The Hong Kong Court of First Instance dismissed an application to set aside an arbitral award, rejecting claims that the underlying agreement was a sham and that enforcement of the award would be contrary to the public policy of Hong Kong. The Court did not accept that the Defendant had signed the relevant agreement as … Read more
In Coneff Corporation Sdn Bhd v Vivocom Enterprise (Originating Summons No. WA-24C(ARB)-26-06/2019) the Malaysian High Court for the first time considered the test for an application to subpoena a witness to produce documents for the purpose of an arbitration and give evidence in arbitration proceedings. Background The plaintiff (“Coneff”) appointed the defendant (“Vivocom”) to construct … Read more
On 19 November 2019 Paula Hodges QC, Herbert Smith Freehills’ Head of Global Arbitration and President of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) delivered the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) Annual Lecture. The lecture is the keynote event of Australian Arbitration Week and attracted an audience of practitioners, experts and interested clients. Sponsored and … Read more
In this issue we consider India-related investment treaty developments (“BITs“), starting with the signing of India’s new BITs with Belarus and Taiwan. We then consider new investment treaty claims commenced by Indian investors against Saudi Arabia and Macedonia, as well as new claims commenced against India, including the potential claim brought by a Portuguese investor … Read more
The First International Commercial Court of the Supreme People’s Court of China (“CICC“) has recently published its first rulings [1] on the validity of three arbitration agreements in relation to one same transaction. CICC recognised the principle of severability of arbitration agreement and held that although the underlying contracts had not been formally signed, the parties … Read more
The Hong Kong Law Reform Commission has appointed Herbert Smith Freehills’ Kathryn Sanger and Briana Young to co-chair a consultation on outcome-related fee structures – or “success fees” – for arbitration. The study will be conducted by a new sub-committee of the Law Reform Commission. Hong Kong lawyers are currently prevented from entering into fee … Read more
International arbitration does not lack critics. A particularly common criticism is the absence of cultural and ethnic diversity among arbitrators. In the words of Sarah François-Poncet of Salans, some twenty years ago, the usual suspects are ‘pale, male, and stale’. Despite numerous initiatives to support and encourage diversity, and the diversification of the pools from … Read more
London-based Partner Andrew Cannon and London-based Senior Associate Hannah Ambrose have authored an article for Lexis®PSL, discussing the English court’s approach to the service of documents on a state. The full article is presented here, and can also be accessed via our Public International Law blog. Read more
Herbert Smith Freehills invites applications for internships with the firm’s international arbitration group in Hong Kong. Four internship positions are available; each for three to four month periods (not extendable). Interns will work alongside our international arbitration team and will have a varied workload, including assistance with current arbitrations and other client work; arbitration-related … Read more
