Call it the “Comma Clause” of the New York Convention.
Article II(1) of the Convention requires each Contracting State to recognize an “agreement in writing” for arbitration. And Article II(2) — the Comma Clause, for this discussion — states: “The term ‘agreement in writing’ shall include an arbitral clause in a contract or an arbitration agreement, [...]
Security for costs is scarcely the most popular partner on the arbitration dance floor.
Derains and Schwartz note in their treatise on the ICC Rules, for example, that ICC arbitrators have ordered parties to provide security for costs, although such cases are “exceptional.” They observe that the ICC Rules do not expressly provide for security for costs, [...]
Not so long ago, there was controversy among federal courts in the United States about whether the New York Convention ousted the courts of jurisdiction to provide injunctive relief in aid of international arbitration. Just as that issue was sorted out in favor of judicial power to grant provisional relief, controversy arose over whether institutional [...]
A new decision of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals holds when a vacancy on an arbitral tribunal occurs due to resignation of an arbitrator, and the parties’ agreement does not address that situation, a district court has broad discretion under Section 5 of the Federal Arbitration Act in deciding how the arbitration shall proceed. [...]
Godfather buffs will remember Johnny Fontane’s contract with the famous bandleader. Don Corleone’s most feared enforcer, Luca Brasi, held a gun to the bandleader’s head, and the Don assured him that either his brains or his signature would shortly be on the contract. The bandleader signed, and Johnny Fontane’s singing career was re-launched.
Now we know [...]
New York’s arbitration statute, Article 75 of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules (”CPLR”), addresses in section 7502(c) the circumstances in which a New York court may give a provisional measure in aid of arbitration.
Section 7502(c) is a particularly significant provision of state law in the world of international arbitration, given New [...]
Investment treaty arbitration awards rarely find their way into the US courts for review, as the ICSID Rules under which many such arbitrations occur include their own appellate process (see, in particular, Rules 50 and 52-54 of the ICSID Arbitration Rules concerning annulment proceedings). The grounds for annulment under the ICSID Rules overlap substantially with [...]
Dear Readers: As many of you know, I announce new posts on Arbitration Commentaries in a number of Linked In Discussion Groups relating to international litigation and arbitration. Recently many of those announcements may have escaped your attention because the emails you receive from the Linked In groups of which you are a member have [...]
“Evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators” is one of the statutory grounds for vacatur of an arbitration award made in the United States, as provided on Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal Arbitration Act. I take brief note here of a decision this week in the Ninth Circuit US Court of Appeals that usefully reiterates [...]
The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals last week added an instructive new chapter to the ongoing tug-of-war, in Congress and the courts, over the use of arbitration clauses by consumer products companies avoid liability to consumers. (Hines v. Overstock.com, Inc., 2010 U.S. App. LEXIS 11265 (2d Cir. June 3, 2010)).
Overstock.com is a well-known [...]