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R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
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Ruling 5-2 By a 5–2 vote, the Court of Appeals determined that claimant Emily Wu is subject to Uber’s arbitration provision because she assented to the company’s revised terms of use on her mobile in January 2021. The panel said it was immaterial that, by then, she had already commenced proceedings against the company. Consequently, an arbitrator must consider Wu’s contention that the January 2021 terms were ‘actively misleading’, as they suggested the arbitration pact would apply solely to prospective claims against the company, according to the opinion. ‘ For as long as written contracts have existed, parties have agreed to them without first scrutinising their terms,’ the panel observed. ‘ Such omission can carry legal ramifications, whether the party is a sophisticated business or an everyday customer, and whether the contract is set out on paper or via an electronic pop-up.’ ‘ Here, the...
In this issue: Arbitration under the AA 1996 Act International 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 England and Wales—the Commercial Court dismisses jurisdictional challenges to US$750m investment treaty arbitration award In The Czech Republic v Diag Human Se and another [2024] EWHC 2102 ( Comm), the Czech Republic moved to overturn a US$750m investment treaty award, advancing multiple objections under sections 67 and 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996 ( AA 1996). The award, dated 18 May 2022 (the ‘ Award’), was issued by a London-seated arbitral tribunal (the ‘ Tribunal’) constituted under the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic- Switzerland bilateral investment treaty (the ‘ BIT’). The arbitration proceeded in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitral Rules 2010. In an earlier judgment of 8 March 2024 (the ‘ March...
( Federal Republic of Nigeria v. Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co Ltd , No 24-532, US Sup) Interpretative split Nigeria’s petition dated 7 November 2024 maintains that the New York Convention governs only “persons”, a term which in ordinary English excludes a sovereign—particularly one acting in a sovereign capacity. It submits that the DC Circuit erred in upholding an award against Nigeria that rested solely on the conduct and contracts of Ogun State, an autonomous constituent state of Nigeria. According to Nigeria, when the Convention was concluded, it was widely accepted that “person” could cover a government‑owned company, but not the government itself as a sovereign. Extending the Convention’s enforcement machinery to sovereigns would have marked a dramatic departure; the drafters, it says, repeatedly described the Convention’s scope as confined to “private law” disputes. Nigeria further asserts that the relevance of this...
Neven v Nole , ARB 010/2024 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment is a timely reminder of the wide latitude available to the DIFC Court of First Instance (the DIFCCFI) when assessing costs under the RDC. In applying that discretion, the DIFCCFI will not hesitate to take full account of the parties’ conduct in the proceedings before it. That scrutiny reaches the reasons a party chose to engage the DIFCCFI’s curial functions under the 2008 DIFC Arbitration Law (the DIFC Arbitration Law) to seek twin applications—an injunction and an order for document production—in support of arbitration, in circumstances where the arbitral tribunal, rather than the DIFCCFI, would have been the proper first port of call for any such interim relief. In addition, where interim relief is pursued, an undertaking offered in response should be put forward as soon as is...
KKH Finvest Private Ltd and another v Jonas Haggard and others , ARB P 38/2024 and IA 700/2024 What are the practical implications of this case? Following the Supreme Court of India’s ( SCI) endorsement of the group of companies doctrine, the DHC’s ruling offers practical direction on how it operates. Reaffirming the SCI’s pronouncements in Cox & Kings Ltd v SAP India ( P) Ltd [2023] SCC On Line SC 1634 and Ajay Madhusudan Patel v Jyotrindra S Patel [2024] SCC On Line SC 2597, the DHC concluded that non-signatories can be treated as true parties where they: bear obligations under a contract (even if they have not signed it), which provides for arbitration; and/or enter into an agreement lacking an arbitration clause that is derived from or connected to a parent contract (containing an arbitration clause), rendering both...
Asiana Airlines, Inc v 1) Gate Gourmet Korea Co, Ltd (2) Gate Gourmet Switzerland Gmb H (3) Christoph Schmitz (4) Xavier Rossinyol Espel [2024] SGCA( I) 8 What are the practical implications of this case? This judgment sets out when anti-suit injunctions may issue to restrain proceedings brought against individuals or entities outside an arbitration agreement. The Singapore Court of Appeal confirmed that a party to a contract containing an exclusive forum clause ( Party A) may obtain such relief to stop another party ( Party B) commencing proceedings against a non-party ( Party C) if one of two alternatives is satisfied. First, Party A must establish that the exclusive forum clause was intended to embrace the non-party; that is, properly construed, Party B agreed with Party A that any claims targeting Party C would be pursued only in the specified exclusive forum. Second, Party A must show...
