ENGLISH COURT AGREES WITH TRIBUNAL: RELYING ON A SUBMISSION LATER THAT COULD HAVE BEEN RAISED EARLIER IN THE ARBITRATION WOULD BE AN ABUSE OF PROCESS

04 July, 2022
In Union of India v Reliance Industries Ltd and another [2022] EWHC 1407 (Comm), the Union of India (the “Government”) challenged an award under ss.68 and 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (“Act”). In the award, the Tribunal had found that, as a matter of English law, the Government was precluded from relying on matters … Read more

ENFORCEMENT OF CIETAC AWARD IN HONG KONG STAYED, BUT NOT FOR LONG

04 July, 2022
Summary In a further decision in the long-running G v X matter (see our previous blog post here), the Hong Kong court has decided to stay enforcement of a CIETAC award pending a challenge to the award at the seat of arbitration in Beijing.  The stay was granted in deference to the jurisdiction of the … Read more

Hong Kong one step closer to arbitration success fees

30 June, 2022
Amendments to the Arbitration Ordinance, gazetted today, are the latest stage in the process to allow lawyers to charge based on success in an arbitration. The amendments, long-awaited by clients, passed Hong Kong’s legislative review quickly and without substantive amendment, demonstrating the strong support in the territory for these long-awaited changes. Hong Kong has enacted … Read more

SECTION 1782 UPDATE: U.S. SUPREME COURT RULES THAT U.S. DISCOVERY CANNOT BE USED FOR INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION AND INVESTMENT ARBITRATION

16 June, 2022
On June 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in ZF Automotive US, Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd., 21-401, 2022 WL 2111355 (U.S. June 13, 2022) that U.S. discovery cannot be ordered under 28 USC § 1782 in aid of international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitration. As explained in a previous post, § 1782 is … Read more

Indian Supreme Court orders arbitrator backlog to be cleared

16 June, 2022
The Indian Supreme Court has directed the High Courts to decide within six months applications to appoint arbitrators that have been pending for over a year.  While the judgment will help reduce a large backlog, it highlights the importance of designating an arbitral institution to oversee the case and appoint the arbitrators to avoid the … Read more

ENSURE SMOOTH SAILING: SEEKING A SUBPOENA IN SUPPORT OF ARBITRATION

10 June, 2022
A recent decision of the Federal Court of Australia sheds light on how to effectively seek a subpoena from a court in support of arbitration proceedings. Takeaways The Court is not overly prescriptive in setting out the criteria for the grant of a subpoena, but this is not to be confused with the Court giving … Read more