In Viking Trading OU v Louis Dreyfus Suisse SA [2023] EWHC 2160 (Comm) the English Commercial Court clarified its discretionary power to grant costs of defending a s69 application under the English Act (Act) for permission to appeal an arbitral award, even if costs were not initially sought. This decision provides helpful guidance on best … Read more

In SQD v QYP [2023] EWHC 2145 (Comm), the English Commercial Court refused to issue an anti-suit injunction (ASI) and anti-enforcement injunction to stop proceedings commenced by a claimant in its home country in breach of an arbitration agreement. The court reasoned that such an injunction would be inconsistent with the French courts’ approach to … Read more

In DHL Project & Chartering Ltd v Gemini Ocean Shipping Co. Ltd [2022] EWCA 1555, the Court of Appeal considered whether an arbitration agreement was binding on the parties in circumstances where a pre-condition to the effectiveness of the contract had not been satisfied. In dismissing the application to set aside the arbitral award for … Read more

In National Investment Bank Ltd v Eland International (Thailand) Co. Ltd and another [2022] EWHC 1168 (Comm), the English High Court considered the interaction between sections 72(1) and 18 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act“). Section 72(1) allows a non-participating party to an arbitration to seek a declaration from the English Court as … Read more

In Belokon v. Kyrgyzstan (Cass. Civ. 1ère, 23 March 2022, No. 17-17.981), the French Supreme Court upheld the 2017 decision of the Paris Court of Appeal to set aside a $15 billion UNCITRAL award rendered in favour of Latvian investor Valeri Belokon (Belokon) in a dispute with the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (the Award). According to … Read more

In Africa Finance Corp and others v Aiteo Eastern E&P Company Ltd [2022] EWHC 768 (Comm), the English Commercial Court ruled that a 13 month delay in seeking an anti-suit injunction was not unreasonable given that the parties were engaged in negotiations during that period and the foreign proceedings in Nigeria had not advanced to … Read more

The Judiciary of England and Wales has published the Commercial Court Report 2020-2021 (The Report). These reports are released annually to give an overview of the courts’ work and decision-making. For arbitration practitioners, they also provide insight into the number of applications made before the English court to challenge arbitral awards and how these applications are … Read more

In DHL Project & Chartering Ltd v Gemini Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd [2022] EWHC 181 (Comm), the Commercial Court has set aside an arbitral award under s67 of the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act“) on the basis that the arbitral tribunal lacked substantive jurisdiction. The case concerned a “subjects” provision which required “shipper/receiver’s approval“. The … Read more