Legal News

Collins and others v Wind Energy Holding Ltd [2025] EWHC 40 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the formidable threshold that section 68 challenges must clear. Section 68 functions as a longstop safeguard for cases where a tribunal has seriously mishandled the arbitration in one of the ways identified in section 68(2). Court intervention is reserved for situations that are far removed from what could reasonably be expected of the arbitral process. The judgment also reconciles section 33 duties: on one side, ensuring each party a fair chance to put its case and answer the other’s arguments; on the other, preventing unnecessary delay or expense. Whether a tribunal has discharged these obligations is a context-specific question in every matter. It is a stringent standard, triggered by exceptional departures from proper process. The inquiry is...

In this issue: Arbitration under the AA 1996 Act International arbitration Investment treaty arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Other arbitration and ADR-related news and developments Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Arbitration under the AA 1996 Act Conflicting arbitration and jurisdiction clauses—principles of contractual construction and relevance of a ‘confusion clause’ The judgment in Tyson International Company Ltd v GIC Re [2025] EWHC 77 ( Comm) is significant for parties and their legal advisers grappling with contracts that include competing jurisdiction and arbitration provisions. A dispute over insurance cover arose between the claimant and the defendant reinsurer. The parties had executed two sets of policy documentation. The first set featured an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the courts of England, alongside an English choice of law clause. The second set...

The forthcoming features could offer multi-model functionality, allowing prompts to extend beyond text to encompass images, video and audio queries; alongside enhanced contextual comprehension, enabling it to better recall details from earlier exchanges and draw more of them into handling your latest requests. They might also bring richer personalisation, permitting it to shape replies more precisely to your requirements, informed by its picture of you from prior interactions, your preferences, and your particular needs. Although their promise is exciting, these capabilities carry consequences for legal practice broadly and, in particular, provoke concerns about confidentiality as AI adoption becomes ever more pervasive, with knock-on effects for dispute resolution today, and what such features could signify for our work in the months and years ahead. The rise of AI and confidentiality concerns The legal profession stands on the brink of a profound shift in how its work is...

Find the SIAC Rules 2025 here. Given SIAC’s status as the world’s second most favoured arbitral body and Singapore’s emergence as the leading global venue for international arbitration, these revisions could have broad effects and may prompt peer institutions to mirror them. Notably, the SIAC Rules 2025 broaden several features SIAC regards as hallmarks of its case management, and also unveil procedures designed to curb protracted and expensive proceedings. SIAC has likewise fine-tuned other clauses, including disclosures on the scrutiny of the draft award and on third-party funding, to bolster transparency and predictability. The authors (both formerly with the SIAC Secretariat) look back at SIAC’s journey since the 6th Edition of the SIAC Rules took effect on 1 April 2016 ( SIAC Rules 2016), and highlight provisions likely to interest future users of SIAC...

Company A 1st Plaintiff Company B 2nd Plaintiff and Compny C Defendant [2024] HKCFI 3505 What are the practical implications of this case? In suitable cases, the Hong Kong Court’s readiness to order injunctions under section 45 Cap 609 to maintain the status quo until the final arbitral award highlights the Court’s pro-arbitration support for proceedings conducted outside Hong Kong. The ruling assures international participants that, when confronted by an uncooperative counterparty, their positions will be safeguarded by the Hong Kong Court throughout the arbitration. Judge Mimmie Chan’s judgment stresses the need to facilitate the arbitral process and to ensure that the defendant’s non-compliance and delay do not erode the plaintiffs’ prospects of obtaining effective relief. Her reasoning demonstrates a careful equilibrium between the court’s jurisdiction and the doctrine of minimal curial intervention in arbitration. Although the court granted the plaintiffs the interim relief sought, it also...

Venezuela did not persuade the annulment committee that the tribunal had been wrongly composed on the basis that arbitrators Kenneth Keith and L Yves Fortier could not be relied upon to exercise independent judgement. Nor did the committee accept Venezuela’s contention that Andreas Bucher was irregularly appointed following the 2015 resignation of Georges Abi‑ Saab. It then dismissed Venezuela’s claim that the tribunal overstepped its authority and failed to set out its reasoning, remarking that the award was “easily understood”. The state’s complaint that the tribunal miscalculated the compensation due to Conoco Phillips also failed to gain traction. “[ A]s we already observed, parties do not enjoy unlimited opportunities to present their cases,” the decision of 22 January 2025 records. “ Venezuela besides did not deny it had ample opportunity to present its case on the valuation factors. No violation of the right to be...

In this issue: International Arbitration Investment treaty arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Sector-and industry-specific arbitration Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information International Arbitration Russia— Russian party to an arbitration agreement can unilaterally transfer a dispute with a foreign party under the jurisdiction of Russian courts In Rus Chem Alliance LLC v Uni Credit Bank Gmb H, an application was made to the Commercial Court of the City of St Petersburg and Leningrad Region (the ‘ Russian Court’) seeking to bar the commencement or continuation of proceedings before a foreign court and in international arbitration seated outside the RF. Notwithstanding a valid ICC arbitration clause between the parties, the Russian claimant sued the Respondent in the Russian Court for contractual breach. Although the Respondent secured an anti-suit injunction from the English court, the Russian Court...

