issue #12, week 25. 21 June 2007
Prepared by TDM and Aloysius Gng (CEPMLP/Dundee)
TDM News Digest
provides a condensed overview of recent events of interest to the international arbitration community.
Comments, suggestions, news?
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TDM
TDM Special publised: Energy Litigation and Arbitration - Expert Perspectives
Richard Walck, Global Financial Analytics LLC, prepared this joint OGEL/TDM Special Issue on "Energy Litigation and Arbitration - Expert Perspectives"
In this issue, we try to provide some thoughts on the use of experts in arbitration and litigation. While the stated focus in on the energy sector, some of the authors have written for a more general audience...
More at www.transnational-dispute-management.com
Young-OGEMID virtual symposia
Young-OGEMID is a free listserv associated with our Transnational Dispute Management law journal for Students and (junior) Associates - you can apply for your free membership here: www.transnational-dispute-management.com/young-ogemid/
Call for contributions
- Special Issue on Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) Disputes and International Arbitration
Editor: Beata Gessel-Kalinowska vel Kalisz; Reviewers: Cecilia Carrara & Luminita Popa - Special Issue on Sanctions and International Arbitration: Impact on Substantive and Procedural Issues
Editors: Ali Burney, Rinat Gareev, Kiran Nasir Gore, Prof. Joel Slawotsky, May Tai - Special Issue on National Courts as a Forum for the Resolution of Disputes under Article 26 Energy Charter Treaty
Editors: John Gaffney, Richard Happ, Lucia Raimanova, Anna-Maria Tamminen, Catharine Titi - Special Issue on International Investment Arbitration - Environmental Protection and Climate Change Issues (Vol 4+)
Editors: Prof. Dr A F M Maniruzzaman, Kiran Nasir Gore, Prof. Dr Stephen Minas - Special Issue on The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)
Editors: J. Chaisse, J. Górski, E. Laryea, M.M. Mbengue, and K. Olaoye
Recent issues:
- TDM 5 (2018) - Strategic Considerations in Energy Disputes
- TDM 6 (2018) - FDI Moot 2018
- TDM 5 (2018) - Regular issue
- TDM 4 (2018) - Time and Cost Issues in International Arbitration
- TDM 3 (2018) - Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC
- TDM 2 (2018) - International Commercial and Investment Disputes in and with India
- TDM 1 (2018) - Regular issue
- TDM 5 (2017) - FDI Moot 2017
- TDM 4 (2017) - Comparative and International Perspectives on Mediation in Insolvency Matters
- TDM 3 (2017) - One Belt One Road (OBOR)
- TDM 2 (2017) - Non-Legal Adjudicators in National and International Disputes
- TDM 1 (2017) - Regular issue
- TDM 6 (2016) - FDI Moot 2016
- TDM 5 (2016) - Latin America (vol. 2)
- TDM 4 (2016) - Africa
- TDM 3 (2016) - Three Centuries of Arbitration for Peace
- TDM 2 (2016) - Latin America
- TDM 1 (2016) - CETA
- TDM 7 (2015) - FDI Moot 2015
- TDM 6 (2015) - Regular issue
- TDM 5 (2015) - Yukos Special - OGEL 5 (2015) - Yukos Special
- TDM 4 (2015) - ArbitralWomen/TDM: Dealing with Diversity in International Arbitration
- TDM 3 (2015) - Renewable Energy Disputes - OGEL 3 (2015) - Renewable Energy Disputes
- TDM 2 (2015) - Arbitration in the Middle East: Expectations and Challenges for the Future
- TDM 1 (2015) - The Pacific Rim and International Economic Law: Opportunities and Risks of the Pacific Century
- TDM 6 (2014) - Dispute Resolution from a Corporate Perspective
- TDM 5 (2014) - FDI Moot 2014
- TDM 4 (2014) - CILS - 8th Biennial Symposium on International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution
- TDM 3 (2014) - Regular issue
- TDM 2 (2014) - The New Frontiers of Cultural Law: Intangible Heritage Disputes
- TDM 1 (2014) - Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: In Search of a Roadmap
- TDM 6 (2013) - FDI Moot 2013
- TDM 5 (2013) - Art and Heritage Disputes in International and Comparative Law
- TDM 4 (2013) - Ten Years of Transnational Dispute Management
- TDM 3 (2013) - Corruption and Arbitration
- TDM 2 (2013) - EU, Investment Treaties, and Investment Treaty Arbitration - Current Developments and Challenges
- TDM 1 (2013) - Aligning Human Rights and Investment Protection
- TDM 5 (2012) - Legal Issues in Tobacco Control
- A Liber Amicorum: Thomas Wδlde - Law Beyond Conventional Thought
- TDM 5 (2011) - Resolving International Business Disputes by ADR in Asia
