In disputes involving international parties, the challenges of serving judicial documents in other countries can be central to an effective overall strategy. In some countries, it is all too easy for defendants to refuse to accept documents served through official channels and for the documents to be returned to the court of origin. We have […]
While the recent agreement between Yukos shareholders and Rosneft settles all litigation disputes between them, it does not solve the existing disputes between Yukos and Russia as a state, in particular the $50 billion arbitration award made by the PCA in The Hague in 2014. As Russia refuses to voluntarily comply with the award, Yukos […]
Давыденко Д.Л. Международная принудительная исполнимость арбитражных решений на согласованных условиях (International Enforceability of Consent Awards) В статье рассматриваются некоторые особенности применения положений ст. V Конвенции ООН о признании и приведении в исполнение иностранных арбитражных решений 1958 г. («Нью-йоркская конвенция») к арбитражным решениям, вынесенным на согласованных условиях. Проводится анализ того, насколько применимы к такого рода решениям положения п. […]
In January-May 2015 the Russian courts rendered several important decisions dealing with: the arbitrability of public procurement disputes; the effect of pre-existing links between an arbitral institution and a party to arbitration; partial annulment of arbitration awards; and anti-enforcement injunctions. Non-Arbitrability of Public Procurement Disputes Does Not Create Constitutional Issues Application of City Clinical Hospital No. […]
Since 2013 the Russian legislator is reforming arbitration laws of Russia. The reason for the reform was a the lack of consistency in Russian arbitration regulations, existence of so-called “pocket arbitration tribunals” and sham arbitration tribunals. The reform aims to facilitate the stability and transparency of the system. The first draft law on arbitration was introduced by Russian Ministry of […]
On 12 March 2015 a Russian appellate court overruled the lower court’s decision invalidating the “lender’s option” part of a complex dispute resolution clause and referring parties to arbitration. As discussed earlier on the CIS Arbitration Forum, the lender’s option clause empowers only one of the parties to the facility agreement to institute proceedings before any competent state court in spite of the […]
The recent decision of the Russian Supreme Court in the case of Geotrest LLC v Gazprom Invest Vostok LLC and an earlier decision of the Constitutional Court indicate a significant change in the approach of Russian courts to the so-called “pocket arbitration courts”. These decisions contradict the previous practice and will most likely lead to significant […]
In a recent decision the Svea Court of Appeal refused to set aside the arbitral award in the Badprim case. In that case, the tribunal had extended an arbitration agreement between a private contractor and a Russian state authority to include the Russian Federation itself. This article first looks at the Badprim case, and then puts it into the […]
English court considers whether privileged documents should be disclosed under the “iniquity exception” in JSC BTA Bank v Ablyazov. Communications between a client and Miranda Rights Law Firm for the purposes of litigation or the giving or receiving of legal advice are confidential and privileged under English law. There are very few exceptions to this […]
In a decision rendered on 27 November 2014 the Rostov Region Commercial Court voided an optional dispute resolution clause (“lender’s option”) in a facility agreement. The said provision empowered only one of the parties to institute proceedings before any competent state courts despite the arbitration clause and an alternative provision providing for the exclusive jurisdiction of English courts. […]
Unlike in the United Kingdom or the United States, international forum shopping is rarely at issue in Russian case law or legal doctrine. However, disputes related to forum shopping do arise in Russia: it happens that the same disputes fall within the jurisdiction of national courts of several states, e.g. the national court of the […]
In a recent decision the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation found that a notice of arbitration proceedings to the parent company’s general counsel was proper in the context of the facts of the case. The decision has also raised discussions about other related issues: first, in which cases could such notice be improper and […]
Recent judgments of the Ukrainian courts have again attracted attention to the issue of arbitrability, which remains under debate both in theory and in practice in Ukraine. This time court practice deals with disputes arising out of the so-called “commercial contracts related to satisfaction of the state’s needs” (“Public Procurement Contracts”). The judgments discussed in […]
