Following the success of the 2020 LCAM-HSF Mediation in Arbitration survey, we are delighted to announce that Herbert Smith Freehills is again joining with the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation to conduct a new study on attitudes to compulsory mediation in litigation and arbitration. Read more

After rejoining the ICSID Convention in June 2021, Ecuador has made a further contribution to the growth of international arbitration within its borders. On August 18, 2021, President Guillermo Lasso issued Executive Decree No. 165-2021, introducing the Regulations to the Arbitration and Mediation Act (the “Regulations”). Ecuador’s Arbitration and Mediation Act was originally enacted in … Read more

On 15 June 2021, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes released its latest working paper as part of its Rules Amendment Project. In addition to proposing changes to the ICSID Convention and ICSID Additional Facility arbitration and conciliation, as covered in our earlier blog post, Working Paper 5 also refines the proposed … Read more

On Sunday, 20 June 2021, the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) launched its new International Arbitration Rules for public comment following extensive consultations with an international External Advisory Committee for the Revision of the AIAC Arbitration Rules (including Peter Godwin, Partner, HSF Kuala Lumpur). A copy of the draft rules can be found here. The … Read more

From 28 June 2021, Singapore will permit third-party funding of domestic arbitration proceedings, proceedings in the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) and related mediation proceedings. Before this, Singapore permitted third-party funding for international arbitration proceedings and related court and mediation proceedings only (as reported in our blog post of January 2017). In making these changes, … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has secured an important victory in Hong Kong proceedings with far-reaching consequences for arbitration disputes around the world. Many commercial contracts contain “escalation clauses” requiring parties to take certain steps before formal arbitration begins – such as a requirement to “negotiate in good faith” before starting arbitration. Previously, failure to comply with … Read more

In a previous post, we reported the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which was concluded on 27 November 2020. The Supplemental Arrangement was a welcome development that clarified and removed certain restrictions in the mutual enforcement regime between Hong Kong and Mainland … Read more

There is no hiding from the fact that technology is changing the landscape of dispute resolution. Our latest podcast series “Revolution or evolution?” explores where, how and why this is happening. The first episode “Fences and ambulances”, which is in three parts and can be accessed here, talks about IT contracts and key themes encountered … Read more