Welcome from the Editors-in-Chief

Samaa Haridi and Julien Fouret

For this first issue of 2019 of the Bulletin, we are delighted to feature six different sections, offering a wealth of diverse and insightful content to the readers.

As a foreword to this edition, in Memoriam notes by the President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Alexis Mourre, and ICC Court member Cecilia Carrara remember the countless and invaluable contributions of Professor Ahmed Sadek El Kosheri, Sergio Le Pera and Alberto Mazzoni to the field of international arbitration. Their loss will be felt in the international arbitration community for years to come.

We then begin with the 2018 Statistical Report, which provides some key moments in 2018 and comprehensive data on the scope and outreach of ICC dispute resolution. The Report is also available online at http://www.iccwbo.org/dr-stat2018.

The Global Developments Section offers an in depth look by professor George Bermann into a June 2018 decision of the Singapore High Court which allowed the enforcement of an arbitral award that was rendered in violation of the parties’ agreement on the composition of the arbitral tribunal and on the seat of arbitration, and the dangers associated with a tribunal’s departure from the consensual framework agreed to by the parties. This section also features contributions from Sweden, which has revised its arbitration law, and commentaries of decisions by Singapore and French courts to set aside investment awards..

In the Commentary Section, we feature three articles focusing on (i) the challenges of applying FIDIC dispute resolution concepts and dispute boards processes in CEE countries (with a focus on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Romania); (ii) the distinction between contractual and statutory claims (e.g. claims that arise out of legislation that might bind the parties) and the arbitrability of the latter; and (iii) an overview by the Secretary General of ICSID of the proposed amendments to the rules for ICSID dispute settlement; a much anticipated development in the field of investor-state dispute settlement.

Our section dedicated to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR includes the discussions held at the occasion of the Launch of its latest Report on Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings last April and the ‘Summary Key Conclusions’, excerpt of the Report.

The ICC Activities’ Section includes seven reports of the latest edition of ICC developments and annual events, namely, the Miami Conference; the Annual Conference of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, the ICDR-AAA/ICC/ICSID Annual Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration; the ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration; the ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition; and the ICC Institute & Queen Mary University of London Joint Symposium. This Section also shares the news of the first regional chapter for the ICC Institute of World Business Law (in Latin America).

Finally, the Book Review Section presents three insightful reports of the monographs (i) ‘International Arbitration in the Energy Sector’, featuring contributions by a host of energy arbitration experts on current key legal issues peculiar to energy arbitration; (ii) ‘Business Guide to Trade an Investment (vol. 2): A Practical Guide for the Business Community and Governments’, an ICC publication focused on providing valuable insights to any individuals or businesses who are considering making foreign investments; and (iii) ‘the application for annulment of arbitral awards in Arab countries’ (in French), a necessary guide helpfully provided by Dr. Zeina Obeid to anyone seeking to navigate enforcement and/or annulment waters in Arab jurisdictions.

We do hope that you will find this issue engaging, and as always, we thank our contributors, our Editorial Board members, Stéphanie Torkomyan, the ICC Dispute Resolution Publications’ Manager and Claire Héraud, Senior Publications Assistant (DRS_Publications@iccwbo.org).