issue #07, week 09. 27 February 2008
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.

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Recent issues:

NEWS

Singapore to see increase in international arbitration work

February 25, http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/news/story/0,4574,268829,00.html

The level of international arbitration work in Singapore is set to burgeon - with latest measures to liberalise the legal industry here only serving as further impetus.

Legal practitioners are predicting that proposals announced by the government last year to deregulate the profession - in particular, those to open the industry to greater foreign participation - will significantly boost international arbitration work.

One key recommendation is to introduce a new Qualifying Foreign Law Firm scheme - under which, up to five foreign law firms will be allowed to practise Singapore law. The move will not just boost the business of foreign law firms, but the legal industry as a whole.

…

Exxon Mobil Actions against PDVSA Lack Legal Foundations

February 25, http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7B73D4CD2B-E715-4F1B-8B49-83F1DA50FE03%7D&language=EN

The actions taken by the US transnational company Exxon Mobil against the state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) to freeze its assets abroad lack legal foundations, experts said on Monday. In statements to the newspaper PANORAMA, expert Victor Santamarin pointed out that as an arbitration process is underway, such a measure is ruled out before the trial begins.

Santamarin said that Exxon Mobil"s lawsuit for five billion dollars is lower than the 12 billion dollars demanded in as preventive actions by British and Dutch courts.

…

Venezuela considered swap in Exxon dispute

February 24, http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN2426777020080225

Venezuela offered to resolve its nationalization dispute with U.S. energy giant Exxon Mobil by withdrawing from its stake in the Chalmette refinery, a top energy official told local media in comments reported on Sunday.

Exxon has acquired court orders freezing up to $12 billion in Venezuelan assets, after leftist President Hugo Chavez took over the Cerro Negro heavy oil project last year as part of a wave of energy-sector takeovers.

Deputy Oil Minister Bernard Mommer said pulling out of Chalmette, a joint venture with Exxon Mobil in Louisiana, had been on the table when the government took over Cerro Negro.

…

"You made a mistake about us," Pdvsa CEO warns Exxon Mobil

February 22, http://english.eluniversal.com/2008/02/22/en_ing_art_pdvsa-seeks-solution_22A1380433.shtml

Venezuelan Minister of Energy and Petroleum and CEO of state-run oil conglomerate Pdvsa Rafael Ramírez Friday referred to the legal dispute between Pdvsa and US oil major Exxon Mobil in connection with the nationalization last year of oil upgrader Cerro Negro, and said the Venezuelan government would not recoil in the defense of the country's interests and would continue efforts to regain full sovereignty over oil resources.

…

Dubai courts pick up heavyweight UK trio: Williams, Colman and Chadwick

February 25, http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/1099558/Dubai+courts+pick+up+heavyweight+UK+trio.html

Three UK heavyweights have bagged key roles in the latest round of judicial appointments at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), it was announced last month.

Essex Court Chambers door tenant David Williams QC and Anthony Colman - who returned to the top-ranking set after retiring as a commercial court judge last June - have both been appointed as judges at the DIFC courts.

One Essex Court door tenant and former Court of Appeal judge Sir John Chadwick was also sworn in as a judge, in a ceremony in front of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice president and prime minister of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Williams, Colman and Chadwick will each sit for 20 days a year at the DIFC, having been named alongside a trio of other judges, including Tan Seri Dato Siti Norma Yaakob - the first female common law judge in the UAE - and the first two judges from the UAE to sit in the DIFC.

…

Judge Endorses Separate N.Y. Arbitration on Adjustments to Historic Tobacco Settlement

February 26, http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1203939958931

New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos of Manhattan has set the framework under which New York state's entitlement to approximately $800 million a year from the tobacco industry will be tested.

At issue is the industry's claim that it should receive a downward adjustment in the payments required by the historic $248 billion settlement reached in 1998 with 52 states and territories.

…

JAMS Announces Milestone Move To New York Times Building

http://www.jamsadr.com/FeatureFull.asp?Feature1ID=101

Growth of International ADR and Arbitration Key Factors for Opening of JAMS' East Coast Flagship.

JAMS, The Resolution Experts, the nation's largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, announced today the opening of its new East Coast flagship Resolution Center in The New York Times Building at 620 Eighth Avenue (between 40th and 41st Streets).

The move significantly expands JAMS' presence in New York City and was spurred by the increased demand for all types of ADR services, including more international and arbitration work.

…

South Texans take water fight with Mexico to Canada court

February 18, http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/021908dnnatwaterfight.3bc06db.html

Texas' longstanding water war with Mexico has a new battlefield: that other NAFTA country, Canada. The South Texas farmers and irrigation districts that sued Mexico more than three years ago have taken the rare step of appealing a NAFTA ruling. Under terms of the lawsuit, the appeal must be heard in a neutral country.

