Legal Practice Notes

This guide outlines the requirements for forming contracts across numerous international jurisdictions. The table offers a quick‑reference overview of the criteria for binding contracts, and for individuals and partnerships, in a variety of countries. More comprehensive guidance on each overseas jurisdiction included in the table is provided in the sections below. For details on executing contracts in different jurisdictions, see Practice Note: Execution of contracts—jurisdictional guide. For details on executing deeds in different jurisdictions, see Practice Note: Execution of deeds—jurisdictional guide. For details on electronic signatures in different jurisdictions, see Practice Note: E‑signatures—jurisdictional guide. For information on contract formation under Scots law, see Practice Note: Key differences in the law of contract between Scots and English law. Please note that this is an introductory guide only, and local advice from appropriate legal professionals in the relevant country should be sought where...

Although arbitration has seen reduced use for UK domestic construction disputes owing to adjudication’s ongoing dominance, it is still widely chosen by parties to settle conflicts arising from construction projects where the contracting parties are from different jurisdictions across borders. The expense of international arbitration may mirror that of litigation, but this depends greatly on the particular circumstances of the matter, including its scale and complexity in play. Nevertheless, arbitration affords a range of benefits over litigation for parties, particularly for schemes undertaken in jurisdictions where local courts may lack sufficient experience or expertise, or where there are concerns about potential local bias in such circumstances. The main advantages of international arbitration are set out below: the parties’ ability to select a neutral forum and the laws that will govern the arbitration (the seat) chosen the ability to also choose...

This Practice Note offers a primer on several key aspects of international arbitration. The Practice Note: Arbitration—an introduction to the key features of arbitration, mentioned below, may likewise be helpful to those wishing to understand arbitration as a method for the resolution of disputes, at a general, introductory level. There is no universally authoritative definition of ‘international arbitration’. At its most basic, it is arbitration with some form of an international element. Although the meaning of ‘arbitration’ is well established, there is no broadly and consistently accepted description of the requisite ‘international’ character. In addition, ‘international arbitration’ is often used to signify ‘international commercial arbitration’ (as contrasted, for example, with international investment arbitration) and, accordingly, it is important to determine what is truly ‘commercial’ for these purposes. International commercial arbitration has increased greatly over the past 40 years, partly as a consequence of the...

Judicial enforcement of international commercial arbitration awards in New York Arbitration has emerged as the predominant means by which parties across the globe settle disputes outside the courts. It rests on the parties’ consent—express or implied—typically recorded in an arbitration clause within a private contract or a treaty. Even when parties choose to arbitrate, the courts remain vital to ensuring the process is effective. Crucially, they may compel a resistant party to arbitrate or to honour an arbitral award. This Practice Note considers the judicial enforcement of international commercial arbitration awards in New York. In New York, enforcement is usually straightforward. The federal courts there possess deep experience and expertise in enforcing international arbitral awards. In doing so, they apply a robust federal common law policy favouring arbitration. See Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v Soler Chrysler- Plymouth, Inc., 473 U. S. 614, 631 (1985); Telenor Mobile Comms. AS v...

This Practice Note reviews the conduct of arbitration under the International Centre for Dispute Resolution ( ICDR) International Dispute Resolution Procedures (including the Mediation and Arbitration Rules) (the International Rules), revised with effect from 1 March 2021. For a primer on the International Rules, including how to commence and answer ICDR arbitration proceedings, see Practice Note: ICDR (2021)—introduction to the institution—commencing arbitration and responding to arbitration. For guidance on arbitrating under earlier editions of the International Rules, see: ICDR arbitration—overview. For guidance on the American Arbitration Association® ( AAA), see: AAA arbitration—overview. Pleadings The International Rules expressly envisage only the Notice of Arbitration, the Answer to the Notice of Arbitration, and any counterclaim with its answer. Parties may amend or supplement their claims, counterclaims or defences unless the tribunal finds it inappropriate, taking into account factors such as delay ( ICDR, art 10). In...

ARCHIVED This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained. This year’s Arbitration annual review of trends and hot topics within the international arbitration community considers key developments in 2017 and looks ahead to what 2018 may bring. Headline issues in 2017 comprised diversity on arbitral tribunals, third-party funding and transparency. We chart movements across these themes, spanning surveys, case law, legislation, rule revisions, conventions and guidelines. Also featured are updates on Lexis Nexis®’s content, including highlights from the past year and what to expect over the next 12 months. Reviewing 2017 Diversity on arbitral tribunals What happened? In January 2017, Berwin Leighton Paisner ( BLP) published the findings of its annual international arbitration survey, concentrating on diversity within arbitral tribunals. The survey examined the significance respondents attributed to gender and ethnicity/national identity when appointing an arbitrator, and whether statistics on diversity assisted in selecting an arbitral...

