The Gujarat High Court (the “Court”) recently handed down a significant decision in GE Power Conversion India Private Limited v. PASL Wind Solutions Private Limited, Arbitration Petition No. 131 and 134 of 2019, confirming that two Indian parties are permitted to choose a foreign seat of arbitration, and that the award from such an arbitration … Read more

On 23 December 2020, the Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) of China released its bilingual 2019 Annual Report on Judicial Review of Arbitration Cases in China (the “Report”). It is the very first report issued by the SPC summarising the courts’ approach for judicial review of arbitration-related cases. The Report aims to promote the SPC’s efforts … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has issued the latest edition of its India arbitration e-bulletin. In this issue, we consider various court decisions which cover topics such as the limitation period for enforcement of foreign awards, the arbitrability of fraud, ‘patent illegality’ as a ground to set aside awards, and granting of interim directions against non-signatories to … Read more

Sovereign wealth funds invest across a range of asset classes and engage in capital markets and loan transactions. Their engagement in these activities is consistent with that of any other commercial actor. However, the connection between a sovereign wealth fund and the State by which it has been created raises the question of whether the … Read more

On 27 November 2020, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court and the Hong Kong Department of Justice signed the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (Supplemental Arrangement). The Supplemental Arrangement modifies and supplements the existing Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the … Read more

Earlier this year, the English High Court handed down a judgment (A v B [2020] EWHC 952 (Comm)) delivering a stern warning to claimants who were considering the enforcement of an arbitration award which did not establish a clear “right to payment” (see our previous blog post in connection with that decision.) In brief, the … Read more

In a little heralded development, the Government of India passed the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 (the “Ordinance”) on 4 November 2020 to amend the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996 (the “Act”) with immediate effect. The Ordinance introduces provisions to stay the enforcement of arbitral awards tainted by fraud, and deletes certain provisions … Read more

On 28 October 2020, Sierra Leone deposited its instrument of accession to the UN Secretary General, acceding to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “Convention“). Sierra Leone will become the 166th state party to the Convention, following the recent accession of Ethiopia and Tonga earlier this year. … Read more