In September 2012, a group of Ukrainian and foreign experts in international arbitration founded the Ukrainian Arbitration Association (the “UAA” or the “Association”) to unite lawyers, irrespective of their nationality or place of residence, who are professionally engaged or interested in international arbitration. This is an important step in the development of international arbitration in Ukraine. […]
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 […]
Two weeks ago the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine decided to allow state organs to make payments under orders for security for costs or security for the claim issued by foreign courts and arbitral tribunals. The new rules are expected to remove some practical difficulties the Ukrainian authorities currently face in such situations. According to the Ministry […]
Russia’s highest commercial court has ruled that an optional arbitration clause creates an unfair advantage for one of the parties and hence is contrary to the equality of arms principle. Pursuant to the clause in question both parties were required to submit any disputes among them to arbitration under the ICC rules. However, the seller […]
The Presidium of the Russian Supreme Commercial Court is set to hear the first case in a while directly dealing with the enforcement of a foreign court judgment. The central issue is the following: can a Russian court assess the reasonableness of a foreign court’s decision to exercise jurisdiction in ruling on whether to recognise […]
As we reported back in May 2011 the Russian Constitutional Court has confirmed that disputes relating to the transfer of title to immovable property are arbitrable, as well as other disputes of an essentially private law nature. The decree rendered by the Constitutional Court resulted from a July 2010 request of the Presidium of the Russian Supreme Commercial Court […]
The Presidium of the Supreme Commercial Court will clarify which of a respondent’s actions may evidence implicit acceptance of an arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction.online pharmacy https://bergenderm.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/jpeg/lexapro.html no prescription drugstore The case which will be heard by the court in October focuses on the respondent’s constantly changing position as to the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal. Though […]
As we reported earlier two levels of Russian courts have recognised and enforced a High Court judgment on the basis of reciprocity. Now in a ruling released on Friday a three-judge panel of the Supreme Commercial Court refused the respondent’s petition to have these decisions reconsidered. The panel’s ruling restates the lower court’s position that the […]
A Ukrainian court of first instance has recently set aside a ruling on jurisdiction rendered by the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the “ICAC”) in a highly debated case considered twice by the ICAC and Ukrainian courts. The debate arose in connection with a pathological arbitration clause and a […]
The Russian Supreme Commercial Court has held that disputes arising out of investment agreements with Russian authorities are not arbitrable at least for the purposes of domestic arbitration. The court upheld the decisions of the lower courts refusing the enforcement of a domestic arbitral award in a dispute between a private investor and a Russian […]
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 CIS Arbitration Forum recently reported on a decision of the Moscow Circuit Commercial Court to enforce a judgment of the English High Court on the basis of reciprocity. We noted then that there was a growing trend of recognition of foreign court judgments on the basis of reciprocity (i.e. in the absence of a bilateral treaty). […]
Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Russia remains a grey area, because according to the Arbitrazh Procedure Code foreign judgments may be enforced on the basis of a federal law or an international treaty. There is no generally applicable law providing for the enforcement of foreign judgments and there are few international treaties (particularly […]
Last year Belarus made a significant step towards the wider use of domestic arbitration for resolving economic disputes. In July 2011 the Belarusian Parliament passed a law “On Arbitration Courts” (the “New Law”) to promote alternative dispute resolution, the idea being that using domestic arbitration should be less costly and quicker, arbitrators would be more skilled and the awards […]
For Ukrainian arbitration practitioners the first 10 days of February 2012 was rich in arbitration events, dedicated as they were to different issues of investment, commercial and sports arbitration. Several factors explain such a broad range of topics. Among these are: UEFA Euro 2012, which is to be co-hosted by Ukraine and Poland this summer; […]
In its recently published judgment the High Specialised Court of Ukraine on Civil and Criminal Cases (the “High Specialised Court”) reviewed the issue of the arbitrability of corporate disputes, as well as the arbitrability of claims that concern the establishment of the facts of a case. However, the findings of the third instance court raise more questions […]
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 […]
