On December 21, 2023, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) – in overturning a decision by the Cologne Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG Köln) – clarified the standards for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Germany, emphasizing the principle that limits the scope of review by German courts to the […]
Category: Arbitration
The ongoing legal saga: Court bans Finland’s Wartsila from suing a Russian plant abroad
A court in St. Petersburg has forbidden the Finnish company, Wartsila, from pursuing or continuing arbitration proceedings abroad against a Russian plant. This decision follows the court’s earlier rejection of Baltic Plant’s €7.6 million claim against Wartsila for non-compliance with six independent guarantees. Background facts The guarantees were related to a contract with the Russian […]
Russian arbitral awards are still being recognised in Uzbekistan despite Western sanctions
The Supreme Court of Uzbekistan ruled on the recognition and enforcement of a Russian arbitral award in the context of US sanctions. EU and US sanctions against Russia are not an obstacle to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards issued by Russian courts – a case from Uzbekistan. In Case No. 4-10-2225/540, JSC “Uzbekneftegaz” […]
What are the chances of a foreign claimant to succeed in a Russian court?
Photo published on Vecteezy Recently, during the 12th Asia Pacific International Legal Forum, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Lebedev reported that the total number of economic disputes involving foreign parties has increased by 60%, to 10.6 thousand in the first half of 2023. Whereas 93% of disputes were resolved […]
Extension of arbitration clauses to third parties
French and Russian courts extend arbitration clauses to parent companies
The extension of arbitration clauses to third parties, especially parent or affiliated companies, is a kind of “french speciality”. Since the “dow chemical” decision in 1982 which is often quoted to have established a “group of companies” approach in arbitration, there are a number of decisions that extended arbitration clauses to non-signatories of the arbitration […]
Fraud via GAFTA-Arbitration
a brief case study
Internet fraud is a very common and presumably profitable business. We have come across a number of schemes over the years, the most common one being the interception of communication and the exchange of payment details in invoices, so that the payment is diverted to a third party who then cannot be traced. Recently, we […]
No security for costs if annulment of arbitral award is sought by way of counterclaim
Claimants who do not have their habitual residence in an EU or an EEA Member State are obliged, to provide security for legal costs if the other party requests this (§ 110 ZPO -German Code of Civil Procedure). In a recent decision, the German Federal Court ruled whether this also applies if the annulment of […]