60 Years Of The New York Convention

Worldwide interest in the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards has never been higher, and the New York Convention of 1958, currently adhered to by 159 States including the major trading nations, remains the most successful treaty in this area of commercial law. This incomparable book, marking the Convention’s 60th anniversary, provides a fully updated analysis of the Convention’s application from international, comparative, and national perspectives. Drawing on a global conference held in Seville in April 2018 that was actively supported by UNCITRAL, the book’s 27 chapters, by highly qualified international practitioners and academics from different jurisdictions, address the subject with critical eyes, well aware of current developments and future challenges in the field of arbitration. Among the issues and topics covered are the following: Multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses. Applicability of the UN Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts. Complexities of enforcing orders determined by software. Enforcement of annulled awards. European Union law and the New York Convention. Enforcing awards against States and State entities. Sovereign immunity as a ground to refuse compliance with investor-State awards; Enforcement against non-signatories. Public policy exception. Arbitrating and enforcing foreign awards in specific countries and regions, including China, sub-Saharan Africa, and the ASEAN countries. Ample reference is made throughout to leading cases and practice. Familiarity with the intricacies of the New York Convention, as the most universally acknowledged framework in which cross-border economic exchanges can flourish, is essential for judges, practitioners, legal staff, business people, and scholars working with or applying international commercial arbitration anywhere in the world. This book’s combination of highly thought-provoking topics and the depth with which they are addressed will prove invaluable to all interested parties

The New York Convention has served as the cornerstone of the international arbitration system since its signature in 1958 until the present day. The Guide on the New York Convention provides an insight on the application of the Convention by State courts. It was initiated in 2010 when UNCITRAL commissioned the assistance of Professors Gaillard and Bermann as part of its efforts to promote wider adherence to the text of the New York Convention as well as its uniform interpretation and effective implementation. The interpretation that derives from court decisions of diverse jurisdictions makes the Guide a unique tool to understand the New York Convention, an almost universally adopted text, and to monitor its application. This guide is mainly designed for legal practitioners.

The five Central Asian States – Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – collectively present a unique case study for the nexus between international investment frameworks, investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) and the future of this field. In this groundbreaking book, the editors have curated contributions from globally renowned practitioners and scholars to provide the first comprehensive overview of experiences and lessons arising from the region. This book draws upon the Central Asian experience with international investment law and ISDS to develop globally relevant insights and analyses on, among other topics: approaches to foreign direct investment and domestic investment legislation; jurisdictional questions arising in investment treaty arbitration, such as the notion of ‘investor’ and the definition of ‘investment’; the interpretation of investment treaties and the role of international and domestic law; substantive and procedural rights of foreign investors, with a focus on guarantees against expropriation and most-favoured nation and fair and equitable treatment standards; arbitral awards, as well as grounds and procedures for their enforcement and annulment; the state-of-play for allegations of corruption and fraud once a dispute has arisen; and emerging challenges and opportunities in light of ongoing reform initiatives. This book establishes that the Central Asian experience should be taken into consideration in any comprehensive and robust discussion on the future of international investment law and ISDS. It provides useful analyses of how these frameworks may be improved, reformed and remain fit for purpose. This book is an essential tool that allows practitioners, arbitrators, policymakers and scholars to confidently engage with the substantive and procedural challenges and opportunities that are anticipated in the next generation of investor-State disputes.

International Arbitration Law Library # 61 The 1958 New York Convention is universally acclaimed as one of the most important instruments on international commercial arbitration. Although the Convention ensures that contracting States cannot justify failure to comply with their treaty obligations by reference to domestic law, the courts of different contracting States apply the Convention differently. This diverging case law arises from uncertainty as to whether certain concepts employed in the Convention must be construed autonomously or in light of domestic law. This incomparable analysis of the New York Convention as an instrument of uniform law presents insightful contributions by some of the world’s most distinguished academics and practitioners in the field of arbitration and is sure to significantly contribute to arbitral practice and jurisprudence in the Convention’s more than 160 contracting States. With extensive reference to case law from major arbitration hubs, the contributors examine the Convention with the aim of identifying the boundaries between autonomous and domestic concepts. Key elements covered include the following: the role of private international law under the Convention; notions of arbitrability and arbitral award; procedures for the enforcement of awards; nullity, invalidity, and conflict of laws under Articles II(3) and V(1)(a); the incapacity defence under Article V(1)(a); deviations from procedure; autonomous boundaries as to what falls under the issue of scope; and public policy under the Convention. The first and only resource of its kind, this book provides an invaluable clarification of the extent to which the Convention leaves room for the application of domestic law and, if so, how to determine which particular domestic law may be applicable. It will be welcomed by counsel, judges, arbitrators, and academics throughout the States that have signed the New York Convention.