International Seaport Dredging Pvt Ltd v Kamarajar Port Ltd Civil Appeal No 12097 of 2024 arising out of SLP ( C) No. 25369 of 2024] What are the practical implications of this case? This ruling clarifies the principles that courts must apply when deciding whether, and on what terms, to stay an arbitral award under the Act. It confines judicial discretion to the boundaries set by statute. The 2015 Amendment abolished the earlier position where filing an application to set aside an award automatically stayed its execution. The purpose was to shield awards from baseless attacks and allow the award-holder to enjoy the fruits of the decision, with a standalone stay application being necessary. This judgment drives that aim further: the form of security required to obtain a stay of execution cannot be varied simply because the applicant is a government entity; courts have no...
The Czech Republic v Diag Human Se and another [2024] EWHC 2102 ( Comm), [2024] EWHC 503 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling brings to a close a dispute spanning decades between Diag Human SE, a Lichtenstein entity, and Mr Stava, a Swiss citizen (together, the ‘ Investors’), on the one hand, and the Czech Republic (and, before it, Czechoslovakia) on the other, and turns on remarkable facts, events and surrounding circumstances. To grasp the factual matrix in full, one must first consider the March Judgment, since the present decision does not rehearse the narrative or the chronology of the many and varied proceedings between the parties. This decision is noteworthy for its careful and expansive treatment of what constitutes an ‘investment’ and an ‘investor’ in public international law—an issue not previously explored by the Commercial Court in such depth. It will...
In this issue: Arbitration under the AA 1996 Act International Arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Other arbitration and ADR-related news and developments The Arbitration Blog Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Arbitration under the AA 1996 Act Application for payment into a US account or into court under section 44 of the Arbitration Act 1996 Confronted with an application seeking to channel the sale proceeds of cargo into a blocked account at a US financial institution, the court in O v C [2024] EWHC 2838 ( Comm) directed that the monies be paid into court instead. This approach was therefore clearly preferred by the court. Sir Nigel Teare held there was no meaningful risk that the claimant would face prosecution for sanctions breaches by paying into court, and that this route was more...
Definition of ‘court’ The Draft Bill introduces a revised meaning of ‘court’, tied to the category of arbitration and the seat: For arbitrations other than international commercial arbitrations (‘ ICA’): where the seat is determined, ‘court’ is the court with pecuniary and territorial jurisdiction over that seat. If the seat is not determined, it is the court with pecuniary and territorial competence to adjudicate the disputes that form the subject-matter of the arbitration. For ICAs: where the seat is determined, ‘court’ is the High Court with territorial jurisdiction over the seat. If the seat is not determined, it is the High Court with territorial jurisdiction to resolve the disputes that constitute the subject-matter of the arbitration. The proposed amendment should also clarify, within the definition, the proper court for applications linked to foreign-seated arbitrations. Where Part I of the Act has not been...
In a 24‑page memorandum lodged on 15 November 2024, Live Nation and Ticketmaster contended that plaintiffs Abraham Liefer and Tamara Stevens must pursue their consolidated antitrust case in arbitration, emphasising that they had repeatedly assented to the defendants’ terms of service whenever they performed actions on the companies’ websites or platforms. According to the motion, those actions encompassed logging into Ticketmaster accounts, accepting transfers of tickets issued by Ticketmaster, and each occasion on which they purchased tickets on the defendants’ sites. The arbitration application stated that the terms of service consistently contained a mandatory arbitration clause that extends to any claim or dispute connected to services offered by or through the defendants. The motion further asserted: ‘ Defendants’ records confirm that plaintiffs agreed to the terms on many occasions, including when they accepted transfers of the tickets issued by...
O v C [2024] EWHC 2838 ( Comm) What are the practical implications of this case? The decision sets out how the court should proceed on a section 44 application where the relief sought could expose a party to prosecution abroad. It underlines that, while the court will be slow to grant such relief, it retains power to do so, and may make an order in appropriate circumstances. In exercising its discretionary power, the court must balance the prospect of criminal proceedings against the significance of the remedy requested; the court’s task is to weigh the risk of prosecution alongside the importance of the relief. A party invoking a foreign criminal regime must prove not merely that such a law exists, but that there is a genuine, non-theoretical risk of prosecution. What was the background? The arbitration concerns a shipment of naphtha carried on a vessel...
A15 Claimant and B15 Defendant [2024] ADGMCFI 0012 What are the practical implications of this case? The ADGM Court’s ruling carries several practical ramifications for parties and practitioners: Importance of clear arbitration clauses: The ruling highlights the vital need to specify the arbitral seat in contracts. The chosen seat affects the recognition and enforcement of awards, a priority for any claimant or counterclaimant. To reduce the risk of parallel set‑aside actions, parties should expressly state the seat of arbitration in their agreements. Multi‑jurisdictional procedural strategy: Even where an award arises from a carefully drafted arbitration clause, rigorous strategic planning is required for potential multi‑jurisdictional enforcement. This is even more pressing when the clause permits alternative readings, whether regarding the seat of arbitration or other key elements. Practitioners must navigate the interaction between different jurisdictions and appreciate the procedural nuances that may...
