The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has set aside an HKIAC award on jurisdiction at the request of the claimant, overturning the tribunal’s ruling that a party seeking to be joined to the arbitration and substituted in the claimant’s place was the true principal to the contract (R v. A, B and C [2023] … Read more

In Song Lihua v Lee Chee Hong [2023] HKCFI 1954, the Court of First Instance considered whether arbitrators can be compelled to give evidence in proceedings to challenge their awards, in this case an application to set aside an order granting leave to enforce in Hong Kong an arbitral award of the Chengdu Arbitration Commission. … Read more

Herbert Smith Freehills has secured a landmark judgment from the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, with significant practical implications for thousands of commercial contracts. In C v D [2023] HKCFA 16, the CFA confirmed that arbitrators, not the courts, should have the final say on whether a party has complied with an escalation clause … Read more

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has stayed tortious claims relating to “trademark squatting” commenced pursuant to an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of CIETAC arbitration in the PRC (Sesderma, S.L. v Seeky International Limited and Golong Co., Ltd [2023] HKCFI 1619). Read more

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has ruled that the holding of a fully virtual hearing despite the opposition of one of the parties did not provide a permissible ground to resist enforcement of an award (Sky Power Construction Engineering Limited v Iraero Airlines JSC [2023] HKCFI 1558). Although the case was decided on … Read more

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance (“CFI“) has taken the rare step of granting an anti-arbitration injunction to restrain claims which sought to undermine the enforcement in Hong Kong of a prior arbitral award (廈門新景地集團有限公司 formerly known as 廈門市鑫新景地房地產有限公司 v. Eton Properties Ltd and Another [2023] HKCFI 1327). The decision is the latest in … Read more

In two related decisions, different PRC courts have upheld third party funding arrangements for arbitration, finding that they were not prohibited by PRC law or the CIETAC Rules and did not provide valid grounds to challenge an award.  In a third decision, a third party funding arrangement for litigation was held to be invalid because … Read more

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance has dismissed an application to set aside an award on due process and jurisdictional grounds, in a decision which again underlines the high bar facing parties seeking to challenge arbitral awards.  Herbert Smith Freehills appeared for the successful award creditors in the case, led by Simon Chapman KC … Read more