- TDM 4 (2011) - Contingent Fees and Third Party Funding in Investment Arbitration Disputes
- TDM 3 (2011) - Intersections: Dissemblance or Convergence between International Trade and Investment Law
NEWS
New NAFTA decision Irrigation District y otros vs. los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
Members of the Tribunal: Prof. Vaughan Lowe, Prof. Ignacio Gómez-Palacio, The Honorable Edwin Meese III
Moscow court sends Moravel case against Yukos for retrial
June 19, http://en.rian.ru/business/20070619/67475187.html
The presidium of the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled Tuesday to send for retrial a $680 million claim for unpaid debt filed by Cyprus-based Moravel Investment Ltd., a Yukos affiliate, against the bankrupt oil company. Last July the Moscow Arbitration Court rejected the company's appeal to enforce a decision made by a London arbitration tribunal to charge Yukos, once Russia's leading oil company, the debt principal plus interest. Moravel appealed against the decision, but the Moscow District Federal Arbitration Court rejected the appeal in September 2006.
Malaysians urged to make greater use of arbitration centre
June 19, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/6/19/nation/20070619190253&sec=nation
Malaysians have been urged to make greater use of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA) for arbitral reference as its future growth will depend very much on the support of local users.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said the cost of using KLRCA was much cheaper than its counterparts in other countries.
India, Canada sign pact to protect trade, investment
June 19, http://www.nerve.in/news:25350055042
In a bid to push bilateral economic relations, India and Canada have signed a long-awaited pact to protect and promote investments made by their companies in each other's country, officials said.
Iraq: Forum to compare investment laws of Baghdad and Kurdistan
June 19, http://www.iraqdevelopmentprogram.org/idp/news/new1658.htm
The Kurdistan centre of the Iraqi Businessmen Union held a discussion forum to compare the Iraqi central investment law and the Kurdish investment law at the Arbil Plaza hotel, reported the Businessmen's Union.
Kamran Al-Mufti presented clauses of both investment laws and compared between them. The debates held had positive feedback and attendants expressed their interest in holding more such discussion events for the sake of advancing reform in all of Iraq and in Kurdistan.
UAE discusses investment law
June 18, http://www.ameinfo.com/123797.html
A federal panel set up to discuss the draft law on foreign investment met yesterday, Sunday, in Abu Dhabi, reported Gulf News. The panel includes representatives from 35 firms from both the public and private sectors as well as officials from a number of ministries. The Minister of Economy Shaikha Lubna Al Qasimi said recently that 100% foreign ownership will be permitted in some areas of the service sector.
Guatemala: RDC files US$65mn expropriation claim against government
June 15, http://www.bnamericas.com/story.jsp?idioma=I§or=5¬icia=396499
Pittsburgh-based railway management and investment company Railroad Development Corporation (RDC) has filed a US$65mn claim against Guatemala with the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the rail company announced.
In 1998, RCD began a 50-year operation and maintenance agreement to restore and operate the abandoned national railway in Guatemala, under its local rail subsidiary Ferrovías Guatemala.
Italy to set up compensation fund for Argentina holdouts and victims of financial crisis; Japan may follow suit
June 15, http://www.ft.com/cms/s/23f94b2e-1aee-11dc-8bf0-000b5df10621,dwp_uuid=e8477cc4-c820-11db-b0dc-000b5df10621.html
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi's government is preparing to pass a law that will create a compensation fund financed by dormant Italian bank accounts that have not seen activity for more than 10 years. ...
The offer for compensation will be open to all investors that did not accept Argentina's exchange offer or are currently involved in Task Force Argentina's claims against the sovereign at ICSID, the World Bank's International Court for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The same provision applies for bondholders that were negatively affected by defaults of Argentine corporate borrowers like Cirio and Parmalat.