International Commercial Arbitration is an authoritative 4,250 page treatise, in three volumes, providing the most comprehensive commentary and analysis, on all aspects of the international commercial arbitration process that is available. The Third Edition of International Commercial Arbitration has been comprehensively revised, expanded and updated, To include all legislative, judicial and arbitral authorities, and other materials in the field of international arbitration prior to June 2020. It also includes expanded treatment of annulment, recognition of awards, counsel ethics, arbitrator independence and impartiality and applicable law. The revised 4,250 page text contains references to more than 20,000 cases, awards and other authorities and will enhance the treatise’s position as the world’s leading work on international arbitration. The first and second editions of International Commercial Arbitration have been routinely relied on by courts and arbitral tribunals around the world ((including the highest courts of the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada) and international arbitral tribunals (including ICC, SIAC, LCIA, AAA, ICSID, SCC and PCA), e.g.: U.S. Supreme Court – GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS, Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, 590 U.S. - (U.S. S.Ct. 2020); BG Group plc v. Republic of Argentina, 572 U.S. 25 (U.S. S.Ct. 2014); Canadian Supreme Court – Uber v. Heller, 2020 SCC 16 (Canadian S.Ct.); Yugraneft Corp. v. Rexx Mgt Corp., [2010] 1 R.C.S. 649, 661 (Canadian S.Ct.); U.K. Supreme Court – Jivraj v. Hashwani [2011] UKSC 40, ¶78 (U.K. S.Ct.); Dallah Real Estate & Tourism Holding Co. v. Ministry of Religious Affairs, Gov’t of Pakistan [2010] UKSC 46 (U.K. S.Ct.); Swiss Federal Tribunal – Judgment of 25 September 2014, DFT 5A_165/2014 (Swiss Fed. Trib.); Indian Supreme Court – Bharat Aluminium v. Kaiser Aluminium, C.A. No. 7019/2005, ¶¶138-39, 142, 148-49 (Indian S.Ct. 2012); Singapore Court of Appeal – Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd v. Avant Garde Maritime Servs. Ltd, [2019] 2 SLR 131 (Singapore Ct. App.); PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) TBK v. CRW Joint Operation, [2015] SGCA 30 (Singapore Ct. App.); Larsen Oil & Gas Pte Ltd v. Petroprod Ltd, [2011] SGCA 21, ¶19 (Singapore Ct. App.); Australian Federal Court – Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd v. Rinehart, [2017] FCAFC 170 (Australian Fed. Ct.); Hague Court of Appeal – Judgment of 18 February 2020, Case No. 200.197.079/01 (Hague Gerechtshof); Arbitral Tribunals – Lao Holdings NV v. Lao People's Democratic Republic I, Award in ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/12/6, 6 August 2019; Gold Reserve Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Decision regarding the Claimant’s and the Respondent’s Requests for Corrections, ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/09/1, 15 December 2014; Total SA v. The Argentine Republic, Decision on Stay of Enforcement of the Award, ICSID Case No. ARB/04/01, 4 December 2014; Millicom Int'l Operations B.V. v. Republic of Senegal, Decision on Jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal, ICSID Case No. ARB/08/20, 16 July 2010; Lemire v. Ukraine, Dissenting Opinion of Jürgen Voss, ICSID Case No. ARB/06/18, 1 March 2011.

The Guide on the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards provides a detailed analysis of the judicial interpretation and application of the New York Convention by reference to case law from 45 Contracting States. The Guide, and the newyorkconvention1958.org website which supplements it, will become an essential tool that benefits all those involved in the interpretation and application of the New York Convention.

