issue #27, week 43. 23 October 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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Thomas Wälde (1949-2008)

https://www.transnational-dispute-management.com/article.asp?key=1298

It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of Professor Thomas Wälde our Editor in Chief and founder of TDM and OGEMID, on October 11th at his holiday residence in the south of France. Of course, our sincere condolences go first of all to his family, and we wish them strength during this difficult period.

NEWS

ICC Hearing Centre opens for business

October 22, http://www.icchearingcentre.org

Members of the international legal community gathered at a special event yesterday evening to celebrate the opening of the ICC Hearing Centre. Conveniently located in the centre of Paris, the ICC Hearing Centre is dedicated to arbitration hearings and other forms of commercial dispute resolution. It is the first such facility in Paris and can be used for disputes arising anywhere in the world.

The 800 square meter Hearing Centre has opened in response to growing demand from business and legal communities. Last year, the number of new cases filed with the ICC International Court of Arbitration hit a record high of 599.

"The increasing pace of globalization in recent years has naturally led to a growing number of business disputes worldwide," said Jason Fry, Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. "ICC has drawn on its many years of experience monitoring arbitration and mediations proceedings to create the custom-designed Hearing Centre," he added.

The Hearing Centre is specially designed to meet practitioner's needs and conduct hearings in optimal conditions. It comprises 10 soundproofed and secured rooms fully equipped with microphones, Internet connections, air conditioning, TV screens and projection systems. The rooms vary in size from 23 square meters to 110 square meters, with seating capacity up to 40 people. The largest rooms are also equipped with translation booths.

ICC Arbitration is the most trusted system of commercial arbitration in the world. The ICC International Court of Arbitration has received more than 15,500 cases since its founding in 1923.

The ICC Hearing Centre is available for any kind of institutional or ad hoc arbitration hearings as well as for the conduct of amicable dispute resolution (ADR) procedures. It may be reserved for hearings that use the ICC Rules of Arbitration and ICC ADR Rules, and those that do not.

Please visit www.icchearingcentre.org to review rates or to make a reservation.

Arbitration: London calling

http://www.legalweek.com/Navigation/32/Articles/1173397/Arbitration+London+calling.html

Court of Appeal precludes escape from the 1996 Arbitration Act for unsuccessful parties. An insurer's recent attempt to escape from an unfavorable arbitration award resulted in the Court of Appeal confirming that an award rendered under the 1996 Arbitration Act can only be challenged under that Act — even where the parties agreed to apply the substantive law of another jurisdiction.

...

Alinta's North West Shelf dispute in arbitration

October 23, http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,24537771-36418,00.html

A DISPUTE between Alinta and the North West Shelf joint venture participants has escalated to arbitration. The dispute is over the price of gas in a contract first entered into a decade ago. Subpoenas are likely to be issued within a week in the highly confidential dispute so that former High Court Justice Michael McHugh can determine the market value and the price-related terms of the gas sold under the contract.

The collapse of private commercial negotiations between Alinta and the North West Shelf venture prompted the decision to proceed to arbitration. The dispute arose after the North West Shelf venture participants sought to increase the price of gas in the contract following a change in market conditions.

...

Fulbright's Annual Litigation Trends Survey Findings

http://www.fulbright.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=news.detail&article_id=7637&site_id=286

US

More than one-third of corporate counsel expect pace of new filings to increase in coming year-43% of billion-dollar companies forecasting possible litigation uptick amid economic slowdown.

Marked drop in new cases and regulatory proceedings in past year-including fewer suits with claims above $20 million. Still plenty of disputes to go around: 79% of companies face at least one new action. Larger companies mean bigger dockets: 29% of billion-dollar firms served with more than 50 new lawsuits in 2007-08.

Contracts, labor-employment/personal injury suits remain most numerous; businesses report spike in workplace actions-wage & hour, ageism and privacy; insurers-financial firms feeling early brunt of subprime actions.

UK

Nearly one-third of businesses expect an increase in the number of disputes they will face in the coming year. One in two (50%) financial services businesses said they expect to see an increase in the number of disputes.

U.K. businesses seeing more regulatory activity from overseas regulators (SEC, DOJ and EU Commission) than OFT or FSA. Average annual litigation spend for U.K. companies now stands at $2.8 million.

