Kimberley Bazelais
Kimberley Bazelais is an Avocat à la Cour (Paris Bar) and Attorney-at-law (New-York Bar) in the International Arbitration Practice at Signature Litigation.
Kimberley specialises in both international commercial and investment arbitration. Her work includes representing top-tier companies and state entities in arbitration and litigation proceedings relating to projects in the fields of telecommunications, construction, energy and more.
Before joining Signature Litigation, Kimberley trained at various international law firms and at the ICC International Court of Arbitration. She also regularly acts as secretary to the arbitral tribunal in institutional and ad hoc proceedings.
Kimberley is a qualified at the Paris and New-York bar and is native in English and French.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualified Year
- 2022
Membership
- American Bar Association
- ICC Young Arbitrators Forum
- Young ICCA
- LCIA’s YIAG
Qualifications
- Paris (2022)
- New-York (2022)
Education
- Washington University School of Law
- Paris X Nanterre
- Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne
1 Contributions by Kimberley Bazelais
PRACTICE NOTES
France: Challenging Domestic and International Arbitral Awards—Appeals, Annulment, Exequatur, Third-party Actions, Revision for Fraud and International Public Policy under the French Code of Civil Procedure
Note: the French cases cited below are not all reported by LexisNexis®.
French legal framework
France has long had a reputation as an arbitration‑friendly venue, with narrowly tailored grounds for contesting arbitral awards; however, some observers discern in recent rulings a movement towards tighter judicial scrutiny of awards on matters of international public policy. The applicable rules sit in Decree No 2011–48 of 13 January 2011, which took effect on 1 May 2011, and are codified in Book IV of the French Code of Civil Procedure (CCP). Distinct regimes govern domestic and international awards. In practice, the two frameworks operate separately, reflecting the nature of the underlying dispute. Under this scheme, procedures and remedies are carefully tailored accordingly. Although both categories of award can be annulled on limited bases, only domestic awards are open to appeal. Additional avenues of challenge to awards exist subject to particular conditions.
Domestic arbitral awards
Under Article 1504 CCP, international arbitration is defined as arbitration that engages the interests of international trade. Conversely, proceedings are treated as domestic where the interests of international commerce are not implicated. The French courts have repeatedly decided that an arbitral award is considered international when the dispute stems from...
Arbitration
If you expected to see yourself on this page, click here.
