Publications

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – January 2024.

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – September 2023.

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – June 2023.

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – March 2023.

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – December 2022.

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – June 2022.

Click here to view the CIArb Singapore Newsletter – March 2022.

A detailed set of guidelines on what cybersecurity measures to take when handling arbitration was released today as part of New York Arbitration Week.

The Cybersecurity Protocol for International Arbitration (2020) is the culmination of two years of work by a working group on cybersecurity consisting of representatives of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), the New York City Bar Association (City Bar), and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR).

This special interview was conducted by Ms Crystal Wong Wai Chin at the end of the Belt and Road Arbitration Institutions Roundtable Forum, during the China Arbitration Week in Beijing, China, on 7 November 2019 with Mr Wang Chengjie, in the presence of Ms Lu Fei¹. Mr Wang Chengjie is the Vice Chairman & Secretary General of CIETAC and Ms Lu Fei, Deputy Director of Commission Affairs Division, CIETAC. Many thanks to Mr Wang and Ms Lu Fei for taking the time to share their thoughts with Kluwer Arbitration Blog and our readers. 

Where a debtor company fails to repay its debt, the presence of an arbitration clause in the underlying agreement may give rise to a dilemma for the creditor: whether to arbitrate, or present a petition for winding-up against the debtor.

Hong Kong is striving to develop its maritime arbitration, Secretary for Justice of China’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government Teresa Cheng said.

She hoped more mainland shipping enterprises will choose Hong Kong as an arbitration venue.

“As we are one of the busiest ports in the world, maritime legal services have become an integral part of Hong Kong,” Cheng said, noting that Hong Kong has a broad pool of legal practitioners to provide high-end maritime law and arbitration services to shippers, ship owners and commodities owners in aspects such as ship financing, ship broking, ship building and maritime insurance.

Arbitral Institutions: The Amendment Act introduces Arbitral Institutions to be designated by the Supreme Court and the High Courts for appointment of arbitrators, for international and domestic arbitrations respectively. §11 of the Arbitration Act has also been amended to lay down the new procedure for such appointments.

On the face of it, high-tech licensing disputes – especially those revolving around standards essential patents and FRAND – are tailor-made for arbitration. Done right, the process is relatively quick, cheaper than litigating across multiple jurisdictions, confidential, flexible and, if you are lucky, relatively amicable. At the end, a neutral body has decided on a global royalty rate that both sides are bound to accept and can be put in place immediately. The threat of injunctions is removed, as is the ability to game the court system to advantage.

When the UK leaves the EU, it may no longer be possible to enforce UK judgments across borders in the same way under European rules. However, new global rules will support UK judgments whatever the outcome of Brexit negotiations. In this article, we consider the implications of these for the long-term future of London as a hub for international dispute resolution.

On 1 March 2018 the German Arbitration Institute’s (DIS’s) new arbitration rules (the 2018 DIS Arbitration Rules) came into force. The highly anticipated rule reform was the first in 20 years and replaced the DIS 1998 Arbitration Rules. The reform process was thorough and well thought out.

Under the initiative of long-time DIS General Secretary Dr Francesca Mazza, German and foreign practitioners, academics and in-house counsel took a highly active role in shaping the new rules, developing the English and German versions concurrently.

Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) has won a rare England and Wales Court of Appeal victory against an arbitration award, as the case heads to the Supreme Court.

NRF recently advised insurance firm Equitas in a long-running reinsurance dispute related to the insurance treatment of claims for damages arising out of mesothelioma liabilities, an asbestos exposure-related lung cancer.

[SINGAPORE] Forty-six countries signed the Singapore Convention on Mediation on Wednesday – the day it opened for signatures.

The United States and China were among the first signatories of the treaty – also known as the United Nations (UN) Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation – which will provide for the enforcement of mediated settlement agreements across countries.

Singapore was the first to put ink to paper for the treaty, as represented by Law Minister K Shanmugam.

The Beihai Asia International Arbitration Centre that opens in Singapore today will provide lower-cost and efficient international arbitration services for small to medium-value disputes in cross-border commercial transactions.

The centre, which will also establish a China-Asean panel of arbitrators in promoting people-to-people exchanges, was set up by the Beihai Arbitration Commission (BAC) based in China’s Guanxi province.

The prospect of disputes arising in respect of projects under China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has generated considerable interest, accompanied by positioning on the part of governments, government institutions, lawyers and academics who see potential opportunities. The BRI is, of course, a very amorphous concept. Although primarily associated with infrastructure construction, which tends to involve large Chinese companies and Chinese funding, projects along the Belt and Road also involve governments other than the Chinese government and don’t necessarily include Chinese parties.

The DIFC Court of First Instance has found that the Dubai International Arbitration Centre breached an arbitration agreement and its own rules in the manner it appointed a tribunal chair – but cannot be held liable as the error was unintentional.

MANILA, Philippines — The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) expects more Philippine companies to take the arbitration route in settling commercial disputes, especially now that new rules have been introduced to expedite the process and make it more accessible even to small firms.

Lawyer Alexis Mourre, president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, said the growing interest for arbitration among local companies was evident in the 2nd Arbitration Day Philippines held Friday at the University of the Philippines- Bonifacio Global City Campus, where a significant increase in the number of participants was noted.

BAZ v BBA and others and other matters [2018]

SGHC 275 This arbitration analysis examines the Singapore High Court’s decision in BAZ v BBA and the implications of having a portion of an international arbitration award set aside as being contrary to a country’s public policy on the rest of the award and on the parties to the award.

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) has started a public consultation on Wednesday to seek views on proposals to amend the International Arbitration Act (IAA).

The proposed changes would firstly, provide for the default appointment of arbitrators in multi-party situations; secondly, allow parties under mutual agreement to request arbitrator(s) to decide on jurisdiction at the preliminary stage; and thirdly, recognise that an arbitral tribunal and the High Court can enforce obligations of confidentiality in arbitration. 

DUBAI: In his capacity as Ruler of Dubai, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE, His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum issued Decree No. (17) of 2019 replacing the Statute Rules of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) approved pursuant to Decree No. (58) of 2009.

According to the new statute, the functions of the DIAC include providing local, regional and international arbitration through an advanced and integrated institutional framework, promoting arbitration as an efficient way to settle business and commercial disputes, providing a legal framework to support growth in the private sector and developing arbitration procedures that meet the highest standards of governance, justice and integrity.