Topic: Arbitrator challenges

An event during Canadian Arbitration Week in Toronto discussed appropriate disclosure for arbitrators when accepting appointments, including recent case law from the UK, France and US that seeks to clarify applicable standards. Timothy Hughes, independent counsel and arbitrator based in Calgary, reports.

16 November 2023

A Ukrainian electricity company has wasted no time in applying to enforce an investment treaty award that found Russia liable for expropriating its assets in Crimea – putting the award in the public domain.

08 November 2023

An ICC tribunal has rejected allegations that a €1.7 billion award against the Republic of the Congo was obtained by bribing French arbitrator Yves Derains – finding the state’s claims were baseless, time-barred and an opportunistic attempt to delay enforcement proceedings.

07 November 2023

Leading Geneva-based arbitrator Charles Poncet has seen off another attempt to disqualify him from a tribunal in light of a quashed criminal conviction in the Italian courts – as he makes a surprise return to Swiss politics.

06 November 2023

A Turkish construction company has challenged all three members of an ICSID committee hearing its bid to annul a previously unreported award in favour of Oman, alleging they showed bias through a series of decisions – including one that amounted to “direct interference” in court proceedings in Ankara.

18 October 2023

Spanish infrastructure group Abertis has filed an ICSID claim against Argentina over highway concessions – more than six years after settling an earlier case at the centre.

30 August 2023

A US appeals court has refused to set aside a pair of ICC awards worth US$285 million in favour of the Panama Canal Authority based on the arbitrators’ involvement in unrelated arbitrations.

21 August 2023

Brazilian arbitrator Anderson Schreiber has resigned from a tribunal hearing a shareholder claim against Petrobras over losses connected to the Lava Jato corruption scandal, after the state-owned company challenged him over an alleged conflict of interest.

26 July 2023

A UK election technology company has failed to disqualify Argentina’s Raúl Vinuesa from hearing its US$1.5 billion ICSID claim against Venezuela over his repeat appointments by the state.

02 June 2023

More than 60 arbitration practitioners have condemned the decision of Spanish authorities to bring criminal charges against Gonzalo Stampa over his role as the arbitrator who issued a US$15 billion award against Malaysia.

31 May 2023