The key features of and significant changes to the QICCA Arbitration Rules Enhanced arbitral efficiency and technological integration The 2024 Rules unveil a range of measures to streamline arbitral proceedings. Multiple deadlines have been tightened: the period for choosing and appointing arbitrators; the timeframe for serving written submissions, now capped at 30 days; and tribunals are required to deliver final awards within six months of the file being transmitted, unless the parties consent to a different schedule or QICCA decides otherwise. The 2024 framework also allows remote hearings and recognises electronic signatures for the execution of awards. Multi-party and multi-contract arbitration The 2024 Rules cater for disputes spanning several parties and contracts. Article 10 introduces a consolidation route, permitting matters arising from multiple contracts and/or involving multiple parties to be determined together in a single arbitration. Consolidation is limited to the same dispute or issues...

Tyson International Company Ltd v GIC RE, India Corporate Member Ltd (sued as the sole corporate member for Syndicate 1947 at Lloyd’s of London for the 2021 and 2022 years of account) [2025] EWHC 77 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? This decision offers firm direction on how to deal with contracts that contain inconsistent dispute resolution mechanisms. It distils key principles, including: the applicable standard for granting anti‑suit relief; the correct approach to a stay under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996; general rules of contractual interpretation; and interpretative principles where jurisdiction clauses and arbitration agreements compete. The judgment also sets out how the court will assess whether a later agreement replaces an earlier one, whether the dispute resolution terms truly clash, and the proper construction of clauses establishing a hierarchy or order of...

STS Seatoshore Group Pte Ltd… Claimant and Wansa Commodities Pte Ltd… Defendant [2024] SGHC 266 What are the practical implications of this case? This decision underscores the importance of international comity when there has been delay in asking for anti-suit protection, even where overseas litigation is brought contrary to an arbitration clause. The longer the foreign case has progressed, the weightier the comity concerns become, since an anti-suit injunction (if followed) would squander the judicial effort already invested by the foreign court. Judges are likewise more reluctant to issue anti-suit orders where tardiness has led to a foreign judgment being handed down, because such orders would indirectly impede the enforcement of that judgment in its own forum. Therefore, a party intending to seek anti-suit relief should act at once, as soon as proceedings abroad are started. It is no excuse that the party is...

True Coin LLC v Techteryx, Ltd [2024] SGHC 296 Background The dispute concerned True Coin, a Delaware entity engaged in creating digital currency offerings such as stablecoins. Through two contracts governed by Delaware law, True Coin conferred on Techteryx, a BVI company, certain exclusive entitlements over its True USD stablecoin ( TUSD). Each contract stipulated SIAC rules with arbitration seated in Singapore. Later, the two parties jointly issued an instruction notice (the Notice) to an escrow agent to release and transfer the digital assets to Techteryx’s agent. The Notice was subject to Hong Kong law and named the Hong Kong courts as having non-exclusive jurisdiction. When Techteryx allegedly defaulted on payment commitments, True Coin commenced two SIAC arbitrations, which were subsequently consolidated. Techteryx, for its part, began proceedings in Hong Kong, initially against the escrow agent and two further parties under separate...

Shri Binaya Kumar Naik v Sanjay Kumar Naik and another , ARB P No 9 of 2024, High Court of Orissa What are the practical implications of this case? In practical terms, the ruling is useful as it again affirms the arbitrability of copyright disputes in India. However, it provides no detail on the factual matrix of the dispute (including the terms of the arbitration agreement), and it neither examines jurisprudential principles nor engages with, or cites, decisions of other High Courts in India on this question. That said, the Orissa HC has properly applied Vidya Drolia and Others v Durga Trading Corporation, [(2021) 2 SCC 1] ( Vidya Drolia). The Supreme Court of India there emphasised the distinction between in personam and in rem proceedings (including in copyright infringement contexts), and reiterated that the arbitrability of copyright matters depends on the nature of the...

Frontier Holdings Ltd v Petroleum Exploration ( Private) Ltd [2024] SGHC( I) 34 What are the practical implications of this case? Within this dispute, the election between local and overseas arbitration was anything but trivial. Domestic arbitration in Pakistan is hamstrung by an antiquated, ineffective framework, so cases may languish for years, even decades. In contrast, the recognition and enforcement of overseas awards in Pakistan is governed by a contemporary, swift regime anchored in the 1958 New York Convention. More broadly, the practical consequences are twofold. For Pakistan, the ruling gives comfort to international investors in the energy sector that, where proceedings arise under state‑prescribed standard form documents, those disputes will fall under an international arbitration clause. The tribunal’s declinature of jurisdiction had undermined that investor‑friendly stance. For Singapore, the ruling adds another feather to the SICC’s cap and reinforces business sentiment in favour of...