Despite dominating media headlines, subprime matters barely on the radar with 3% engaging outside counsel to assist in these matters.

You can download the survey findings here http://www.fulbright.com/litigationtrends31

International Political Economy Conference: Responses From the South to the Global Economic Crisis

October 21, http://www.oid-ido.org/article.php3?id_article=636

The International Debt Observatory is born under the impulse of the Committee for the abolition of the Third World Debt (CADTM) and of the Left-wing Economists (EDI, Argentina) on January 28th, 2005 at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

...

FINANCIAL ORGANISATIONS. The international financial crisis has revealed the complicity of the IMF, the World Bank and the IDB with transnational bankers who have caused the current collapse with its horrific social consequences. The loss of prestige of these bodies is obvious. This is the opportunity for the countries in the region to follow Bolivia's example and withdraw from ICSID (International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes) and to take up Venezuela's call to withdraw from the IMF and the World Bank and begin to help to build a new international financial architecture.

...

International arbitration: getting pricier, but still growing

October 16, http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/features/international-arbitration-getting-pricier-still-growing

Kate Durcan asks those at the frontier of international arbitration if claims for costs are creating an expensive adversarial process more akin to litigation. When Eurotunnel sought £30m in compensation for losses incurred through illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel, damaging terminal buildings and causing disruption to services, it blamed both France and Britain: France for the Sangatte hostel fiasco, creating a so-called departure lounge for illegals and the UK for its apathy in resolving the situation.

Last year, an international arbitration tribunal convened in The Hague found in favour of Eurotunnel, with damages yet to be decided. The proceedings lasted over three years and cost several hundred thousand pounds, before the issue of quantum had even been decided. This is almost as long and as expensive as litigation, some might argue.

...

Federal Court of Arbitration of East-Siberian District supports Sibirtelecom position

October 20, http://www.skrin.com/news/2008/10/20/?65BC4B08D45F4B609DF8BC14ACF59703&doc_id=1&ret_path=/news/Default.asp

On the 22nd of September the Federal arbitration Court of the East-Siberian District put an end to the legal procedure between communication operators — Sibirtelecom OJSC and VVS Veteran JSC having supported the position of Sibirtelecom as lawful.

The legal procedure was initiated in 2006 by the initiative of VVS Veteran. Veteran an associate local communication operator, put forward requirements on imposing a penalty on Sibirtelecom in the amount of 19 mln rubles for using some property of Veteran which is connected with the technological process of traffic transmission, as well as for services of intercity and international traffic transmission through the network of Veteran.

...

Malaysians Are Equipped In The Fields Of International Dispute Resolution, Says Abdullah

October 20, http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news_business.php?id=366096

Foreign investors and international dispute resolution community can rest assured that Malaysia has not only gleaming infrastructure, but the laws by which businesses would want their disputes resolved, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah said Malaysia understood that foreign investors required certainty of laws and confidence in the dispute resolution system, and with the increase in economic activities including cross border joint ventures, disputes would arise.

"Malaysians are more equipped to resolve such disputes, on international terms," he said in his keynote adress at the International Dispute Resolution Conference "Making The Right Choice" organised by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), Malaysia branch at a hotel here Monday.

...

Total Asks Court to Stay Proceedings Pending Arbitration

October 20, http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=125692

French oil giant, Total, has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos, to stay proceedings in an action filed against it by a firm, Noreast Petroleum Nig. Ltd, over its (Total's) plan to sell part of its participating interest in Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 215, pending determination by arbitration. Noreast, had in a suit brought against Total E&P Nigeria Deepwater Ltd, complained that defendant, holder of 40 per cent participating interest in its (Noreast) OPL 215 failed to commence drilling of the oil well as agreed by parties, but instead, plans to transfer 20 per cent of its interest in the oil block to Nigerian subsidiaries of ONGC-Mittal Energy Ltd and Repsol YPF S.A.

The plaintiff (Noreast), after an emergency meeting, resolved to terminate agreement signed by the parties in 2005, a development which prompted Total's move to proceed to arbitration at the ICC, Geneva, Switzerland.

...

