Status Updates From Redfern and Hunter on Inter...

An arbitral award may usually be set aside if a national court of the place of arbitration finds (on its own initiative) that the award is in conflict with the public policy of its own country.

Similarly, a pharmaceutical company may produce a particular drug under license, then decide to manufacture and market a competing product under its own name, claiming that there is nothing in the license agreement to prevent it doing so.

In the unlikely situation of the respondent’s acquiescence without reservation, the arbitration agreement will have been deemed waived and the court action will proceed

As a result, most modern arbitration rules allow for the conduct of oral hearings at any location that the tribunal considers appropriate.

In modern times , it is common practice for preliminary meetings to be conducted by teleconference or video conference.

An arbitration may be said to be ‘owned’ by the parties, just as a ship is owned by shipowners. But the ship is under the day-to-day command of the captain, to whom the owners hand control.

Indeed, French law prohibits arbitrators from administering oaths:’The arbitral tribunal may call upon any person to provide testimony. Witnesses shall not be sworn in’

The law of Switzerland, does not permit a private individual, such as an arbitrator, to administer oaths.

A bank account should be opened for receipt of the deposits made by the parties. This account may then also be used for paying fees and expenses to the members of the arbitrator tribunal as and when payments fall due.

The standard ICC per diem allowance at time of writing (July 2015) remain US$1,200 for an overnight stay and $400 for a day’s expenses, if no overnight stay in hotel accommodation is involved.

In England, the parties may agree upon when the proceedings are to be regarded as commenced for limitation purposes. Failing agreement, it is when one party gives a written notice to the other party or the appointing authority seeking the establishment of the tribunal.

The ICC, for instance, envisages that an arbitration tribunal may sanction unreasonable conduct in making its award of costs.

Under the present agreement, the foreign company was bringing financial and technical assistance to Iran, which involved it in investments, responsibilities and considerable risks. It therefore seems normal that they should be protected against any legislative changes which might alter the character of the contract and that they should be assured of some legal security. — not guaranteed in Iranian law

Thus in Soleimany v Soleimany, the English Court of Appeal refused to enforce an award where the transaction was not illegal under the applicable law, but was illegal under English law.

If a French woman purchases a dress in a Paris boutique, French law will be the applicable or substantive law of that contract.

1.184, It is more in keeping with the dignity of a foreign sovereign to submit himself to the rule of law than to claim to be above it.

Many years ago the English appellate court proclaimed that there would be no ‘Alsatia in England where the King’s writ does not run’