On 17 January 2023, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste (Timor-Leste) became the 172nd state to accede the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958 (the New York Convention). This accession follows Timor-Leste’s approval of a new legal regime of Voluntary Arbitration, as approved by its National Parliament on 31 March 2021. Read more

In the case of S3D Interactive, Inc v Oovee [2022] EWCA Civ 1665, the Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal of a decision to enforce a peremptory order under s42 of the English Arbitration Act (Act), finding that the Court retains the power to enforce a peremptory order even where a jurisdictional challenge is … Read more

In YDU v SAB and BYH [2022] EWHC 3304 (Comm), the English High Court has deemed an arbitral tribunal’s order for specific performance, which was subject to conditions, an award for the purposes of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). In so doing, it has respected the Tribunal’s own classification of the decision, yet … Read more

Third Party Funding: recoverability and regulation In Tenke Fungurume Mining S.A. v Katanga Contracting Services S.A.S, [2021] EWHC 3301 (Comm), the Commercial Court considered a challenge to an arbitral award under s68 of the Arbitration Act on the grounds that the tribunal’s award of the successful party’s costs of third party funding constituted a serious … Read more

In an ugly corporate divorce related to an online matrimonial website, the Singapore Court of Appeal decided that the arbitrability of a dispute will be determined at the pre-award stage by reference first to the law governing the arbitration agreement (Anupam Mittal v Westbridge Ventures II Investment Holdings [2022] SGCA, available here). Read more

Summary Nearly two years after the DIFC Court granted an anti-suit injunction in Multiplex Constructions LLC v Elemec Electromechanical Contracting LLC (which we previously discussed here), it is an established principle that the DIFC Courts will grant anti-suit injunctions where the parties are bound by an arbitration agreement and the seat of the arbitration is … Read more

The English High Court has handed down judgment in another case concerning trades on a cryptocurrency exchange. The case of Chechetkin v Payward Ltd and others [2022] EWHC 3057 (Ch)  is a further illustration of the procedural and substantive complexity that can arise from arbitrating disputes in a consumer context. Read more

We are very proud to announce that Seoul-based partner Mike McClure has been appointed King’s Counsel (KC) in England and Wales. Mike will be the fourth KC currently practising at Herbert Smith Freehills, joining Paula Hodges KC, Simon Chapman KC and Chris Parker KC. Home-grown talent, Mike McClure joined Herbert Smith’s international arbitration group in … Read more