India: Supreme Court for review of pricing policy
June 14, http://www.business-standard.com/economy/storypage.php?leftnm=3&subLeft=3&chklogin=N&autono=287692&tab=r
The Supreme Court has asked the government to review within four months the policy of giving price preference to public sector enterprises (PSEs) in the sale of earth-moving equipment.
The judgement was delivered in the case, Caterpillar India Ltd vs Western Coalfields Ltd. Caterpillar argued that the equipment was mostly manufactured by it and Bharat Earth Movers Ltd and the buyers are government coalfields.
The Supreme Court has asked Delta Mechcons India Ltd and Marubeni Corporation to bring their choice of names for the chairmanship of the international arbitration panel which would decide the dispute between them.
Nigeria: Six Years After, FG Returns Disputed Oil Block to Etete
14 June 2007, http://allafrica.com/stories/200706140640.html
The Federal Government has restored the controversial Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL 245) originally awarded to Malabu Oil and Gas Ltd, a company owned by former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Chief Dan Etete, after the company offered to pay $210 million Signature Bonus.
The licence for the oil block which was obtained by the company in 1998 when Etete was minister, was revoked in July 2001, over the company's alleged failure to fully pay the required signature bonus. This has generated a series of controversy and litigations over the years.
The decision to revert the acreage to the company followed an out-of-court settlement of the dispute between it and the Federal Government. According to the settlement terms, the signature bonus is to be paid within 12 months, from December last year when the parties agreed to the terms.
Shell was said to have thereafter sought to terminate the agreement with Malabu, but the company declined. The development prompted Shell to institute a proceeding against Malabu before the International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration. On its part, Malabu approached a United States Court to challenge the revocation, as well as the purported re-award of the block to its technical partner (Shell).
Aside from the US litigation, the company also filed another suit against the Federal Government and Shell before a Federal High Court, Abuja, following an alleged plan by the Government and Shell to consummate the deal while the action was pending in court. The government, it was further revealed, had entered an escrow agreement with Shell for the payment of $210 million and the signing of a production sharing contract over the oil block was carried out notwithstanding the pending litigations.
Houston, We Have an Arbitration
The American Lawyer, June 13, 2007, http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1181639136713
Thanks to oil and Latin American cases, Texans are among the big gainers in Arbitration Scorecard survey of 228 disputes
Business sector wary of Ecuador's Correa
June 8, http://www.miamiherald.com/579/story/132485.html
Uncertainty prevails in Ecuador as government policies discourage private investment and the future of a U.S. trade pact is in jeopardy.
ICC Court 15,000th case: Historic landmark
June 2007, http://www.iccwbo.org/iccbecji/index.html
A new landmark has been reached in the history of the ICC Court with the registration of its 15,000th case. The case was filed by a Korean claimant against two Uzbek respondents and the parties have chosen London as the place of arbitration. As a multiparty arbitration embracing diverse legal and cultural traditions, this arbitration typifies the scope and adaptability of ICC proceedings
ICSID Introductory Note: LG&E Energy Corp., LG&E Capital Corp. and LG&E International Inc. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/1)
See http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/awards.htm
ICSID Introductory Note: Suez, Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona S.A. and Vivendi Universal S.A. v. Argentine Republic (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/19)
See http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/awards.htm
ICSID Introductory Note: Corn Products International, Inc. v. United Mexican States (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/04/1)
See http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/awards.htm
ICSID Introductory Note: Archer Daniels Midland Company and Tate & Lyle Ingredients Americas, Inc. v. United Mexican States (ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/04/5)
See http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/awards.htm
ICSID Introductory Note & Award: Malaysian Historical Salvors, SDN, BHD v. Malaysia (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/10)
See http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/cases/award s.htm
Clifford Chance pushes arbitration business in Asia
June 7, http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=126364&d=11&h=24&f=23
Clifford Chance is embarking on a marketing drive in Asia in a bid to boost its arbitration business in the region. The firm is touring Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing and Tokyo to "explain arbitration to business audiences" alongside Singaporean ally WongPartnership.
International Arbitration Practice of White & Case Leading the Pack in the US
June 15, http://www.whitecase.com/News/Detail.aspx?news=1666
The International Arbitration practice of White & Case LLP has recently and repeatedly been recognized as a leading international arbitration practice in the United States in key legal benchmarking publications. To top off the list of recent accolades, the Firm's US-based team was named the "International Arbitration Team of the Year" at the Chambers USA Awards for Excellence 2007 ceremony held last night in New York.