Tunisia: President Ben Ali Advises to Further Promote Arbitration Culture Within Enterprises

October 17, http://allafrica.com/stories/200810171161.html

As he received Mr Abdelwaheb El Behi, the president of the arbitration centre of Tunis (CCAT) on Friday, President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali recommended to further promote the culture of arbitration and dispute resolution within Tunisian enterprises so as to anchor Tunisia's place in the field of arbitration on the regional and international scene.

...

US: Slinger Mfg. lawsuit moves to arbitration

October 17, http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/2008/10/20/story18.html?b=1224475200^1718865&brthrs=1

A federal court lawsuit filed by Slinger Manufacturing Co. Inc. contending that two global auto industry suppliers are conspiring to drive it out of business has been stayed in favor of arbitration proceedings.

In suspending proceedings in the case, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Randa noted that Slinger Manufacturing's contracts with the companies specify that disputes are to be referred first to international arbitration proceedings in Singapore.

...

CONSULEGIS Conference in Hong Kong focuses on CEAC-Rules

http://www.openpr.de/news/249323/Press-Release-No-2-of-the-Presseerklaerung-Nr-2-der-Chinese-European-Arbitration-Centre-GmbH.html

For the first time since its inauguration on 18 September 2008, the CEAC Hamburg Arbitration Rules have been discussed in detail at an international conference. The autumn conference of CONSULEGIS, which was held in Hong Kong from 3 to 5 October 2008, did focus, both in the plenary session and in a workshop, on the newly established Chinese European Arbitration Centre.

In the plenary session, Eckart Brödermann, co-initiator and Chairman of the Chinese European Legal Association, CELA (www.CELA-Hamburg.com), introduced the new UNCITRAL based arbitration rules of the Chinese European Arbitration Centre, CEAC (www.CEAC-arbitration.com), in Hamburg as an alternative for international contracts in China related matters. In a workshop on Saturday morning, the delegates concentrated on a number of detail questions such as confidentiality, choice of law and the arbitration clause and compared the CEAC Hamburg Arbitration Rules with the rules of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre together with a representative of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. "I am impressed of this new initiative. It is a worthwhile alternative to London and Singapore", says Mr. Weiguo Min, partner of the Guangzhou office of the Chinese CONSULEGIS member D&S Law firm.

CONSULEGIS is an international association of 92 independent law firms from 40 countries including China (www.consulegis.com). Four of its members are among the more than 80 founding members of CEAC. In Hong Kong, the association decided to also join the Chinese European Legal Association which is the sole shareholder of the CEAC.

...

Russia arbitration court rules most tax claims against British Council unlawful

October 18, http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/10/russia-arbitration-court-rules-most-tax.php

A Moscow arbitration court Friday overturned most of Russian government's tax claims against the British Council, the British government's cultural relations arm, over the organization's in-country operations in 2004-2006.

...

Injunction not available in investment arbitration - ETI Euro Telecom International NV v Republic of Bolivia and Another

October 9, http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/law/reports/article4909618.ece

Before Lord Justice Tuckey, Lord Justice Lawrence Collins and Lord Justice Stanley Burnton. Judgment July 28, 2008. International investment dispute arbitrations, not subject to any national law, were not legal proceedings that enabled an English court to grant injunctive relief to one party against the moneys of another in England pending the outcome of the arbitration.

...

China West II Files $6 Million Arbitration Against Genesis

October 09, http://www.pharmalive.com//News/index.cfm?articleid=576757&categoryid=27

China West II has filed an arbitration for $6 million USD against Genesis Pharmaceuticals for its breach of contract and failure to distribute stock in China Wind Systems, Inc. per operating agreement and contractual obligations.

...

No Arbitration Obligation For Ecuador In Chevron Suit

October 08, http://energy.law360.com/registrations/user_registration?article_id=71911

Chevron Corp. has lost its bid to convince an appeals court that Ecuador and its state-owned oil company are bound by a 1965 joint operating agreement and therefore liable for cleanup costs in the Amazon rainforest that could potentially total billions of dollars.

...

Tanzania: Kikwete says investment capital was protected against nationalisation

October 15, http://allafrica.com/stories/200810160669.html

...