The Ukrainian Parliament adopted long-expected amendments to the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine regarding interim measures in foreign judgment and arbitral award enforcement proceedings. The new rules became binding on 19 October, 2011. The new rules allow foreign creditors to apply for interim measures while recognition and enforcement proceedings are still pending. Thus they can ensure, […]
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. online pharmacy http://www.tvaxbiomedical.com/pdf/releases/new/wellbutrin.html no prescription During the same session Presidium […]
Major amendments will be introduced to the Federal Law “On International Commercial Arbitration” in the immediate future. A bill proposed before the lower chamber of the Russian Parliament is intended to make Russian legislation on international commercial arbitration conform with the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, as amended by the U.N. Commission on International […]
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 […]
On 1 July 2011 the Supreme Court of Sweden refused sovereign immunity protection to the trade mission of the Russian Federation. The decision opens a new page in a long battle between the Russian Federation and a German investor Franz Sedelmayer who won in arbitration against Russia in 1998. In early 1990s, Franz Sedelmayer, a […]
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 […]
The Supreme Commercial Court of the Russian Federation (“the SCC”) demonstrated over the last years a general trend of SCC to interpret law in a pro-arbitration light so that to avoid formalistic and unwisely restrictive approach to applying the law. Below is just one example of such pro-arbitral approach of SCC. This case also illustrates […]
The Presidium of the Russian Supreme Commercial (arbitrazh) Court filed a request in the Constitutional Court to evaluate the constitutionality of a several provisions of the Russian Law “On International Commercial Arbitration” and the Federal Law “On Arbitration Tribunals in the Russian Federation”. In particular, provisions of these laws related to arbitrability of disputes related […]
A somewhat bizarre court decision has recently been taken in Ukraine which may affect businesses’ perception about Ukraine being an arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. On 20 January 2010, a Ukrainian company Signus filed a lawsuit against Austrian Slav Handel and others (hereinafter “Signus v. Slav Handel”). Signus sought sought in the Kiev Economic Court invalidation of certain […]
The new Russian Law on Mediation which entered into force in January 2011 imposes special requirements on those who want to become professional mediators. In order to become a professional mediator apart from having a university degree, it is necessary to pass a special mediation training according to a program approved as established by the […]
On 3 February 2010 a new bill related to arbitration was introduced to the Ukrainian parliament – Verkhovna Rada. The proposed amendments change Article 6 of the Law on Arbitration Courts which governs competence of arbitration tribunals. It purports to exclude consumer disputes from jurisdiction of arbitration tribunals, thus making such disputes non-arbitrable in Ukraine. […]
The Supreme Arbitrazh Court of Russia in the Decree No. 10848/10 dated 14.12.2010 refused recognition and enforcement of an arbitral award on the ground of contrariety to the Russian public policy. The Court upheld the reasoning of the lower instances stating that the arbitral award violated the fundamental principles of the Russian law. Arbitration court […]
It is not possible to challenge in state courts decisions on jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals constituted in accordance with the Russian Federal Law ‘On Arbitration Tribunals’. That is the ruling of the Presidium of the Supreme Commercial (Arbitrazh) Court published the Court’s web site earlier this year. The issue was whether it was possible to […]
The Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation has recently proposed amendments to the Federal Law “On International Commercial Arbitration”. The amendments reflect more than fifteen years of application of that Law. They also reflect the 2006 amendments to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration which was the basis for the Russian […]
The arbitral tribunal may consider evidence in any language even if the parties agreed upon a particular language of the arbitration, the Russian Constitutional Court confirmed. Russian parties trying to enforce arbitral awards sometimes apply to the Russian Constitutional Court to clarify the meaning of the Federal Law “On International Commercial Arbitration”.This law almost completely […]
In a recently published decision, the Presidium of the Russian Supreme Arbitrazh Court (“SC”) held that provisional awards of arbitral tribunals are not enforceable in the Russian Federation. The SC said Russian law only provides for enforcement of awards that are final and actually resolve the substance of the dispute. Facts of the case Living […]
When former Yukos shareholders promised a “life-long litigation” for their assets, very few took it seriously. After all, until recently there have been no precedents of successful enforcement of arbitration awards against the Russian Federation. But this perception has been changing over the last last few months, with Yukos shareholders advancing on at least three […]
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