awards under the Commercial Rent (Coronavirus) Act 2022 (“CRCA”) in which the Arbitrator made an award based on the parties' formal proposals, the tenant (Bills Restaurants Limited)...more
We explained in a previous post that the Law Commission of England & Wales is conducting a review of the Arbitration Act 1996 as part of its 14th programme of law reform....more
Acting impartially as between the parties is a “cardinal duty” of an arbitrator, as enshrined in s33 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). Failure to observe this fundamental duty can lead to applications for the removal of...more
The Commercial Court of England and Wales has outlined limitations of the doctrine of “separability,” i.e., the notion that an arbitration agreement within a commercial contract is distinct from the main contract itself, in a...more