Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Commons^™

Wto Dispute Settlement: Can We Go Back Again?, Rachel Brewster

Faculty Scholarship

The world's twenty-year experiment with a rule-based international trading order is most likely ending. Trade wars are raging again for the first time in two decades as World Trade Organization (WTO) members unilaterally impose and counterimpose sanctions. In Geneva, the WTO Appellate Body, whose existence is essential to the functioning of the WTO Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU), is on a trajectory to shut down in December 2020. For all the fireworks, however, many commentators retain an optimism that the recent events will be a passing phase and that the world will return to a more law-oriented trading system after the …

Burning Down The House? The Appellate Body In The Centre Of The Wto Crisis, Bernard Hoekman, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

In December 2019 the WTO Appellate Body (AB) will cease to operate unless the United States stops blocking new appointments. The US argues the AB has exceeded its mandate and has indicated it wants to ensure that the AB performs the role originally assigned to it in 1995. This paper discusses the Uruguay round negotiating history with the view to establish what “going back to 1995” entails. It concludes that this should not be difficult assuming a willingness of the WTO membership to seriously consider the US concerns and acceptance by the US of a commitment by the membership to …

Twin Crises In The Wto, And No Obvious Way Out, Bernard M. Hoekman, Petros C. Mavroidis

Faculty Scholarship

Pause for a moment. Assume that, by magic wand, the Trump Administration changes its attitude, and agrees to new appointments to the Appellate Body (AB). Have the WTO problems disappeared simply because a complete AB is now in place? Even if matters such as Rule 15 are addressed,1 the distinction between facts and law is clarified and a resolution is found to concerns regarding the AB overstepping of its mandate, we are left with the fact that new trade agreements are being routinely negotiated outside the confines of the WTO, leading enforcement to migrate elsewhere. Is the AB crisis simply …

European Union Law And International Arbitration At A Crossroads, George A. Bermann

Faculty Scholarship

It is no exaggeration to describe the relationship between the European Union and international arbitration as the most dramatic confrontation between two international legal regimes seen in a great many years. International law scholars commonly lament the "fragmentation" of international law, i.e., the co-existence of multiple international legal regimes whose competences overlap and whose policies may differ, resulting in a degree of regulatory disorder. However, seldom do these regimes actually "collide." By contrast, the two international regimes in which we are interested this evening international arbitration and the European Union may be described, without hyperbole, as on a collision course. …

Retour Sur L’Affaire De L’Alabama: De L’Utilité Et De L’Histoire Pour L'Arbitrage International, William W. Park, Bruno De Fumichon

Faculty Scholarship

For any aficionado of international law and international arbitration, the 1872 Alabama case represents a rich historical landmark, as promising a mine as the wreck of the Confederate Ship Alabama itself, sunk off Cherbourg, in 1864, by the United States Ship Kearsarge. This arbitration represents a turning point in relations between the United States and Great Britain, from repeated conflict to a “Special Relationship” that has grown stronger during the past century and a half. The case also marked the revival of international arbitration, after centuries of uncertainty. Not least, the case introduced long-lasting procedural innovations: the neutral collegial tribunal, …

Unity And Diversity In International Law, William W. Park

Faculty Scholarship

The primordial Greek sea-god Proteus could alter his shape at will, notwithstanding that his divine substance remained the same. Reinventing himself by adapting to new circumstances, Proteus still stayed unchanged in essence.

Unlike the sea-god’s protean nature, the substance of international law may well undergo alterations when examined through the telescope of legal culture, or with predispositions of divergent educational backgrounds. For the thoughtful reader, scholarly speculation on such variations will be triggered by reading Is International Law International?. In that book, Professor Anthea Roberts explores a variety of elements in the teaching and practice of international law, viewed …

International Arbitration: Out Of The Shadows, George A. Bermann

Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses a diverse number of issues that have affected the strength and popularity of international arbitration among its users. It emphasises the importance of the arbitration community recognising the force and validity of a number of critiques of the process and developing strategies for dealing with them. It is an edited version of a Keynote Address delivered at the ADR in Asia Conference on 29 October 2018.

The Inaugural Brooklyn Lecture On International Business Law: “Isds: The Wild, Wild West Of International Practice”, George Kahale Iii

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The lecture was delivered on April 3, 2018 at Brooklyn Law School and was sponsored by the Dennis J. Block Center for the Study of International Business Law and the Brooklyn Journal of International Law.

Rethinking Isds, George Kahale Iii

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

The author is Chairman of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP and has acted as lead counsel for respondent states in many investor-state arbitrations, including several of the cases referred to herein. His article won the 2019 Burton Award for Distinguished Legal Writing.

Final Report And Collaborative Action Plan, Maryland Commission On The School-To-Prison Pipeline And Restorative Practices

C-DRUM Publications

Report to the Maryland Governor and General Assembly Pursuant to House Bill 1287 (2017).

