Adam Raviv, counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr in Washington, DC, argues that dispositive motions such as those seen in the US and English courts would be workable, enforceable and beneficial in international arbitration - and proposes some rule changes to accommodate them.

Jeffrey Golden and Gerard Meijer speak to Alison Ross about their plans for a new institution in The Hague to resolve high-value disputes in the financial markets, drawing on the expertise of derivatives and arbitration specialists.

In July the Singapore Court of Appeal – the city-state's highest court – upheld a decision setting aside an ICC award enforcing a dispute adjudication board decision in favour of a contractor under the FIDIC Red Book. Chris Seppälä, a partner at White & Case LLP in Paris and Special Advisor to the FIDIC contracts committee, says the court was wrong.

Slovakia's Constitutional Court has ruled it has jurisdiction to review and set aside domestic arbitral awards for errors of law, if they are so serious as to amount to a breach of the right to a fair trial. Martin Magál and Juraj Gyarfas, partner and associate at Allen & Overy in Bratislava, say the decision sets a dangerous precedent.

Kim Rooney, arbitrator and barrister at Gilt Chambers in Hong Kong, says two recent decisions by the English and Hong Kong courts show conflicting approaches to the question of whether states can contractually waive their sovereign immunity.

Yuliya Chernykh, a partner at Arbitrade in Kiev, says amendments to Ukraine's Civil Procedural Code providing for interim measures have ushered in some revolutionary changes to the recognition and enforcement stage.

A New York court has confirmed the power of US federal courts to enjoin arbitral proceedings in the absence of an arbitration agreement. Jennifer Gorskie, senior associate at Chaffetz Lindsey in New York, says the ruling still leaves many questions unanswered.

More than 200 arbitration practitioners from 14 countries attended a seminar in Copenhagen on the taking of evidence and witness conferencing to mark the 30th anniversary of the Danish Institute of Arbitration. Danish lawyer Tania Saigol Roth reports.

Arbitration of Russian disputes - in London and in Russia - was the theme of a recent event co-hosted by Hogan Lovells and The CityUK. Hogan Lovells senior associate Nathan Searle reports.

A conference in London this month considered how specific attributes of the ICSID regime – including its summary disposal procedure and the annulment mechanism – are shaping the current climate of investment treaty arbitration. David Earnest, an associate at host firm Hogan Lovells, reports.

The latest Taipei Arbitration and Mediation Conference covered a range of fundamental issues in international arbitration as well as cross-Straits arbitration (between Mainland China and Taiwan). David Kreider, an experienced arbitrator in Asia-related disputes and general counsel of Vodafone in New Zealand, reports.

The ICC Court came to Vienna on 3 and 4 October to market its revised arbitration rules. Jarred Pinkston, of counsel at Dorda Brugger Jordis in Vienna, reports.

The successful growth of arbitration in parts of South-East Asia is being held back by a lack of government and court support and a critical shortage of homegrown arbitrators, a Herbert Smith partner told an audience in Washington, DC last week.

Chief editors: Gordon Blanke & Phillip Landolt. Published by Kluwer Law International, 2011. Reviewed by Professor Andrew Guzman, Berkeley School of Law.

Author: Christiana Fountoulakis. Published by Hart, 2011. Reviewed by Stefan Kröll, sole practitioner in Cologne.