Unfortunately for the farmers, their own federal government hasn't been neutral in the dispute. Last summer, just before a NAFTA tribunal ruled against the Texans, the U.S. State Department filed a notice supporting Mexico, which argued that the farmers didn't qualify for redress through NAFTA.

…

South Africa: Werksmans Sees Starring Role for Country in Arbitration

February 21, http://allafrica.com/stories/200802210163.html

SA HAS the potential to become a global centre for arbitration of legal disputes, says Des Williams, Werksmans Attorneys chairman. Some African legal disputes were being heard at the International Court of Arbitration in London or Paris when many of these cases should be heard in SA, Williams said yesterday.

SA should be the first choice for disputants seeking a cost- effective and technically competent arbitration service. "This is an opportunity SA should not pass up," he said. "It would lift the profile of the country's legal capability across the continent and it would be good for the local legal fraternity."

Mauritius has already launched itself as a global arbitration centre, while SA appeared to be "frozen in the headlights".

…

PODCASTS

New episode IDN podcast: Prof. Eva Horvath

International Dispute Negotiation (IDN) is presented by CPR as an example of the ways professionals from different countries and backgrounds approach dispute resolution. The podcast is intended to help listeners understand the risks of disputes and shed insight on optimal ways of accepting, mitigating, and managing those risks in the real world, whether through mediation, arbitration, or litigation that arises far from home. The host is Michael McIlwrath, Senior Counsel, Litigation for GE Infrastructure - Oil & Gas.

Join Mike as he speaks with Eva Horvath, a veteran Budapest educator and practitioner, in a wide-ranging discussion on Eastern European ADR, locally and across borders.

EVENTS

Specialised Arbitration & Advocacy Skills in International Oil & Gas Disputes
Seminar Presenters: Professor T.W. Walde; Tim Martin, Esq; Arif Hyder Ali, Esq; William H. Knull III, Esq and others.
September 08 - 12. Hilton Hotel, Dundee
More information is available at the CEPMLP website (PDF)

Protection of Foreign Investments through Modern Treaty Arbitration - Diversity and Harmonisation

In an ever more globalised world, increasingly based on private sector investments in foreign economies, the issue of investment protection is becoming increasingly important. Over recent decades, the business and legal communities have seen legal protection through arbitration based on bilateral and multilateral investment treaties gaining importance. This conference will offer a framework within which to address many of the issues surrounding modern investment arbitration, both with regard to jurisdictional issues and substantive standards of protection available to an investor.
March 7 2008, Zurich
More information at the website of Swiss Invest Forum

French business law arbitration moot from 12 to 16 May

February 2008, http://www.iccwbo.org/iccbjbcg/index.html

The 2008 edition of the annual arbitration competition organized by the University of Montpellier, with the support of ICC, will take place from 12 to 16 May.

ICC extends interactive courses on dispute resolution

February 22, http://www.iccwbo.org/iccbjbce/index.html

In response to a rising demand for amicable dispute resolution procedures and a consequent need for guidance, ICC is increasing its number of interactive training courses in 2008. ICC will conduct three training courses this year: 2-4 April in Singapore, 14-16 April in Paris, and 16-18 June in New York

ICDR Sponsors Three Conferences

February 26, http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=34099

The International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) is bringing together international arbitration experts to discuss timely issues at two major conferences to be held in Miami and Chicago. The ICDR is also co-sponsoring the 3rd Annual California International Arbitration Conference in Los Angeles.

The first program, the 6th Annual Miami International Arbitration Conference, will be held March 30-April 1. The second program, to be held in Chicago April 24-25, is the last in a three-part series of conferences focusing on dispute resolution in North America. The series began last year with conferences in Mexico City and Toronto.

The 3rd Annual California International Arbitration Conference, to be held in Los Angeles on May 2, will focus on dispute resolution in the entertainment industry. It is co-sponsored by the ICDR and the International Law Section of the State Bar of California.

The ICDR, the international division of the American Arbitration Association, is responsible for the administration of all international cases filed with the AAA.

…

BOOKS

"Principles of International Investment Law" by Rudolf Dolzer and Christoph Schreuer

Oxford University Press is pleased to announce the publication of a new book on investment law by two leading scholar-practitioners. Combining a systematic analytical study of the texts and principles underlying investment law with a jurisprudential analysis of the case law arising in international tribunals, this book offers an ideal introduction to the principles of international investment law and arbitration, for students, government officials, or practitioners new to the field.

CONTENTS

430 pages
Paperback £25 http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199211760
Hardback £60 http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780199211753