EVENTS
Specialised Arbitration & Advocacy Skills in International Oil & Gas Disputes
Annual CEPMLP Seminar exploring the legal and practical issues arising in the resolution of oil and gas disputes through commercial and investment arbitration
August 27-31, 2007 (provisional). The Old Course Hotel, St. Andrews, Scotland, UK
More information is available at the seminar website.
United Nations e-Learning Course: Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has announced its 2007 e-Learning Course Calendar. For 2007, UNITAR will be conducting at least nine online courses intended for a global audience of finance-sector officials.
Other courses besides Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, include:
- Fundamentals of Capital Market Development & Regulation
- Negotiation of Financial Transactions
- Capital Market Development & Regulation-Advanced Course
- Debt Rescheduling with the Paris Club
- Basic Course on Public Debt Management
- Effective Public Debt Management
- Legal Aspects of Public Debt Management
- Understanding International Contracts and Loan Agreements
Registration procedure, fees, comments from past participants and other course details can be found at http://www.unitar.org/dfm/DFMelearning/Index.htm
Short overview of upcoming events
- 24 Jun 2007
11th Symposium of the australian forum for International Arbitration
MIArb
Malaysia - 25 Jun 2007
Do we have a fraud? The Autonomy of Arbitrators and Fraud unravels all
LSLC
United Kingdom - 25 Jun 2007
A Conversation with Ana Palacio
DCBAR
United States of America - 25 Jun - 06 Jul 2007
Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration course
ACICA , Australian Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Australia - 26 Jun 2007
International Investment Agreement and Natural Resources Dispute
DCBAR
United States of America - 26 - 27 Jun 2007
Journal of Private International Law Conference 2007
School of Law, University of Birmingham
United Kingdom - 26 - 28 Jun 2007
3rd International Workshop on Arbitration and ADR in Africa
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Kenya - 28 Jun 2007
The Revision of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules
CRCICA
Egypt - 28 - 29 Jun 2007
Conference: Contract Damages: Domestic and International Perspectives
School of Law, University of Birmingham
United Kingdom - 30 Jun - 02 Jul 2007
International Entry Course
CRCICA
Egypt
The above information is reproduced from the International Arbitration Planner by kind permission of Lovells (www.lovells.com and www.lovells.com/arbitration). More details on these and many other events can be found at www.arbitrationevents.com
OPINION
Bias Seen in International Dispute Arbiters
June 19, http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38229
A little known entity closely affiliated with the World Bank that mediates disputes between sovereign nations and foreign investors appears to be skewed toward corporations in Northern countries, according to an IPS review of pending cases and other independent analyses of the tribunals. The administrative council of the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) consists of one representative from each of the 155 states that have ratified the centre's founding convention. However, most of the arbiters who actually decide cases hail from industrialised countries, when most of the defendants are developing nations.
While submitting to the ICSID's three-member arbitration panels is technically voluntary, many bilateral investment treaties require countries to agree to the centre's jurisdiction. The centre has facilitated arbitration on 234 cases since its inception in 1966, according to its website data.
Of the 300 judges who are looking into 111 pending cases at the ICSID, only 63 came from developing nations. In just one case was the three-member tribunal comprised entirely of arbiters from developing nations.
MOVES / JOBS
Worldbank new Senior Counsel: Justice Sector Reform
The Legal Vice Presidency of the World Bank has just advertised for a new Senior Counsel: Justice Sector Reform. The VPU seeks a candidate with experience in design and implementation of reform processes in justice sector institutions, particularly court management and reform.
Click here to view external job postings.
OECD: International Investment Law Analyst
The OECD is looking for an International Investment Law Analyst to work on international investment agreements and OECD investment instruments as part of the work programme of the OECD Investment Committee. The selected candidate will work under the supervision of the Head of the Investment Division (INV) in the Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs (DAF).
The Investment Division promotes international investment for growth and sustainable development world-wide. It is a leading source of analysis and policy assistance in the areas of open and transparent policy frameworks for investment, responsible international business, international investment agreements and foreign direct investment statistical standards. Its website can be consulted at www.oecd.org/daf/investment .
