In Carmichael Rail Network Pty Ltd v BBC Chartering Carriers GmbH & Co KG [2024] HCA 4 (“Carmichael v BBC”), the High Court of Australia (“High Court”) upheld a stay of proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia (“Federal Court”) in favour of a London Maritime Arbitrators Association (“LMAA”) arbitration seated in London. This unanimous judgment of Australia’s highest court reflects the continuing confidence of the Australian judiciary in international arbitration. The High Court considered the proper construction of Article 3(8) of the Hague-Visby Rules as incorporated into Australian ..read more

2023 saw India take focused steps to strengthen and fortify its stand as a champion of arbitration, promoting a hands-off judicial approach in favor of arbitral autonomy. The year started with the Indian Supreme Court’s first step in NTPC Limited vs SPML Infra Limited, where the Supreme Court categorically held that a tribunal is the first point of reference for determining arbitrability unless the facts, ex facie, demonstrate otherwise. This was followed by the second step in Cox and Kings Limited. v. SAP India Private Limited, where the Supreme Court cemented the ‘Group of Companies’ doctrin ..read more

The Editorial Board of Kluwer Arbitration Blog announces the opening of the following position with Kluwer Arbitration Blog: Assistant Editor for East and Central Asia. Experience and knowledge in international arbitration in, and related to, Korea is required, and broader expertise in the regions is a plus. The Assistant Editor reports directly to the coordinating Associate Editor and is expected to (1) collect, edit, and review guest submissions from the designated regions for posting on the Blog, while actively being involved in the coverage of the assigned regions; and (2) write blog ..read more

In a recent judgment dated 14 March 2024, European Commission v UK Case C-516/22, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) ruled that the UK failed to comply with its obligations under EU law (the “CJEU Judgment”). A casual reader may wonder how this could be. After all, the UK officially left the EU in January 2020. The answer is that the Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and the EU required the UK to comply with its EU law obligations during a transition period that ended on 31 December 2020 (see Arts. 86(2) and 127(1) of the Withdrawal Agreement). During this transition period ..read more

On April 9, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights (“Court” or “ECtHR”) delivered its highly anticipated ruling in Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland (“KlimaSeniorinnen”), holding that Switzerland had breached the European Convention on Human Rights (“Convention” or “ECHR”) by taking inadequate action on climate change. Two other climate-related cases that were decided the same day—Duarte and Others v. Portugal and 32 Others (“Duarte”) and Carême v. France (“Carême”)—were dismissed on jurisdiction and admissibility grounds. In KlimaSeniorinnen, the Court held ..read more

On 28 December 2023, the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas (the “Court”) delivered a consolidated judgment in Gabriele Volpi v. Delanson Services Limited & 2 others and Delanson Services Limited v. Matteo Volpi and 2 others (“Judgment”), resolving a longstanding trust dispute between Italian-Nigerian billionaire, Gabriele Volpi (“Gabriele”) and his son, Matteo Volpi (“Matteo”). This post examines the main takeaways from a decision that spotlights the Bahamas as a leading light for trust arbitration in the Caribbean and beyond.   Background According to the Judgment, bet ..read more

2023 saw India take focused steps to strengthen and fortify its stand as a champion of arbitration, promoting a hands-off judicial approach in favor of arbitral autonomy. The year started with the Indian Supreme Court’s first step in NTPC Limited vs SPML Infra Limited, where the Supreme Court categorically held that a tribunal is the first point of reference for determining arbitrability unless the facts, ex facie, demonstrate otherwise. This was followed by the second step in Cox and Kings Limited. v. SAP India Private Limited, where the Supreme Court cemented the ‘Group of Companies’ doctrin ..read more

This article discusses the approach taken by the High Court of Fiji (“Court”) on the oft written about topic of whether failure to adhere to a multi-tiered dispute resolution clause is an issue of jurisdiction or admissibility. As previously reported, last year, in Housing Authority v Top Symphony [2023] FJHC 301 (“Top Symphony”), the Court granted a stay application and decided that non-compliance with a multi-tiered dispute resolution clause did not render an arbitration agreement “null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed” under section 12(1) of Fiji’s International Arbitra ..read more

Introduction This article explores the latest development of the People’s Republic of China’s jurisprudence regarding asymmetrical arbitration agreements.  (Cambodia) Fiber Optic Communication Network Co., Ltd. v. China Development Bank (2022) Jing 74 Min Te No. 4 (“Fiber Optic v. CDB”), a recent case adjudicated by the Beijing Financial Court in October 2022 and made public in late 2023, marks the first instance where the court explicitly recognizes the validity of an asymmetrical arbitration agreement under the PRC law. Asymmetrical arbitration agreements, which allow one contractual pa ..read more

There has been a requirement in the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”) for witnesses to take an oath when giving their testimony in arbitration proceedings. Awards that relied on testimonies of witnesses who had not taken an oath were subject to nullification. There is currently uncertainty over whether witnesses are still required to take an oath in UAE-seated arbitrations. This blog post examines recent court decisions on this topic with the aim of shedding light on where UAE courts stand on this issue at present.   Legislation: Past and Present The requirement for taking an oath was set out ..read more