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 […]
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 […]
Legal Insight magazine has published a Survey of the CIS legal services market in International Arbitration prepared jointly with the Russian Arbitration Association and CIS Arbitration Forum. The authors of the survey have indicated the main trends connected with the CIS arbitration market, in particular, the rapidly growing amount of CIS-related disputes and the connection of a […]
2013 was an important year for international arbitration in Russia. Numerous important court judgments were rendered by the higher courts. A large-scale and ground-breaking legislative reform is underway. Some new high profile arbitrations were commenced. We have selected and summarised the 10 most important events related to international arbitration last year. 1. Launch of legislative […]
24 апреля 2014 года состоится Международная конференция Российской Арбитражной Ассоциации (РАА) «Будущее арбитража в России». Ключевые темы: Реформа законодательства о третейских судах – улучшение качества третейского разбирательства или угроза его существованию? Взгляд со стороны: мнение ведущих арбитражных институтов и опыт иностранных государств.
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 […]
Журнал Legal Insight cовместно с Российской арбитражной ассоциацией и CIS Arbitration Forum проводят первое исследование рынка юридических услуг в сфере международного коммерческого арбитража в России и СНГ. Оно включает в себя он-лайн опросы юридических департаментов и фирм, а также глубинные интервью с юристами юридических фирм, корпоративными юристами и арбитрами. По результатам исследования в феврале-марте 2014 […]
During the last session of this December’s ICC conference in Moscow panelists discussed “guerrilla tactics” in arbitration. Means to avoid being served with a proper notice and sending an unauthorised agent to represent a party to arbitration featured prominently among the guerrilla techniques. A recent decision of the Federal Commercial Court for the Povolz’e Circuit […]
On 13 November the Vienna International Arbitral Centre held a conference “The New Vienna Rules – Quality Arbitration at Your Doorstep” on the premises of Opera Hotel in Kyiv. The conference highlighted the provisions and main changes in the Vienna Rules 2013. The new Vienna Rules became effective on 1 July 2013. The rules give […]
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, […]
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 […]
On 26 September the International Centre for Dispute Resolution Young & International (ICDR Y&I) held a seminar on damages in international arbitration on the premises of the Independent Arbitration Chamber, Moscow. The discussion focused on two issues: (i) valuation date and (ii) pre-award interest. Ms Noradèle Radjai (member of the Executive Board of ICDR Young […]
On 19 August the Federal Commercial Court for the Moscow Circuit rendered a decision showing how strong the chain of privity is. The Russian courts may quash an arbitral award if the tribunal has denied the claim of one of the joint creditors and the other one did not participate in the proceedings. Common privity […]
Later this year the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court will hear an appeal in ENEL OGK-5 v CJSC ROS Postakva and Worley Parsons Europe Energy Services Ltd. The issues before the court are the arbitral tribunal’s power to assess evidence and the effect an alleged lack of jurisdiction over part of the dispute has on […]
On 7 August the Federal Commercial Court for the Moscow Circuit delivered a remarkable decision clarifying the principles of arbitration clause interpretation. More specifically, the Circuit Court explained which claims for damages go with a standard arbitration clause and which do not, unless expressly mentioned in such clause. It stated that such claims may fall within the […]
Yesterday the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation affirmed relevant lower courts’ decisions to set aside a domestic arbitral award. It found that enforcement of an award requiring the respondent to pay penalty interest in the amount clearly exceeding the damages suffered by the claimant violates Russian public policy. While the […]
In a pending case Russian courts are looking at whether the arbitral tribunal may extend its jurisdiction to the City of Moscow on the basis of an arbitration clause in a contract to which a department of the city government is a party. In March 2013, the tribunal (Professor Sherstobitov (chair) and Professors Komarov and […]
On 20 June 2013, for the first time Moscow hosted the international conference Russian Arbitration Day, aimed at the development of international commercial arbitration in the post-Soviet region. The International Commercial Arbitration Court (ICAC) and Maritime Arbitration Commission (MAC) at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation organised the conference with support of law firms […]
The Federal Commercial Court for the Moscow Circuit issued an important decision last Wednesday confirming the enforcement of a Swiss Rules arbitration order terminating arbitration proceedings. The court confirmed that tribunal decisions other than awards may be enforced in Russia. It also confirmed the lower court’s finding that the parties may modify arbitration clauses by […]
On 16 July the Supreme Commercial Court will consider whether an arbitration clause which consists of a reference to the ICC Rules of Arbitration is enforceable. The lower courts ruled that it was not, finding that it was not specific enough, with parties failing to agree on an institution to administer the arbitration. At first […]
Validity of choice-of-court agreements, possibility of piercing the corporate veil and falling under jurisdiction of Russian court have always been important concerns for international companies doing business in Russia or with Russian legal entities. The Russian Supreme Commercial (Arbitrazh) Court (“SCC”) will soon clarify these issues in an Informational letter with a Review of Certain […]
In April, the Federal Arbitrazh Court for the Moscow Circuit faced two opportunities to address the implications of foreign set aside proceedings on the enforcement of an award in the Russian Federation. In the first case, it ruled that a party’s failure to raise an objection to the award in the set aside proceedings precluded […]