Please apply before midnight, Paris time, on: 10/07/2007, Click here for more details
Kiril Bougartchev and Emmanuel Moyne joined Linklaters
June 19, http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=126703&d=11&h=24&f=23
Linklaters has raided the Paris offices of rival Gide Loyrette Nouel to boost its litigation and arbitration practice. Kiril Bougartchev and Emmanuel Moyne joined Linklaters's Paris office last Friday as partner and counsel respectively.
Kavanagh and Foster join O'Melveny & Myers
June 18, http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=126637&d=11&h=24&f=23
O'Melveny & Myers has swooped for two Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) litigation partners, including its head of international litigation David Kavanagh. Kavanagh and partner David Foster are leaving to join the London office of US firm O'Melveny, which is launching an international arbitration and litigation practice in its City office.
German trio boosts Lovells litigation team
June 14, http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=126480&d=11&h=24&f=23
Lovells has boosted its dispute resolution team in Germany with the hire of a team from German independent Aderhold von Dalwigk Knüppel. Partner Jürgen Witte, counsel Kim Mehrbrey and at least one associate will join Lovells' Düsseldorf office, boosting the practice to more than 40 lawyers in Germany.
Witte is Lovell's fourth top-level hire within six weeks. In May alone, the firm hired Milan-based Paolo Tannoni from Ernst & Young and Merck Sharp & Dohme legal director Marc Dalby in London.
BOOKS / Publications
News from ICSID, Volume 23, No. 2 2006, published
- Canada signs the ICSID Convention
- The Indus Waters Treaty, the Baglihar Difference and ICSID Administration of the Proceedings
- Disputes before the Centre
- Designations to the ICSID Panels of Conciliators and of Arbitrators
- Twenty-Third AAA/ICC/ICSID Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration
- ICSID Publications
- LCIA Symposium
- Bibliography
You can download the issue at http://www.worldbank.org/icsid/news/news.htm
International Arbitration Court Decisions
Sigvard Jarvin and Annette Magnusson, Editors
List Price: $175.00 1000 pages. 1 Hardcover Volume. Index. Published February 2006.
ISBN:1-929446-89-6
For a limited time available with a 20% discount off the list price of $175, offer valid until
June 25, 2007.
To view the Table of Contents
About the Book: The International Arbitration Court Decisions gives the reader extracts from significant court decisions in the area of international arbitration. Covering more than twenty different jurisdictions, the decisions are commented on by distinguished arbitrators, lawyers, justices and other legal professionals. This book is a must for any practitioner seeking insights into the major issues in international arbitration and into the attitudes of courts on arbitration matters worldwide. The practitioner is presented with several points of view in the "Observations", making this volume a welcome addition to any legal library.
Investment Laws of the World (ten loose-leaf volumes) and Investment Treaties
Oxford University Press, Order Department, 2001 Evans Road, Cary, NC 27513; U.S.A.; Ph: 1-800-624-0153; Fax: 919-677-8877; Email: library.sales@oup.com; at US$2,090 for both sets, US$1,095 for the ten Investment Laws of the World volumes only and US$995 for the nine Investment Treaties volumes only, (nine loose-leaf volumes)
Diritto del commercio internazionale
Galgano Francesco, Marrella Fabrizio
ISBN: 978-88-13-27300-2, 50,00
http://shop.wki.it/CEDAM/Scheda.asp?cod=00082816&title=Diritto_del_commercio_internazionale
The first complete textbook on international commercial law in Italian
Economic Globalisation and Human Rights EIUC Studies on Human Rights and Democratization
Edited by Wolfgang Benedek, Koen De Feyter, Fabrizio Marrella
http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521878869
Economic globalisation is one of the guiding paradigms of the twenty-first century. The challenge it implies for human rights is fundamental, and key questions have up to now received no satisfying answers. How can human rights protect human dignity when economic globalisation has an adverse impact on local living conditions? How should human rights evolve in response to a global economy in which non-statal actors are decisive forces? Economic Globalisation and Human Rights sets out to assess these and other questions to ensure that, as economic globalization intensifies, human rights take up the central and crucial position that they deserve. Using a multidisciplinary methodology, leading scholars reflect on issues such as the need for global ethics, the localisation of human rights, the role of human rights in WTO law, and efforts to make international economic organisations more accountable and multinational corporations more socially responsible.