A panel of the appellate court ruled that the DC district court correctly refused the African nation’s motions to dismiss the petitions, holding that the Republic of Zimbabwe had waived sovereign immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act’s arbitration exception and its implicit waiver exception. The judges observed that the Swiss‑ German von Pezold family, together with forestry firms Border Timbers Ltd. and Hangani Development Co ( Private) Ltd, satisfied the arbitration exception by demonstrating an arbitration agreement, arbitral awards, and a treaty for enforcing them in the extensive land dispute in what is now the Republic of Zimbabwe. The panel stated that these undisputed elements are fulfilled: the German bilateral agreement and the Swiss bilateral agreement operate as the arbitration agreements; an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes tribunal issued valid arbitration awards; and the ICSID Convention is the treaty governing those...
The Federal Republic of Nigeria In a petition for a writ of certiorari lodged on 12 November 2024, Nigeria told the high court there is a rift among US Courts of Appeals on construing treaties under the United Nations instrument known as the 1958 New York Convention. The filing asserts that the circuits disagree on whether material beyond the text—such as historical background—can carry equal weight to the treaty’s wording when courts consider enforcing arbitration awards. The application arrives as Nigeria seeks to halt enforcement of an approximately US$70m award pursued by Chinese company Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co, linked to alleged expropriation by Nigerian state officials acting in a governmental capacity. According to the republic, the DC Circuit erred in concluding that the Convention compels courts to enforce awards against sovereign states in disputes ‘arising solely from their roles as...
PRC Arbitration Law System The primary statutory framework governing arbitration across mainland China comprises the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (the ‘ PRC Arbitration Law’), together with the Supreme People’s Court’s Interpretation on Certain Issues concerning the Application of the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (the ‘ Interpretation of the PRC Arbitration Law’) specifically for arbitral matters in mainland China......
In this issue: Arbitration in England & Wales International Arbitration Institutional and ad hoc arbitration Other arbitration and ADR-related news and developments The Arbitration Blog Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Useful information Arbitration in England & Wales Arbitration Bill undergoes third reading in the House of Lords On 6 November 2024, the Arbitration Bill had its third reading in the House of Lords. It was approved and sent to the House of Commons that same day. See: LNB News 07/11/2024 57. International Arbitration India—obligation on tribunal and court to examine the contract; omission to address issues a court deems necessary is not a basis to set aside an award Pam Developments Private Ltd v The State of West Bengal concerned an appeal to the Supreme Court of India from a Calcutta High Court decision that...
Background In 2017, Ukraine introduced a major overhaul of its procedural laws, featuring arbitration-friendly provisions in the revised editions of the Civil Procedure Code of Ukraine (the ' CPC') and the Commercial Procedure Code of Ukraine (the ' Com PC'). These measures sought to uphold the obligatory force of arbitration agreements and to delineate the role of national courts in supporting international commercial arbitration. Yet the new framework did not expressly bar actions aimed at invalidating arbitration agreements. This gap was exploited by unscrupulous debtors to disrupt the proper operation of arbitration in Ukraine. They brought actions in the commercial courts to set aside arbitration agreements, leading to holdups in arbitral proceedings or in the processes for recognising and enforcing arbitral awards, which in turn enabled them to remove their assets. Consequently, commercial courts maintained that they had jurisdiction to examine the merits of claims whose sole...
What are the practical implications of this case? This case has three important practical implications: as outlined below in brief it is the first occasion when a Russian court allowed enforcement of an arbitral award against a non-party to the arbitration agreement. The court’s reasoning for treating two companies within the same group as the same economic entity is plainly illogical, especially given the undisputed fact they are separate legal persons incorporated in different jurisdictions. This indicates a lack of understanding of the principles of the arbitration agreement by Russian judges it is a positive development that the judge did not consider the composition of the tribunal when assessing the arbitral award’s compliance with the public order of the RF......
On 7 November 2024, US District Judge Amit P Mehta issued an order in the long-running matter, addressing a bid by petitioners Ioan and Viorel Micula for a second judgment on accrued sanctions. The brothers asked for US$15.9m against Romania, covering civil sanctions that built up from August 2021 to August 2024. Mehta J cut the figure to US$13.7m, noting the Miculas had paused for five months before replying to a filing from a Romanian court. Nonetheless, the ruling largely favoured the brothers, who had first pursued arbitration in 2005 under the Sweden– Romania bilateral investment treaty. Arbitrators at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ultimately found for the Miculas after Romania withdrew economic incentives intended to spur investment in poorer regions of the country......
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When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
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