On Wednesday, 1 July 2020, the Arbitration Foundation of South Africa (AFSA), launched its new International Arbitration Rules for public comment. The international Drafting Committee was chaired by Professor Dr. Maxi Scherer and included other high profile individuals including Ndanga Kamau, Jennifer Kirby, Lise Bosman, Chiann Bao, Remy Gerbay and Jonathan Ripley-Evans (Director, HSF Johannesburg). … Read more
In Bridgehouse (Bradford No. 2) Ltd v BAE [2020] EWCA Civ 759, the English Court of Appeal upheld a stay of court proceedings in favour of arbitration under s9 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Arbitration Act”). The issue in dispute related to a company’s claim for relief under section 1028(3) of the Companies … Read more
In February 2020, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (the “HKIAC”) and the Vienna International Arbitration Centre (the “VIAC”) jointly applied to the Russian Ministry of Justice (the “MOJ”) and the Council for the Development of Arbitration at the MOJ (the “Council”) for clarification of certain “grey areas” of Russian Arbitration legislation (the “Joint Request“). … Read more
This seventh update to a blog post initially dated 7 April 2020 has been updated to take into account developments between 12 June – 25 June 2020. These include various institutional changes (set out in the table attached to the blog) as some venues start to reopen in light of changing conditions and the easing … Read more
In the recent case of Daiichi Chuo Kisen Kaisha v Chubb Seguros Brasil [2020] EWHC 1223 (Comm) (available here) the English High Court granted an anti-suit injunction to compel a claimant to discontinue Brazilian court proceedings which it had pursued in breach of an undertaking not to pursue the relevant contractual claim otherwise than through … Read more
On 12 June 2020, Tonga acceded to the 1958 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “Convention“). With this, Tonga becomes the 164th state party to the Convention, following the recent accession of Palau in March this year. Under Article XII (2), the Convention will come into force for Tonga on 10 … Read more
The SCC Arbitration Institute was at the forefront of the development of emergency arbitration proceedings, which now constitute a permanent part of the international arbitration landscape. The end of 2019 marked a decade since the arbitral institution’s innovative rules amendment. In April this year, the SCC released a report analysing its emergency arbitration statistics, which … Read more
On 20 May 2020, the House of Representatives in Japan passed a bill to expand the Act on Special Measures concerning the Handling of Legal Services by Foreign Lawyers (外国弁護士による法律事務の取扱いに関する特別措置法) (the “2020 Gaiben law”). This is significant for two reasons. First, it allows foreign lawyers to act in a broader range of arbitrations. And second, … Read more
The global financial markets are currently preparing for the phasing out of the London Inter-bank Offered Rate (or LIBOR) and other Inter-bank Offered Rates (or IBORs). LIBOR is the most widely used benchmark interest rate globally, employed in an estimated US$350 trillion worth of financial contracts worldwide. LIBOR may also be used in commercial contracts – for … Read more
