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.

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.

The Hungarian parliament is considering a bill that would make domestic arbitration of high-value disputes involving state entities illegal. János Tamás Varga and Zoltán Csernus, partners at VJT & Partners in Budapest, say the proposed change could end up encouraging recourse to international arbitration.

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.

The first of a series of Proust questionnaires provides unique insights into the life and loves of Allen & Overy partner and co-chair of the International Bar Association arbitration committee, Judith Gill QC.

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.

Eleonore Treu of ICC Austria reports on the first PIDA seminar on international commercial arbitration to be held outside Paris.

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.

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.

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.

Simon Nesbitt and Michael Darowski, partner and senior associate at Hogan Lovells in London, consider the findings of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators' recent costs survey and ask whether institutional transparency could help keep costs down.

A conference organised by Wöss & Partners SC and the Institute of Juridical Investigations at the National Autonomous University of Mexico considered approaches to damages and loss of income claims. Adriana San Román, partner and financial analyst at the Mexican firm, reports.