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) – as the ‘treaty on treaties’ – has achieved a rich and nuanced track record of use in international law. It has now been over fifty years since the VCLT was opened for signature in 1969, and over forty years since it entered into force in 1980. As of 2022, the VCLT has been ratified by 116 States and signed by 45 others, with some non-ratifying States also recognising parts as reflective of customary international law. In the intervening decades, the VCLT has had a profound influence on the interpretation, application and development of international investment law, including in the context of investment treaty arbitration. This book presents the first consolidated analysis of how the VCLT has informed the practice of international investment law and the resolution of investor-State disputes, and the role that the VCLT may play in shaping the future of this field. The diverse contributors to this book are scholars and practitioners from around the world, who offer a variety of perspectives on the nexus between the VCLT, international investment law and investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS). Each chapter demonstrates how approaches to key issues of treaty law in investment treaty arbitration diverge or converge from the VCLT and approaches of other international courts, as well as the lessons that investment treaty arbitration could derive – or even offer – for the interpretation and application of the VCLT rules in other settings. Their insights and analyses consider aspects such as the role of the VCLT for: interpretation of more specific approaches to treaty law drafted by treaty negotiators; treaty application in circumstances of contested State territory or succession challenges; temporal challenges arising in treaty interpretation; the status of bilateral investment treaties between European Union Member States and related termination endeavours; questions concerning the validity, termination and amendment of investment treaties, including as part of ongoing ISDS reform processes; current multilateral reform proposals, including the possibility of an appellate mechanism or a multilateral investment court; grappling with the challenge of fragmentation in international investment law, including the role of prior decisions in treaty interpretation, the challenges introduced by treaty conflict and the multitude of approaches that may be taken by national courts when implementing treaties like the New York Convention; and treaty interpretation and drafting as aided by emerging technologies, such as data analytics, machine learning, smart contracts and blockchain. The book’s appendix provides a highly valuable tabular summary of ISDS arbitral practice relating to the VCLT, collating key references from over 350 different procedural orders, decisions and awards. By revisiting the role that the VCLT has played in the development of this field of law, this invaluable book unlocks insights into how the VCLT might be used to support its ongoing development and the resolution of the next generation of investor-State disputes. This book is essential reading for a variety of stakeholders, including arbitrators, counsel, scholars and government officials, who will benefit from its in-depth and practical analysis of the VCLT’s relevance to and impact on investment law and investor-State arbitration and its role in shaping where this field of public international law might be headed in the decades to come.

Twenty-eighteen marked the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up policy. Profound changes have been seen internally and externally, prior to 2018, during 2018, and continuing beyond 2018, which echo China’s great quest for reform and engaging with the world and shape the future of the dispute resolution industry in China. “Economic stability”, “economic restructuring and upgrading”, and “Sino-US trade friction” are clues to internal and external changes in 2018. Reviewing changing conditions in dispute resolution across a wide range of industries, the authors of Commercial Dispute Resolution in China: An Annual Review and Preview (2019) [hereinafter referred to as the “An Annual Review and Preview (2019)”] preview challenges that are yet to come. In Annual Review on Real Estate Dispute Resolution in China (2019), for example, the authors present a case study on the Linkage of the First and Second Level Projects and preview potential disputes of Securitization of real estate. In Annual Review on Investment Dispute Resolution in China (2019), the authors describe the arrangement of fixed income and equity repurchase under the backdrop of a slowing economy. In Annual Review on Energy Dispute Resolution in China (2019), the author focuses on policies and cases relating to Chinese transnational M&As, illustrating opportunities and challenges for future “Going Global” transactions in the energy sector. In Annual Review on International Trade Dispute Resolution in China (2019), the authors analyze the challenges posed by the China-US Trade War, and call for better compliance, industrial upgrading, and better understanding of the legal environment and trade protection measures in different jurisdictions in the process of “Going Global.” Decentralization and a continuing opening-up of China’s markets are also key in understanding economic and international changes. In Annual Review on Construction Dispute Resolution in China (2019), the authors introduce two examples, namely the promulgation of the Interpretation II on Issues Concerning the Application of Law for the Trial of Cases of Dispute over Construction Contracts by the Supreme People’s Court, and cancellation of construction contract record-filing by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, which reflect the ongoing transformation of social governance and the reforms of “delegate power, improve regulation and optimize services” (“DIO” reform) in the construction sector. In Annual Review on Financial Dispute Resolution in China (2019), the author describes the opening of the futures market, clearly demonstrating the Chinese government’s determination to open financial and capital markets.