The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decided on January 25, 2024, under case number IX ZR 19/22, that without authorization from the German Federal Bank, frozen funds and economic resources cannot be seized under Regulation (EU) 2016/44. The case involved G. GmbH, which secured an arbitration award against the Libyan state fund L., entitling it […]
Category: Sanctions
Ping-Pong decisions on jurisdiction – to arbitrate or not to arbitrate, that is the question
This article is the second part of the discussion of the judgement of the Higher Regional Court of Berlin no. 12 SchH 5/22 and aims to examine the phenomenon that courts in different jurisdictions (in this case, in Russia and in Germany) determine the competence to decide a dispute in exactly opposite ways: The Russian […]
Russian courts’ new approach to reciprocity: Post-sanctions compliance
The Moscow District Arbitrazh Court refused to recognize decisions from US courts, stating a lack of evidence of reciprocity under international principles. Decisions made before February 28, 2022, were considered irrelevant in the ruling (case No. A40-242631/2022, dated 24 July 2023) The court cited Government Decree No. 430-r of March 5, 2022, which listed “unfriendly […]
Is it still possible to serve documents in Russia under the Hague Convention or can the German court go straight to public service?
Overview In a legal dispute between a German claimant and a Russian respondent, the Berlin Higher Regional Court (Kammergericht) dealt with the question of the admissibility of arbitration proceedings based on a dispute over the fulfilment of contractual obligations. In its landmark decision (dated 1 June 2023, case no 12 SchH 5/22), the Berlin Higher […]
A Russian person can only bring a dispute before a Russian court if it has proof of the existence of sanctions against it
Photo by Linus Mimietz on Unsplash Case: №А55-24707/2022 Background facts LLC “European Biological Technologies” filed a claim with the Arbitrazh Court of the Samara region to recover from the company “Cabinplant A/S” the amount of unjust enrichment in the form of advance payment for the undelivered goods under the contract dated 12.09.2013 №92/SMB13 in the […]
Russian Supreme Court rules that money blocked by OFAC in the US is not lost, if an application to unblock the funds has not been filed
The ruling of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation № 305-ЭС23-11869 dated 20.11.2023 Case № А40-179021/2022 The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation made a ruling in case No. A40-179021/2022 on the suit of OOO “IS TEX” to JSC “Moscow Industrial Bank”(hereinafter abbreviated as MInBank”) on funds recovery in connection with the cassation appeal […]
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” […]