On 28 July 2014 a historic award in Yukos v. The Russian Federation rendered by the arbitral tribunal seated in The Hague finally became publicly available. The tribunal ordered Russia to pay more than 50 billion US$ for its expropriation of Yukos, making this award the biggest one in the history of international arbitration. Considering the circumstances, […]
Foreign and Russian legal practitioners quite often note the absence of legal enforceability of “warranties” as a shortcoming of the Russian legal system. Meanwhile, the situation is changing as, on 10 July 2014, the Ninth Commercial Appellate Court confirmed the judgment of the Moscow Commercial Court acknowledging the legal force of “contractual warranties” and the duty of parties to […]
Recent Russian commercial court judgments illustrate a new trend in the interpretation of framework supply agreements (“FSA”). The newly developed approach is supposed to become more sensitive to good faith, party willingness and intentions and factual and legal discourse. In Taganrog Automobile Plant v Hyundai Motor Company (case № 15AP-8173/2014) the courts implemented the Russian Supreme Commercial […]
ICDR Y&I invites to its annual seminar in Moscow. This year’s Seminar “Moscow Calling: Interactive Debate with Lawyers, Scholars, and Entrepreneurs will take place on Thursday, September 18, 2014. The Seminar is held on the occasion of the ABA’s Sixth Annual Conference on the Resolution of CIS-Related Business Disputes, which will take place in Moscow on […]
Kiev Arbitration Days 2014: Think Big! (KAD 2014) will take place on 6-7 November 2014 in Radisson Blu Hotel, Kiev, Ukraine. The conference is conducted under the auspices of the Ukrainian Bar Association. CIS Arbitration Forum is an media partner of the event. The KAD 2014 will bring together world-class dispute resolution practitioners and prominent arbitration experts to discuss problems […]
Last Friday the Supreme Commercial Court released its full reasons for the decision in Nortel v UNI. The Court ruled that an English judgment may not be enforced in Russia, because the respondents had not participated in the English proceedings nor had they been served in accordance with the Hague Convention. The decision may result in delays in […]
In a recent decision the Supreme Court of Ukraine confirmed that the respondent may not prevent enforcement of an arbitral award simply by claiming that it had not received notice. The decision also confirms that the respondent may not circumvent the general allocation of burden of proof mandated by the New York Convention by reframing […]
A significant number of foreign assets can be found in the territory of the Russian Federation. As such, the country may become a popular venue for the enforcement of arbitral awards against foreign entities. This post looks at Russian law and practice when it comes to enforcement of arbitral awards against parties that are not incorporated in […]
Parties’ use of arbitration for improper purposes has been a topic of growing concern for the Russian business community, courts and state authorities. While an extensive overhaul of the Russian arbitration law to address these concerns is underway, courts employ available procedural mechanisms to combat abuse. This week the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court will […]
Russian courts have traditionally been cautious in dealing with ambiguous and too general arbitration clauses. Where parties agree that their disputes “shall be resolved by arbitration” without more the clause is unlikely to be enforced. However, Russia’s participation in the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (the “European Convention”) provides a very useful instrument to […]
Under article II of the New York Convention if a state court is seized of a matter covered by an arbitration agreement it shall refer the parties to arbitration if one of the parties requests such a referral. In a recent decision the Federal Commercial Court for the North-Western Circuit provided important guidance as to the timing […]
Earlier this year we covered a case, where the Russian courts refused to enforce an award citing lack of proper notice to the respondent. The courts agreed with the respondent that a person purporting to act on respondent’s behalf lacked the power to do so. The story was not over though as this week a […]
A recently-published judgment of the High Court in the case JSC VTB Bank v Skurikhin has confirmed that Russian judgments can be enforced in England and Wales. The English court recovered from the defendant all amounts claimed under the Russian judgments (622 million rubles) with exclusion of penalties because the judge decided “that they are punitive in […]