Assuring investors of support, he said Tanzania would protect their investments because it had signed an international accord to protect investments. The country was a member of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) and International Centre for Settlement of Disputes (ICSID) through the accord, President Kikwete said. He further said that their investment capital was protected against nationalisation and therefore investors in Tanzania were assured of its safety.

...

Notice of NAFTA Chapter Eleven Claim Submitted to Canadian Government on Behalf of U.S. Investor

Oct. 16, http://sev.prnewswire.com/sports/20081016/NY3828916102008-1.html

Investor claims unfair treatment in relation to revocation of authority to operate outfitting business on rivers in Quebec. William Greiner and Malbaie River Outfitters, Inc. served a Notice of Intent to Submit a Claim to Arbitration pursuant to Chapter Eleven of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was recently on the Canadian Government. The multimillion-dollar claim involves the unfair treatment, in violation of NAFTA, of U.S. citizen, William Greiner, concerning his Canadian-formed company Malbaie River Outfitters, Inc., which operates a lodge and outfitting business related to Atlantic Salmon fishing and hunting within Quebec.

...

Forty-ninth Session of the UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration) - Vienna, 15-19 September 2008 [pdf]

http://www.aprag.org/downloads/APRAG Report - UNCITRAL Working Group_II_49th Session Vienna 2008.pdf

13 October 2008 - The Forty-ninth Session of the UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration) was held in Vienna on 15-19 September 2008. APRAG was represented by Dr. Clyde Croft SC, Mr. Christopher Kee and Mr. William Ho.

Anheuser-Busch, InBev: Grupo Modelo arbitration lacks merit

Oct. 16, http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7b09056ED8-84C8-4476-9A09-3B1765C16E75%7d&siteid=yhoof2

Anheuser-Busch Cos. and InBev said Thursday that arbitration claims made by Grupo Modelo SAB lack merit. Earlier in the day, Grupo Modelo filed a notice of arbitration stating that Mexican law prohibits Anheuser-Busch from transferring interests in Grupo Modelo to a competitor.

...

See also http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/cross-border-beer-brawl-heads-to-arbitration/

Pakistan threatens to go for 3rd party arbitration

October 15. http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=58730

Pakistan yesterday threatened to go for third party arbitration if, it said, India does not compensate it for the loss of two million acre feet of water due to an alleged reduction in the flow of the Chenab River.

...

Why Is Kuwait Oil Suing Prez. Kufuor

October 9. http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=151334

In what is being seen as a conspiracy of silence, Ghana's Presidency and top Executives of Kuwait Oil are stonewalling efforts to investigate reports that Kuwait Oil has instituted action against the Ghanaian President, John Agyekum Kufuor at the International Court of Arbitration.

Kuwait Oil Company, one of the largest oil producing companies in the world, is said to have gone to the International Court of Arbitration to sue Mr. John Agyekum Kufuor, President of Ghana, and some Nigerian partners of his for debts owed Kuwait Oil by a company in which the respondents (Mr. Kufuor and the others) have interests.

...

UDRP Search Engine - Search Both NAF & WIPO UDRP Decisions

http://www.domainfight.net/index.php

A way to search both WIPO and NAF panel decisions from a single search tool. Domain Fight™ solves this problem and is the only tool on the internet which searches both the WIPO and NAF domain dispute databases.

PODCASTS

IDN 46 - Corporate Attitudes Toward Arbitration

http://www.cpradr.org/TrainingEvents/Podcasts/tabid/261/Default.aspx

Is it true that 86% of corporate users are satisfied with arbitration? Really? Or do they mean that they 'prefer arbitration,' rather than they are satisfied? Host Michael McIlwrath casts a skeptical eye on arbitration use surveys released by PriceWaterhouseCoopers over the past two years. Prof. Loukas Mistelis, of the Queen Mary School of Law, University of London's School of International Arbitration, discusses the results on attitudes toward arbitration success and enforceability issues, and defends the studies.

