ICCA RIO: The Sachs Protocol – a new approach to appointing expert witnesses outlined by German arbitrator Klaus Sachs at the ICCA Congress – could in time become as familiar as the Redfern Schedule

ICCA RIO: A delegation of ICCA members and Brazilian practitioners has urged Brazilian Superior Court of Justice judges to consider referring to the New York Convention more when enforcing international arbitration awards, rather than just referring to the relevant domestic legislation.

This year saw ICCA appoint its first Asian secretary general, Korean lawyer Kap-You (Kevin) Kim and launch a new youth organisation, Young ICCA. Are further changes also afoot as the association approaches its 50th anniversary?

How did the ashcloud affect you - and will arbitration arise from the ashes? 

Delegates at this year's ICCA Congress in Rio de Janeiro didn’t get to see the statute of Christ the Redeemer in its full glory, but they certainly got a good view of Brazil’s arbitration scene.

ICCA RIO: A group of practitioners brought arbitration tactics to the football field in a “friendly” pitching Brazil against the rest of the world. Alison Ross reports.

An interview with French arbitrator Brigitte Stern, at the ICCA Congress in Rio de Janeiro.

ICCA RETROSPECTIVE: “We had a dream, and the dream came true today,” said Brazilian practitioner Carlos Nehring Netto as he welcomed some 900 practitioners to the 20th ICCA Congress in the shadow of the Sugarloaf.

The coordinator for Argentinian legal affairs at Petrobras in Rio de Janeiro talks about the company’s approach to international arbitration, ICCA 2010 and his experience of refereeing a football "friendly" between arbitration specialists from Brazil and the rest of the world.

The surroundings were sparkling; the programme less so, say some. Was this year’s ICCA Congress in Rio de Janeiro just too big?

Can a potential action under a bilateral investment treaty give rise to a conflict of interest in insolvency proceedings? Federico Godoy and Juan Sonoda from Beretta Godoy in Buenos Aires report on a recently published 2009 decision on this point, which may be of relevance in recession-hit times.

Two lawyers at White & Case in Singapore, partner Nandakumar Ponniya and associate Dian Chen, discuss the prevailing practices in Asia in presenting expert evidence in construction disputes

The French courts have long had a reputation for supporting the process of international arbitration. This is exemplified by the well-known Hilmarton case, in which the Cour de Cassation found that an arbitral award remained extant and capable of recognition in France, despite the fact that it had been annulled at the place of arbitration – in that case Switzerland. A recent decision of the Paris Court of Appeal shows a more interventionist approach, according to Justin Williams, London head of international arbitration at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld

Antony Crockett, an associate at Clifford Chance in London and a member of a UN working group set up to consider such issues, asks whether bilateral investment treaties and host government agreements have hindered governments’ ability to change their law to promote and protect human rights – in the light of the ICSID case of Piero Foresti, Laura de Carli & others v South Africa

In a partial award on the merits in Chevron-Texaco v Ecuador, the tribunal held that a bilateral investment treaty provision requiring Ecuador to provide effective means for investors to assert and enforce their rights constituted a lex specialis distinct from customary international law in relation to denial of justice. The standard, which is found in the Energy Charter Treaty as well as a number of BITs, was held to have been violated as a result of the Ecuadorean courts’ undue delay in bringing seven cases from the 1990s to a close. Matthew Weiniger and Ruth Byrne of Herbert Smith LLP report.

Mark Kantor, a Washington, DC, attorney and member of the Global Arbitration Review editorial board, reports on two recent cases that show that there is still little chance that claimants will recover “loss of a chance” damages in arbitration

Richard Chlup, head of dispute resolution at Mannheimer Swartling in Moscow, thinks we may be coming close to an answer to this controversial question

James Hope and Olga Zelepukina of Vinge in Stockholm report on a low-value case that turned into a nightmare owing to a problem with service

Justin Mort, a barrister at Keating Chambers in London specialising in construction law and international arbitration, reports on a recent decision of the Chancery Division in London that draws attention to the English law’s inconsistency regarding the circumstances when a party loses its right to a mandatory stay of court proceedings in favour of arbitration under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996

Masood Ahmed, a senior lecturer in law at Birmingham City University, analyses the court’s approach in light of the High Court’s ruling in the recent case of Habas Sinavi Tibbi Gazlar Isthisal Endustri AS v Sometal [2010, EWHC 29], in which Langley J’s approach to incorporation in Trade Maritime v Hellenic Mutual War Risks Association – The Athena [2006 EWHC] came under question

On 27 April 2010, in a 5–3 decision, the US Supreme Court ruled in Stolt-Nielsen SA v AnimalFeeds International Corp No. 08–1198 (2010) that an arbitration tribunal that compels class arbitration, without concluding that the parties contractually agreed to it (either expressly or as construed under the applicable law), exceeded its powers under the Federal Arbitration Act. Mark Beckett, David McLean, Rachel Thorn, Marc Suskin and Timothy Ho of Latham & Watkins report on a case which will diminish the use of class arbitration in the US, although it will continue to be available at least in some circumstances

Should arbitrators assist parties in reaching settlement in arbitration? The latest biannual conference of the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS) on 29 April summarised Germany’s positive approach to settlement and examined its benefits and drawbacks. By Dmitry Marenkov of governmental institution Germany Trade and Invest in Cologne

“Judgments are ‘exercises in persuasion’ subject to a potentially polemical style, whereas arbitration awards tend to be written as direct answers to questions posed by the parties.” Lord Leonard Hoffman made this observation in a speech at a symposium on 13 and 14 May examining the way courts can help or hinder arbitration – through injunctions, discovery and the so-called “second look” doctrine. Teresa Cigarroa Keck at Vinson & Elkins LLP in Houston reports

Days before the US Supreme Court delivered its important ruling in Stolt-Nielsen SA v AnimalFeeds International, speakers at the first annual Columbia Law School Arbitration Day noted the pros and cons of class arbitration and considered whether the uniquely American phenomenon could ever spread to Europe. Jarred Pinkston of Vienna law firm Graf & Pitkowitz Rechtsanwälte reports.

The second meeting of the China International Arbitration Club in Shanghai gave insights into a new provision that could be interpreted as restricting Chinese arbitrators from appearing as advocates. An attendee reports

Poland’s first ever international arbitration conference looked at arbitrations arising from M&As and was described by one participant as “the best dispute resolution conference of this decade”. Conference co-chairs Beata Gessel-Kalinowska vel Kalisz of Gessel and vice president of the Lewiatan Arbitration Court, and Yulia Andreeva of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, report

The financial crisis is changing litigation culture in the banking and financial industry and this change will have a significant impact on the way disputes are settled in the future said Melanie Poepping, a lawyer at Deutsche Bank AG, in a conversation between in-house counsel during a conference in Poland on how to protect business interests in M&A disputes.

International Arbitration and Forum Selection Agreements: Drafting and Enforcing - 3rd edition
Author: Gary B Born
Publisher: Kluwer Law International

Authors: James Carter and John Fellas
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Authors: Constantine Partasides and Nigel Blackaby
Publisher: Oxford University Press