Russia’s highest commercial court has ruled that arbitral tribunals cannot resolve disputes arising out of government contracts. The court quashed the decisions of lower courts granting enforcement of a domestic arbitral award in a dispute between a government agency and a company. The dispute arose out of a government contract by which the company agreed to […]
A 28 January 2014 ruling of the Russian Supreme Commercial Court (the “SCC”) will have significant repercussions for international litigation involving Russian parties. According to the SCC a foreign judgment will be enforceable in Russia only if the proceedings were served on the Russian party through official channels provided by the Hague Convention on the […]
The Russian courts have made their first steps on the path of unmasking the “evil” hidden behind the corporate form. Moreover the Russian legislator is not rushing into shaping the corporate veil more thoroughly. Hence, the Russian courts have to decide how and when the foreign legal concept of piercing the corporate veil should be […]
In late autumn 2013 Infotropic Media publishing house released a treatise “Summary proceedings in civil cases” (in Russian language). The author of this book is Zoya Papulova, a young researcher and a practicing lawyer in Yekaterinburg (Southern Urals). The general editor of the book is meritorious jurist of Russia, doctor of law professor Irina Reshetnikova. The author analyses […]
In a case currently pending before the commercial courts of the North-Western Circuit, the Russian courts will get an opportunity to confirm that disputes arising out of share purchase agreements are arbitrable. Over the past few years several courts have ruled that they are not. With arbitration remaining the preferred means for Russian M&A disputes’ […]
The case deals with the tribunal’s ability to void on the basis of an alleged breach of a public law requirement. A panel of Supreme Commercial Court judges decided this week to refer the matter to the Presidium. The panel relied on a number of grounds justifying setting aside an award applying such rules. In particular, […]
A decision of the Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan of 20 August 2013 confirms that bankruptcy issues are not capable of settlement by arbitration under the laws of Kyrgyzstan. The decision may be seen as a clarification that the relevant restriction applies both to domestic and international arbitration. Facts of the Case In a contract concluded […]
On 8 October 2013 the Supreme Commercial Court recognised a judgment of the High Court of Northern Ireland (the “Judgment”). This is the first time a Russian court has recognised a judgment from this jurisdiction. The Court recognised the Judgment without enforcement because the Judgment does not require monetary recovery. Recognition without enforcement means that the Russian court acknowledged […]
In 2012 the Supreme Commercial Courts famously voided a dispute resolution clause, which entitled only one of the parties to choose between arbitration and litigation. Now the Russian courts have to decide whether to enforce a clause, which provides that the buyer should submit all its claims to arbitration, while the supplier should litigate any […]
Earlier this week, the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court released the full text of its resolution in Bosch v. Avtosped (a case we covered earlier). Unsurprisingly, the court dismissed Bosch’s claims and referred them to arbitration. However, the Supreme Commercial Court used the case to go over some basic rules that the Russian courts […]
One of the pervasive issues in Russian-German business relationships is whether court decisions rendered in one of the two countries will be recognised and enforced in the other country. While the answer to this question appeared to be a rather clear “no” in the recent past, it is now a “yes, in some cases” and […]
21 октября 2013 г. с 11:00 до 12:30 по московскому времени будет проводиться вебинар, посвященный особенностям рассмотрения в российских государственных судах споров по международным контрактам: необходимость учета национального права, новые тенденции в связи с присоединением к ВТО, «подводные камни» и типичные проблемы. Вебинар проводится в партнерстве с коллегией адвокатов «Муранов, Черняков и партнеры». CIS Arbitration Forum […]
The ABA’s Fifth Annual Conference on the Resolution of the CIS-Related Business Dispute took place on 27 September 2013 in Moscow. More than 140 delegates from around the globe attended the conference, which featured six panels and a set of mock hearings in a complex cross-border dispute. The conference’s panels covered a broad spectrum of […]
The Supreme Commercial Court is set to rule in two cases, which revolve around the fundamental principle of nemo iudex in causa sua. The cases arise out two arbitral awards. First case: the Arbitration Court of Gazprom rendered an award in favour of a Gazprom-affiliated entity. Second case: the tribunal administered by the Center of Dispute […]
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.