Neilan International Co Ltd v Powerica Ltd Commercial Arbitration Petition No 416 of 2019 What are the practical implications of this case? In this decision, the court delineates the boundaries of the enquiry when considering if an award offends India’s public policy. This basis entails testing whether the award breaches the fundamental policy of Indian law and affronts basic notions of justice or morality. The judgment focuses on this limb, especially against objections to enforcement that sought a second look at matters already dealt with in the arbitral award. Under the New York Convention, the avenues to resist the enforcement of foreign awards in signatory states are exceptionally narrow, and the enforcing court’s role is confined to a limited, cursory check to see if any such objections are made out. In India, reliance on public policy to resist enforcement has been highly...

In this issue: Arbitration in England & Wales Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Sector- and industry-specific arbitration Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Arbitration in England & Wales In Spain and France v London Steam- Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association [2024] EWCA Civ 1536, the Court of Appeal, addressing several awards stemming from clean‑up costs after the MV Prestige’s sinking, held that those awards generated an issue estoppel, so a conflicting Spanish judgment could not be recognised in England. But the court found no available relief to restrain enforcement abroad. Although France and Spain were bound by an equitable obligation to arbitrate under the conditional benefit principle, the tribunal had no jurisdiction to grant injunctive relief against them because of state immunity, nor to award damages in lieu. Equitable...

Rus Chem Alliance LLC v Uni Credit Bank Gmb H What are the practical implications of this case? This case has two important practical implications. This ruling yields two key, real‑world consequences in particular: It enables any Russian signatory to an arbitration clause to unilaterally opt for Russian court jurisdiction in disputes linked to sanctions, on the footing that sanctions inherently hinder access to justice. In practical terms, more Russian counterparties are likely to sidestep agreed arbitral forums and select the Russian courts’ jurisdiction, to the disadvantage of foreign parties indeed. When negotiating the applicable law and the dispute resolution clause with Russian counterparties, it should be borne in mind that the Russian courts will not hesitate to take jurisdiction over any dispute with a foreign party, and will identify grounds to apply Russian substantive law even where the parties did not select it...

ON v ON [2024] EWFC 379 What are the practical implications of this case? The standout consequence of this decision is the firm direction it sets on parties’ duties of disclosure within arbitration. Arbitration continues to be appealing (use of specialist arbitrators, a markedly swifter, more bespoke process, etc), and the ruling enables advisers to state unequivocally that the requirement of full and frank disclosure endures up until the arbitral award is turned into a court order. That message carries wide weight, in light of the family courts’ renewed focus on non-court dispute resolution and the growing uptake of arbitration. Its effect will be felt widely, dovetailing with the courts’ focus on non-court routes and arbitration’s rising use across family practice. The decision also underlines the risk of advancing implausible grounds when seeking to set aside an arbitral award. Although the wife...

Lincoln could hardly have foreseen that by 2025 we would inhabit a world where deepfakes are routine; where communication has shifted—perhaps even slipped—towards symbols; and where we teeter on the edge of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, defined by a fusion of technologies, including artificial intelligence, that is dissolving the boundaries between the physical, digital and biological realms, as described in a 2019 UK government policy paper. As has become our yearly custom, we set out our e-discovery predictions for the year ahead. 1. AI provisions will become mandatory in protective orders AI has been adopted more rapidly than any other technology in recorded history, and now appears almost ubiquitous. Such breathless uptake introduces significant dangers. In the discovery context, notable risks include: disclosure to third parties of highly competitive, sensitive and confidential information; the loss of control over that data, including being unable to...

Senior US District Judge Loretta A. Preska has also approved long-awaited enforcement applications by respondents in Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, who had initially initiated arbitration in 2006 following a default on US$100m Eurobonds issued by Lakah Funding, operated by brothers Michel and Ramy Lakah. This represents the final chapter in the brothers' efforts to resist being held personally liable under the arbitration provisions contained in the bond documentation governing the transaction, and to elude the corporate veil-piercing remedies available under the laws of New York, where the arbitration was seated. In this piece, we set out the dispute's background and analyse the court's conclusions and their implications. Background On 8 June 2006, UBS AG, Exporters Insurance Co, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, National Bank of Oman and Arab Banking Corp formally began an arbitration against the Lakah brothers and other related...

The Kingdom of Spain v The London Steam- Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd and The French State v The London Steam- Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd [2024] EWCA Civ 1536 What are the practical implications of this case? The Court of Appeal’s ruling makes clear, as a matter of principle, that English public policy bars recognition and enforcement in England of foreign judgments that cannot be reconciled with arbitral awards. That said, where a contradictory judgment is to be enforced overseas, the court and arbitrators have generally circumscribed powers to restrain such steps in practice in ‘conditional benefit’ scenarios. Under the conditional benefit principle, a non‑contractual party invoking rights under a contract that includes an arbitration clause bears an equitable obligation to pursue its claim in arbitration to the exclusion of other fora. Although the rule is settled, the relief for...