Skip Navigation

GAR Volume 4 - Issue 3

Round Table: The Time and Cost Conundrum, Part Two

David Newton interview - LCIA India launch - Stabilisation clauses

Features

The essentials of stabilisation clauses

Stabilisation clauses crop up more and more often in project contracts. David Moss (partner) of Lovells LLP in London provides a back pocket guide to how they work and some live issues

Roundtables

The dynamic of time and cost - the sequel

It’s the great unanswered question: why, when everybody knows the magic formula, does arbitration still run slow and cost too much? GAR asked three teams, representing users, advocates and arbitrators, to attend a round table that might illuminate the mystery. They began by debating how each saw the causes. Now, read on, as the teams’ focus shifts to solutions. Will they manage to unlock the conundrum?

Global Briefing

ARGENTINA: Four decisions affirm pro-arbitration tide

After a blip, the tide in Argentine court rulings has swung back in the pro-arbitration direction. By Federico Godoy and Juan Sonoda of Beretta Godoy in Buenos Aires

CONSTRUCTION: What's the value of a DAB's "binding" decision?

A recently published ICC award has helped to answer this important question. By Christopher Seppälä (partner) of White & Case LLP in Paris, and the legal adviser to the FIDIC Contracts Committee

ENERGY CHARTER TREATY: Russia proposes new Energy Charter Treaty

What, if anything, should be read into Russia's recent proposal to replace the Energy Charter Treaty? Sophie Nappert, arbitrator, of 3 Verulam Buildings in London looks at some options.

SPAIN: New rules, a themed conference and Spanish-language moot - a trio of developments

Cristian Conejero Roos (counsel) of Cuatrecasas in Paris reviews the new arbitration rules in Madrid, and reports on some upcoming events.

SWITZERLAND: Swiss Supreme Court extends ICC clause to non-parties at respondent's request

A recent Supreme Court decision has made the ICC's "ginger" approach on joinder unsustainable, at least in cases seated in Switzerland. Phillip Landolt (partner) of Charles Russell LLP in Geneva explains and argues that the Swiss approach makes more sense from a policy standpoint

[Editor's note: There have been two significant rulings from the Swiss Supreme Court since our previous edition. The more recent of the two, Vivendi/Elektrim, gets attention in our next edition, out in a few weeks. Eager readers can find an advance piece on our website.]

THE MONEY COLUMN: "The fees of the tribunal can be considerable" - unconscionability and ICC deposits

A US company recently tried to argue that ICC arbitration is so expensive it's unconscionable. By Mark Kantor, Washington, DC, attorney and member of Global Arbitration Review's editorial board

THE NETHERLANDS: Signing an arbitration clause while a company is under formation

A director, who was pulled into arbitration against his company as a result of a mix up when signing a document, has persuaded a court to annul the award against him. By Thabiso van den Bosch (partner) of Conway & Partners

TREATY ARBITRATION : ASEAN's Comprehensive Investment Agreement

The ASEAN member states recently adopted a new investment treaty. Matthew Weiniger (partner) and Anna Kirk (associate) at Herbert Smith LLP look at how it changes the position

UK: "Serious irregularity or simply wrong?" - the disconcerting implications of Metropolitan Property Realizations

In a worrying development, the English High Court may have expanded the scope of a section 68 review, a mandatory provision of the English Arbitration Act 1996. Ben Holland (partner) and Adam Berry (associate) at CMS Cameron McKenna LLP in London report

UK: UK judges and parallel proceedings: Gloster J's response to West Tankers in National Navigation

A UK judge recently found she wasn't bound by a Spanish court decision on the validity of an arbitration clause. Maurice Kenton and Jane Ballantyne of Barlow Lyde & Gilbert LLP report on her reasoning and the wider issues

US: ABA abandons heavily criticised draft disclosure guidelines

Draft ABA guidelines that one critic said should be marked BBR (Burn Before Reading) have been shelved, after another section of the ABA expressed grave concerns about the possible impact of a misguided project. Alison Ross of GAR reports.

Conference Reports

CHILE: Two regional centres set out their stall

Two local chambers of commerce, one from Chile, one from Brazil, are on a joint-charm offensive to draw international cases to their region. By Gonzalo Biggs (partner) at Figueroa & Valenzuela in Santiago, and member of the board directors of the American Arbitration Association

LONDON: Enforcing Arbitration Agreements. West Tankers - Where are we? Where do we go from here?

A recent London event saw the panel get behind the proposals on arbitration in the Heidelberg Report, to the chagrin of some in the audience. By David Samuels.

NEW YORK: Resolving Business Disputes in Today's China

A recent event in New York drew much of the cream of China's international bar. Graeme Johnston (Herbert Smith, Shanghai) offers some highlights

SWITZERLAND: L'arbitrage international au bord du Leman: hier, aujourd 'hui, demain

The Geneva chapter of the Swiss Arbitration Association decided to host an event that put the spot light firmly on the past and future of arbitration in the Lake Geneva region. Joachim Knoll, a partner at Brown&Page in Geneva, reports.