Practitioners engaged in cross-border arbitration often presume that observing the ethical code of their own jurisdiction—the place where they are authorised and supervised—is sufficient. The reality is frequently far more intricate: those standards may or may not extend beyond national borders and, if they do, they can clash with norms governing the legal seat, with requirements set by the administering arbitral body, or with provisions embedded in the parties’ contract. Whether a lawyer’s ‘home’ rules govern foreign or international proceedings is regularly unclear or equivocal, especially for counsel admitted in several jurisdictions. Nor is it an entirely simple exercise to identify which other frameworks might bite. Even where the applicable professional obligations can be pinpointed, counsel and parties within the same tribunal process commonly hail from diverse legal traditions and cultures. Consequently, they may act in line with differing views of what amounts to...

This Practice Note This Practice Note offers practical guidance to lawyers less familiar with damages on several key issues. It also shares insights for practitioners with greater damages experience to reflect on alongside their own practice and potentially refine their approach. The focus is how lawyers can collaborate effectively in matters involving models to: understand the model’s foundations test the assumptions against the available evidence communicate the issues clearly to the tribunal All without needing to become a modelling expert. For thoughts on when a damages expert is required, the advantages and disadvantages of using experts, how to identify and engage them, and tips for working with experts, see Practice Note: Damages experts in international arbitration. The central message is that if you, as advocate, do not grasp the core matters underpinning a damages claim, you will be unable to convey them...

This Practice Note explores the place of costs in international arbitration proceedings. Further guidance on this topic appears in Practice Notes: AA 1996—costs, Interest on costs and damages in arbitration, Costs and fees of key arbitral institutions, and the ‘ Related documents’ pod. To compare the answers to questions relating to arbitration costs (and funding) in jurisdictions around the world, please consult our International Comparator Tool. Relevance of costs in international arbitration This review of costs is aimed chiefly at two objectives—enabling arbitrants to keep expenditure under control and, where they succeed, to recover it from the opposing side. Unchecked dispute costs can rapidly make pursuit of proceedings uneconomic and cause disputants to regret commencing proceedings. By understanding the different categories of cost, parties can introduce greater control and help ensure that the sums incurred are recovered from the opponent......

ARCHIVED : This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This year’s annual roundup on international arbitration—key seats spotlights many of 2017’s most notable developments and signals what lies ahead in 2018. The review covers key cases and legislative moves across the USA, UAE, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, India and others. It also features updates to Lexis Nexis® content, with news of exciting developments over the last year and what is scheduled for the next 12 months. Given the potential scope of this survey, we have confined our coverage to a selection of the principal developments. Reviewing 2017 Arbitration in the Americas What happened? In the USA, Steve Finizio, partner at Wilmer Hale, notes that it has been a relatively quiet year for international arbitration, and the US Supreme Court has issued no rulings on...

ARCHIVED This Practice Note is archived and no longer maintained. This year’s annual round-up of arbitration institutions highlights major developments from 2017 and looks ahead to what 2018 may bring. SCC Arbitration Rules revised, effective from 1 January 2017. ICC Arbitration Rules updated, in force from 1 March 2017. LMAA Terms refreshed, operative from 1 May 2017. Statistics issued by the institutions. Forthcoming rule revisions anticipated from HKIAC and CIArb. Updates on Lexis Nexis®’s content also feature, noting key advances over the past year and what is expected in the next twelve months. Reviewing 2017 ICC—revised rules for 2017 and key developments What happened? From 1 March 2017, the ICC’s updated arbitration rules took effect (the 2017 ICC Rules). These apply to ICC arbitrations begun on or after that date, unless the parties have opted for the rules in force when they signed their...

Enforcement under Indonesia’s Arbitration Law Indonesia’s Law Concerning Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution, Law No. 30 of 1999 (the Arbitration Law), differentiates between domestic and international arbitral awards. Proceedings seated in Indonesia are treated as domestic, whereas those seated abroad are categorised as international. This has been reinforced by Constitutional Court Decision No. 100/ PUU- XXII/2024. Enforcement pathways depend on that classification; this Practice Note addresses how international awards are enforced. The enforcement procedure in Indonesia Indonesia has ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention), subject to reciprocity and commercial exceptions. Among other things, it enables enforcement in one signatory state of awards made in the territory of another. The Arbitration Law gives domestic effect to these treaty duties. Notably, the grounds to resist enforcement of an international award under the...

Arbitrability As a broad rule, arbitration can be invoked to determine almost any claim or quarrel about legal rights. This approach is widely recognised. Courts have described this as a presumption in favour of arbitrability (see, for instance, remarks of the Singapore Court of Appeal in Larsen Oil and Gas Pte v Petroprod). Yet most legal systems, England and Wales included, recognise carve-outs from that rule. Consistently with the doctrine of non-arbitrability, some matters cannot be decided by an arbitral tribunal even where they appear to fall within a valid arbitration clause (see, for example, the English High Court in River Rock Securities v International Bank of St Petersburg). Although it is broadly acknowledged that some types of dispute are arbitrable while others are not, drawing the exact line between those classes is often difficult. In truth,...

