Agreement has been reached on the long-awaited Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a free trade agreement between 12 Pacific Rim nations, including Australia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and the United States, which represent around 40% of global GDP and one third of world trade. The text of the TPP is still being finalised by the TPP States and is not yet available. Reports indicate that the TPP includes an Investment Chapter with a…
In the Hong Kong Court of First Instance case of KB v S (HCCT 13/2015), Justice Mimmie Chan,…
Nowadays high value M&A transactions and project structures can be very complex, in particular involving a number of…
Arbitral tribunals have the power under Singapore law to rule on their own jurisdiction, consistent with the widely recognised principle of Kompetenz-Kompetenz. In a recent decision, the Singapore High Court has confirmed that this power extends not only to questions concerning the validity or scope of any arbitration agreement under which the tribunal has been constituted, but also questions concerning the very existence of an arbitration agreement. This includes situations where a party to the…
A Discussion of the Yukos Case Can the unsuccessful party challenge an arbitral award on the basis that…
Introduction Emergency arbitration is a feature of the rules of all leading international arbitration institutions, both across Asia and elsewhere.…
In an April 2015 decision, Asignacion v. Rickmers Genoa Schiffahrtsgesellschaft MBH & CIE KG, 783 F.3d 1010 (5th Cir. 2015), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned a trial court decision that refused enforcement of a Philippine arbitral award on public policy grounds. Plaintiff Lito Martinez Asignacion (“Asignacion”), a citizen and resident of the Philippines, signed a contract to work as a seaman aboard a vessel owned by Defendant, German company Rickmers Genoa…
In China International Fund Limited v Dennis Lau (Secretary for Justice intervening) HCMP 2472/2014, the Hong Kong Court…
Recent developments China’s Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) has clarified the jurisdiction of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration…
In large arbitration cases, skilled counsels fill hundreds of pages with factual and legal arguments in order to persuade the arbitral tribunal. Only if counsel and client are completely convinced that their submission is “the best brief possible under the given circumstances” if not “the best brief ever”, it will ultimately be filed. But will the submission truly convince the arbitral tribunal? A German proverb says “The bait is for the fish to like, not…