Juries In U.S. Patient Cases: A Comparative Portrait Of The Boundaries Of Democracy, Neil M. Browne, Nancy K. Kubasek, Alex Q. Jacobs

Economics Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Negotiator's Desk Reference, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Negotiation theory and practice have evolved at a phenomenal pace since thepublication of Fisher and Ury’s seminal work Getting to Yes.1 The sheer breadth of topics inThe Negotiator’s Desk Reference2 (“NDR”) attests to how negotiation has advanced as a multidisciplinary field. Published in 2017 to replace its predecessor The Negotiator’s Fieldbook,3the NDR comprises 101 chapters written by very prominent academics and practitioners drawnfrom a wide range of professions, disciplines and cultures. According to its editors, more thanhalf of the contents are new, reflecting the new frontiers of the negotiation field.

Contemporary Issues In Mediation (Vol 3)Joel Lee & Marcus Lim Gen Eds, Eunice Chua

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This is a book review of the third volume of Contemporary Issues in Mediation, published by the SingaporeInternational Mediation Institute.

Mediation, Dorcas Quek Anderson, Sabiha Shiraz

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

No abstract provided.

Arb-Med-Arb In Cross-Border Disputes, Janet C. Checkley, Nadja Alexander

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

To satisfy the needs of an increasingly diverse set of legal cultures meeting in the global marketplace today, dispute resolution mechanisms must continually evolve. One of the recent solutions to arise out of the blending of legal cultures is evolutionary rather than revolutionary, because it is in fact not new at all: multi-tiered dispute resolution.

Updates To The Uncitral Legislative Guide On Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects, Brooke Guven, Motoko Aizawa

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Staff Publications

CCSI, jointly with The Observatory for Sustainable Infrastructure, submitted comments to the UNCITRAL Secretariat regarding updates to the UNCITRAL Legislative Guide on Privately Financed Infrastructure Projects. CCSI’s comments focused on the need for an updated guide, which will now refer to Public Private Partnerships, to holistically and systematically incorporate considerations of: (1) sustainable development and the SDGs, (2) rebalancing of the public versus private nature of PPPs, (3) transparency, participation, accountability, and remedy, (4) empirical evidence-based assessments of contexts in which PPPs may be desirable, (5) objectives of investment and PPPs, (6) human rights, (7) labor, (8) climate change, …

Singapore Case Note Part 2: What Happens When A Party To A Mediated Settlement Agreement Has A Change Of Heart?, Nadja Alexander, Shou Yu Chong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In October, we reported on a recent case from the Singapore High Court: Chan Gek Yong v Violet Netto. In that post, we examined the High Court’s attitude towards parties who have had a change of heart after agreeing to conclude a Mediated Settlement Agreement (‘MSA’) and wish to challenge its validity. Last month we focused on one of the plaintiff’s (Mdm Chan) allegations, namely that the co-mediators put pressure on her to sign the MSA. As readers will recall, the High Court found there was no evidence to substantiate this claim. However this was not Mdm Chan’s only argument!

Three “Pitfalls” For The Unwary: Third-Party Funding In Asia, Darius Chan

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

For some time, practitioners would have seen news alerts headlining that third-party funding is permitted in Singapore and Hong Kong for arbitration and arbitration-related court proceedings. Digging a little deeper beyond the shiny new labels, this article highlights three practical “pitfalls” which practitioners would have to be mindful of when dealing with third-party funding in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Premature Service Of Payment Claims Under The Building And Construction Industry Security Of Payment Act: Audi Construction Pte Ltd V Kian Hiap Construction Pte Ltd, Benjamin Joshua Ong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

In Audi Construction Pte Ltd v Kian Hiap Construction Pte Ltd, the Singapore Court of Appeal considereda payment claim to have been validly served although it was served earlier thanthe contractually stipulated date. This was because the service of the paymentclaim was “effective” only from the contractually stipulated date, and theclaimant had had a “good reason” to serve the payment claim early. This notecritically examines the reasoning in Audi vis-à-vis the existing law, the principleof freedom of contract, and the intentions of the parties in that case. In theabsence of future judicial elaboration on the “effective service” and “goodreason” doctrines, …

Does Investor-State Arbitration Have A Future? Keynote Speech By Sir Christopher Greenwood, Lixin Chen, Aaron Yoong

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

SMU Asian Arbitration Lecture, jointly organised with the Centre for Cross-border Commercial Law at the Singapore Management University, took place on 18 October 2018. The distinguished event, graced by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, hosted a panel comprising: Sir Christopher Greenwood, DAG Lionel Yee, Judith Gill QC and Alastair Henderson (moderator). This post takes a closer look at the keynote speech delivered by Sir Christopher Greenwood