First prepared with Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh. Shipping emissions: background Maritime transport, or ‘shipping’, accounts for 2.89% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas ( GHG) output—around 1,076 million tonnes of CO2. As close to 90% of global trade moves by sea, the sector is central to future climate action (see Behnam A, ‘ The Nexus of Ocean Trade and Climate Change: A Review Essay’ (2015) 29 Ocean Yearbook 11). Accordingly, a business-as-usual pathway for shipping is incompatible with the objective of ‘holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels’ as set out in Article 2 of the Paris Agreement. See Practice Note: The Paris Agreement 2015—snapshot. The international climate regime and maritime emissions The ‘international climate regime’ is generally taken to comprise the UNFCCC (1992), the Kyoto Protocol (1997), and the Paris...

Overview of Land Drainage Act 1991 The Land Drainage Act 1991 ( LDA 1991) forms part of the broader statutory regime for overseeing water resources and flood risk in England and Wales, alongside the Water Resources Act 1991 and the Water Industry Act 1991. This framework was significantly reshaped by the Flood and Water Management Act 2010. See Practice Note: Flooding— UK policy and legislative framework. Part 5 of the Environment Act 2021 ( EA 2021) amended the LDA 1991 to strengthen water management in England and Wales. Amendments made by EA 2021 permit the incorporation of internal drainage boards ( IDBs) as described below. The LDA 1991 also brings together provisions on the powers, functions and duties of IDBs. For more on the LDA 1991, see Practice Note: Land Drainage Act...

This Practice Note examines the considerations the court should weigh in disputes about internal relocation, where one parent proposes moving with their child to a different part of the UK and the other opposes. It surveys the case law and guidance, including the ruling in Re C ( Internal Relocation), and sets out the procedure to be followed. Internal relocation An internal relocation matter arises when a parent seeks to move with their child to another area of the UK and the other parent objects. For applications concerning permission to remove a child from the jurisdiction (external relocation), see Practice Note: Leave to remove-external relocation. A person named in a child arrangements order ( CAO) as the individual with whom the child is to live does not need permission to relocate within the UK in the way they would if intending to take the child to live...

What are the issues for a tenant if an intermediate landlord becomes insolvent? This Practice Note considers to whom the rent might be payable, and addresses disclaimer, forfeiture and surrender of the superior lease. Rent payment An insolvent landlord might default on rent owed to its superior landlord. Under the Commercial Rent Arrears Recovery ( CRAR) regime, a superior landlord may issue a notice requiring an undertenant to pay rent straight to the superior landlord where the immediate tenant is in arrears, continuing until those arrears are cleared. If the undertenant then does not pay, the superior landlord may exercise CRAR against the undertenant. To promote fairness, where the tenant pays any sum under a notice served by a superior landlord, the undertenant may deduct that sum from the rent due to its immediate landlord, even if the amount has already been paid in full or in part by...

Interim ‘springboard’ injunctions This Practice Note examines the character and reach of interim ‘springboard’ injunctions, deployed to stop a transgressor securing an unfair competitive advantage arising from unlawful conduct. It addresses the particular circumstances in which an employer may seek a springboard injunction to curb the actions of a former employee, the evidential requirements that must be met to obtain the order, and the means by which protection is delivered in practice. It also considers how the length and breadth of the injunction can be confined and tailored. On occasion, an employer will pursue an injunction to shield themselves from the conduct of a former employee who, before employment ended, breached a post-termination restriction (restrictive covenant) or misused the employer’s confidential information and, by that misuse, gained an unfair competitive advantage over their former employer. An interim order intended to neutralise any unfair...

Search and imaging orders—overview This Practice Note outlines the character of search orders and imaging orders, and the circumstances in which they may be deployed in disputes over employee competition and/or confidentiality. An in‑depth treatment of the principles and procedures for obtaining and serving these orders lies outside the remit of this Practice Note. For further guidance on these topics, see: Search and imaging orders—overview. Typically, a search order authorises the claimant employer to attend at the defendant’s premises and to look for and take possession of relevant documents or other property, including computers. Search orders were previously described as Anton Piller injunctions, after the claimant in the leading authority on this form of relief. While the claimant employer is not permitted to use physical force to gain entry to the defendant’s premises, a defendant who declines entry to execute the order risks a...

This Practice Note offers practical guidance on what amounts to a change in circumstance for an interim review, or a changed circumstances review, of anti-dumping duties. Introduction Among the reviews an investigating authority may undertake during anti-dumping duties is an interim review or a changed circumstances review. They are conducted while the measures remain in effect. They operate alongside existing anti-dumping duties. An interim review is intended to address situations where the duties are no longer required, or where the duties ought to be increased. These arrangements cater, in the first instance, for situations where there is either no dumping or no injury and, in the second, for circumstances where dumping and injury have increased. For guidance on interim reviews of anti-dumping duties, see Practice Note: Interim reviews in anti-dumping investigations. This Practice Note considers what constitutes a change in...