IDN 45 - Back to the Future of Conflict Resolution, with Robert Carneiro

http://www.cpradr.org/TrainingEvents/Podcasts/tabid/261/Default.aspx

It's time for Future History: sociologist Robert L. Carneiro, of the American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, both in New York, returns to IDN this week to expand on his views of the future of dispute resolution. In examining nation states as a source of conflicts, Carneiro, AMNH's Curator of South American Ethnology, looks back on 3,500 years and sees 'an irresistible trend for the number of political units' to decrease, and for their size to increase. Carneiro tells host Michael McIlwrath how long it will take for the world's 193 autonomous political units--down from half a million such units in 1500 B.C.-to merge into one, nearly conflict-free world government, and how increasing jobs' specialization fits into the picture.

EVENTS

Colloque sur l'arbitrage OHADA à Douala (CAMEROUN) du 29 au 30 octobre 2008.

http://www.ohada.com/newsletter.php?news=11092008-474

Le Centre d'arbitrage du Groupement Inter-patronal du Cameroun (CAG) a le plaisir d'annoncer l'organisation de la 2ème édition de son Colloque international sur le thème : « l'arbitrage, une justice légitime et efficace au service de l'entreprise ». Le colloque se tiendra du 29 au 30 octobre 2008 à Douala (CAMEROUN), au siège du GICAM.

Cette manifestation fait suite à celle organisée en novembre 2006 et vise à améliorer la compréhension de la justice arbitrale par ses bénéficiaires que sont les entreprises. Pour cela, elle met l'accent sur les éléments normatifs et procéduraux qui fondent les qualités uniques de cette forme de justice et en justifient le succès grandissant en Afrique.

A travers ce colloque qui complète idéalement ses activités de règlement des différends, le CAG, structure rattachée au patronat camerounais, espère apporter de nouveau sa pierre à l'édifice du droit des affaires en Afrique.

Conference: Sir Hersch Lauterpacht - A Lawyer of Two Cultures. 5 - 6 November 2008

http://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/news/article.php?section=25&article=802

The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London, in co-operation with the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, is organizing a conference to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the birth of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. The conference will take place on 5-6 November 2008 at the Polish Embassy in London. Participation is by invitation only, but there are a few places left. Participation is free of charge.

Anyone interested in attending this event should contact the Polish Embassy, contact details and programme at http://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/news/article.php?section=25&article=802

Mediation's New Breakfast Club, 11 November

http://www.themediatormagazine.co.uk/news/1-latest/52-mediations-new-breakfast-club

London's first mediators' breakfast club is due to be launched at a Fleet Street tavern on 11 November.

Leading mediators Michael Cover and David Richbell are behind the plan to bring mediators at all levels together in informal surroundings to talk, network, and share experiences in a non-competitive atmosphere.It will be by open invitation, and family and community mediators - in addition to mainstream commercial mediators - will be welcome.

...

ICDR Hosts Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration 14 November 2008

http://www.adr.org/sp.asp?id=35210

The International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) is hosting the 25th Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration in New York on Nov. 14. The annual conference is co-sponsored by the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) International Court of Arbitration and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

The conference, to be held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in New York City, will feature leading international arbitrators who will discuss the evolution of the field in the past 25 years and potential challenges in the next 25 years.

Keynote speakers Fali Sam Nariman, senior advocate in the Supreme Court of India, and Jan Paulsson, a partner in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, will offer their perspectives on future challenges in international commercial arbitration.

The conference will also cover the following topics:

For more information, including online registration, select "2008 ICDR/ICC/ICSID Joint Colloquium" at www.aaauonline.org./courseCalendar.aspx.

Issues Relating to Enforcement in International Arbitration - 3 December 2008

Conference organized by the Alumni Association of the School of International Arbitration on 3 December 2008, at the New Connaught Rooms in London. The topic of the Conference is "Issues Relating to Enforcement in International Arbitration" and the four sessions are chaired by Professor Julian Lew QC, Dr. Nassib Ziadé (Deputy Secretary-General of ICSID), Professor Sir Roy Goode and Professor Loukas Mistelis. Among speakers, Dr. Stefan Kröll, Dr Laurence Shore, Dr. Laurent Lévy, Domenico Di Pietro, Professor Jack Coe, Dr Sabine Konrad, Klaus Reichert, Professor Susan Franck, Professor Romesh Weeramantry.

