Arbitration Team Coffee Break

NEWS

2019 Hague Judgement Convention enters into force

The 2019 Hague Judgement Convention entered into force on 1 September 2023.

The Convention only applies to EU Member States (except for Denmark) and Ukraine. Uruguay has signed and ratified the Convention, and it will be bound by it starting from 1 October 2024. Costa Rica, Israel, Montenegro, North Macedonia, the Russian Federation and the US have signed but yet not ratified the Convention.

The Convention aims to create a multilateral system for enforcing foreign court judgments, facilitate circulation of judgments within contracting states and provide predictability and certainty in transnational commerce.

Here are the main features of the Convention:

• it applies to the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters. It expressly excludes from its scope of application disputes concerning the status and legal capacity of natural persons, family law matters, insolvency, privacy, intellectual propriety, and certain antitrust matters;
• it prescribes that the judge of the requested state will not review the merits of the judgment (art. 2);
• it provides the requirements that must be fulfilled for the judgment to be eligible for recognition and enforcement (art. 5) and the grounds for refusal (art. 7).

Stay tuned for a more comprehensive analysis of the 2019 Hague Judgment Convention, its content and its impact on international trade and litigation.

UK considers withdrawing from the Energy Charter Treaty

On 1 September 2023, the UK Energy Minister, Mr. Graham Stuart, announced the country’s intention to withdraw from the Energy Charter Treaty Member States do not reach an agreement on modernized terms by November 2023. As a matter of fact, the UK has strongly advocated for the modernization of the ECT to maintain its current benefits while strengthening the transition to cleaner and affordable energy sources, such as hydrogen and carbon capture utilisation and storage technologies. Following the European Commission’s proposal for a coordinated withdrawal from the Energy Charter Treaty if no amendment is agreed upon, the UK is among the several countries seeking significative amendments to the Treaty. Thus, the UK is following in the footsteps of the European Commission and Portugal.

Milan Chamber of Arbitration (CAM) publishes new data

On 24 July 2023, the Milan Chamber of Arbitration published the latest data on its activities. The data shows a 20% increase in international arbitration proceedings in the first five months of 2023 and an 8.4% increase in companies and private individuals turning to arbitration. The Milan Chamber of Arbitration also identified the sectors in which arbitration is currently more frequently used: energy, intra-company disputes, and supply contracts.

For further information, click here.

New arbitration reform proposal in the UK

On 6 September 2023, following the UK government’s request to review the Arbitration Act of 1996, the UK Law Commission published its final report with draft legislation.

The Law Commission reported that the Arbitration Act 1996 generally works well and that there was no need for major changes or amendments. The proposed amendments mainly include measures to strengthen arbitrators’ immunity, improve the efficiency of cases, clarify the powers of courts in relation to arbitration, and refine the framework for challenging an arbitrator and their decisions, with the aim of promoting the UK as a leading destination for international arbitration. The report also provides for an interesting recommendation (Recommendation 19) on the law applicable to the arbitration agreement. In particular, the UK Law Commission recommend amending Arbitration Act 1996 to provide “that the arbitration agreement is governed by the law of the seat, unless the parties expressly agree otherwise”.

UK practitioners have largely welcomed the reform proposal, appreciating its pragmatic approach. But some have criticized the lack of attention given to the issue of discrimination in arbitrator appointments.

 

EVENTS

Equal Representation in Arbitration – Meet your female arbitrator, Rome, 2 October 2023

On 2 October 2023 at 3 pm (CET) the Italian Arbitration Association (AIA) will host this hybrid event, both in Rome, via Barnaba Oriani 34, and online, about Equal Representation in Arbitration. The event will be structured as an interview with Carmen Núñez-Lagos.

Il rapporto tra clausola di arbitraggio e clausola arbitrale nello stesso SPA: compatibilità, sovrapposizione e conflitti – AIA, 3 ottobre 2023

On 3 October 2023, the Italian Arbitration Association’s focus group will discuss the relationship between clausula di arbitraggio and clausola arbitrale in the same Sale Purchase Agreement (SPA), and in particular incompatibility, overlap and conflict profiles.

The focus group, helded online, will include eminent professors such as Elena Zucconi Galli Fonseca, Alessandro Motto, Lugi Cascone, Giacomo Rojas Elgueta, Alessandro Saccomanni, Daniela Mentesana, moderated by Cecilia Carrara and Fabrizio Arossa.

 

BOOK REVIEW

Arbitration and beyond… Une forme de vie? Liber Amicorum pour Yves Derain, Rome 28 September 2023

The AIA-CAM book club organizes a free-of-charge meeting in Rome on 28 September 2023 at 2 pm (CET), where Yves Derains, Antonias Dimitolitsa and Eduardo Silva Romero will discuss, moderated by Maria Beatrice Deli and Andrea Carlevaris, the book Arbitration and Beyond… Une forme de vie? Liber Amicorum pour Yves Derains.

The discussion will be a remarkable occasion to participate in a thought-provoking conversation with Yves Derains and the editors of the book.