One of the most influential members of the Russian legal community – Henry Reznik, president of the Moscow Chamber of Advocates – recently vigorously criticised the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Russian Chamber of Commerce (the “ICAC”), a respected Russian arbitral institution. Mr Reznik expressed his surprise that the Presidium of ICAC, without giving […]
For years Russian courts have struggled with the question of whether an obviously disproportionate amount of damages/penalties awarded by an arbitral tribunal may lead to refusal to enforce the award. The prevailing practice has been to reject this proposition since it entails review of the merits of the case. Yet lower instance courts have sometimes […]
The continuing financial instability worldwide has its impact on all areas law, including arbitration. The number of cases where insolvent parties are involved in arbitration or have entered into agreements containing arbitration clauses is rising and has over the past year generated significant jurisprudence of the Russian courts. Notably, the Supreme Commercial Court in a […]
The Supreme Commercial Court has published a draft information letter summarising the practice of the application of the public policy defence in enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and court judgments proceedings (the “Practice Review”). While not technically binding an information letter adopted by the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court is usually deferred to by […]
On 7 December 2012 the Russian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce – the World Business Organization (ICC Russia) in cooperation with the ICC International Court of Arbitration will organise an annual arbitration conference “Russia as a Place for Dispute Resolution”. CIS Arbitration Forum is the event’s information sponsor and is an information partner of […]
On 3 August 2012 the Court of Appeal of the Odessa Region upheld its lower court’s ruling granting requests for the enforcement of twelve FOSFA arbitral awards in Ukraine. Six of these awards had previously been set aside in the UK. The Ukrainian court did not give any effect to the respective English court judgments, stating that the […]
ICDR Young and International announced its fourth annual event in Russia: ICDR Y&I Seminar for Young Practitioners – “Two Rapid-Fire Discussions on International Arbitration and Mediation”. CIS Arbitration Forum is a media sponsor of the event. The event is organized in cooperation with the American Bar Association’s Section of International Law, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of […]
Can an essentially domestic dispute be referred to an international arbitral tribunal sitting outside of the Russian Federation? Can an “international” dispute be resolved by a domestic arbitral tribunal? These questions may be troubling for a practitioner drafting an arbitration clause in a contract. This is especially true because figuring out whether the dispute is […]
The Moscow International Financial Centre (the “MIFC”) initiative has selected Alternative Dispute Resolution in Russia as one of its key themes. In June 2012 the ADR Workstream of the UK-Russia Liaison Group on Moscow as an International Financial Centre prepared its Final Report (the “Report”) concerning ways in which to improve ADR mechanisms in Russia. The […]
Arbitration clauses are usually treated as one of the boilerplate terms of commercial contracts. They are frequently formulated off the top of one’s head and though major arbitration centres recommend standard clauses they are not always used. In a decision rendered on 13 March 2012 the Moscow Circuit Commercial Court confirmed the lower court’s decision […]
It seems that in at least one respect Russian courts are now more arbitration-friendly than courts in many other countries. In a string of cases decided during 2011 the Supreme Commercial Court held that enforcement of an arbitral award may not be refused on the basis of a tribunal’s lack of jurisdiction if the award was […]
It is reported that in TS Investment Corp v. Republic of Armenia, LCIA tribunal found in favor of the Respondent rejecting investor’s claims. TS Investment Corp asserted claims based on breach of a contract between the parties as well as US-Armenia BIT. The arbitration centered around TS’s investment into a tire plant in Yerevan, Armenia, […]
An interesting case is due to be considered by the Russian Supreme Commercial Court within the next few months. Two issues before the court are: (1) whether an arbitral tribunal may fine a party to the arbitration for failure to comply with the tribunal’s order and (2) whether the procedural guarantees that are accorded to […]
Today, it seems, an epic story of enforcement of an SCC award in Russia came to an end. After almost three years of litigation in Russia and Sweden, the Presidium of Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation ruled that the award should be enforced. During the same session Presidium dismissed action seeking to invalidate […]
On June 21, 2011, the City of Moscow Commercial Court (the “City Court”) annulled an award of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the “ICAC”) rendered on March 31, 2011. According to that award, Novolipetsk Steel JSC (“NLMK”) was ordered to pay 9.5 billion roubles (approximately 237 million […]
Russian courts are frequently criticized for being arbitration-unfriendly. Practitioners however acknowledge that most awards are recognized and enforced. In fact, the Russian courts are increasingly adopting pro-arbitration stance, which in some instances goes further than that adopted by the jurisdiction traditionally considered arbitration-friendly. In three recent cases Russian courts took the view, that the respondent […]
Domestic arbitration institutions established by various commercial entities have become widespread in the Russian Federation. Their existence and perceived lack of impartiality have long been criticized by many. They were also presented as an example of why arbitration should not be used to resolve private disputes. The situation is particularly problematic where the rules of […]
Power of attorney authorizing the representative to sign a commercial contract is sufficient for such representative to sign a contract containing an arbitration clause. In a recently published decision the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitrazh Court of the Russian Federation confirmed that the provision of Article 62 of the Arbitrazh Procedure Code requiring that for […]
20th Anniversary ICAL Conference in Stockholm on 31.08 and 01.09
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