More information on how to register http://www.law.qmul.ac.uk/events/

ICC: 4th International Commercial Mediation Competition

ICC has announced dates for another round of its International Commercial Mediation Competition. The fourth edition of the competition will take place in Paris on 7-12 February 2009. With a view towards training lawyers to better meet the dispute resolution needs of today’s cross-cultural market, the competition gives students an opportunity to test their problem-solving skills in a moot international mediation.

More information is available at ICC website.

APRAG Conference 2009 - Seoul, Korea, 21-23 June 2009

http://www.aprag.org/news.html

Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group Conference 2009 will be co-hosted by Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) and Korean Council for International Arbitration (KOCIA). It is anticipated that 300 or more delegates coming from many different countries are expected to attend this conference. While featuring commonality and divergence of national and regional arbitration practices in Asia, this conference will attempt to define "Best Practices of International Arbitration for Asia" and discuss desirability and feasibility of adopting them. With the participation of representatives of transnational and regional arbitral institutions and leading international arbitration practitioners, the APRAG Conference Seoul 2009 will be an excellent occasion for lawyers and corporate executives in charge of legal disputes to share and explore knowledge of international commercial and investment arbitration together with other forms of alternative dispute resolution in the region.

MOVES / JOBS

Herbert Smith Senior Research Fellow in Private International Law

http://www.biicl.org/privateintlawfellow/

The closing date for applications is 10 November 2008. Job Description: The British Institute of International and Comparative Law is the foremost independent research and discussion body in the United Kingdom and one of the leading such bodies in the world. In 2008 it celebrates 50 years of its activities within a dynamic international and comparative legal context. Herbert Smith LLP is one of the world`s leading law practices with recognised eminence and expertise in private international law.

...

Cristina Pagni joins Lovells

October 17, http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/1171985/Norton+Rose+Italy+litigation+chief+joins+Lovells.html

Norton Rose is to lose its Italian head of litigation and arbitration Cristina Pagni to City rival Lovells. Pagni's practice covers litigation and arbitration with a special focus on insurance and reinsurance matters. She also advises on contentious insolvency and general corporate disputes.

...

LAWFIRMS

Shearman bulks up arbitration in Washington, DC

Oct. 16, http://www.thelawyer.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=135224&d=415&h=417&f=416

Shearman & Sterling has bulked up its US international arbitration group, moving Singapore partner John Savage to its Washington DC office. The move reflect the firm's increased focus on international arbitration in the US.

...

Freshfields launches Washington arbitration group

http://www.mpmagazine.com/display.asp?articleid=8F68DDDB-EE3D-432C-A833-43EE3753251D

...

"It made sense for me to based in Washington rather than continue to commute across the Atlantic," said Blackaby, who is also co-head of the firm's Latin America arbitration practice. He will be joined by three associates from Paris, taking the firm's total number of US-based specialist international arbitration lawyers to 20.

...

Books

Calculation of Compensation and Damages in International Investment Law

by Irmgard Marboe
ISBN13: 9780199551712
ISBN: 0199551715
To be Published: April 2009
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: UK
Binding: Hardback
Price: £145.00, Not Yet Published

Contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. The Function of Compensation and Damages in International Law
  3. Valuation Standards and Criteria
  4. Valuation in Economic Practice
  5. Valuation Methods in International Jurisprudence
  6. Interest
  7. Conclusion and Results

This title will analyse the practice of international courts and tribunals to the valuation of investment claims against states. It pays specific attention to the question of interest. Specific guidance on how valuation issues should be approached will be invaluable to counsel, advisors, judges and arbitrators in international judicial proceedings.

This issue of valuation represents one of the most important aspects in international investment disputes. The parties involved have an obvious interest in an appropriate solution to the question of quantum. The sums involved are high and this is particularly true in the context of private foreign investment. With the increase of international investment both in the developing as well as the developed world, there is a growing need for a stable and predictable approach to quantum.

However, until recently, the issue of valuation has attracted rather little attention both in international jurisprudence and legal writing. The present book now meets the needs of foreign investors and host States by setting the issue of valuation on a more solid ground. It provides an analysis of how international courts and tribunals have handled cases until now. The emphasis lies on the correct identification of the legal basis claim to inform the valuation method. The author concludes with suggestions and proposals as to how valuation should be handled by legal councils, experts, judges and arbitrators in international judicial proceedings.