Welcome from the Editors-in-Chief

Samaa Haridi and Julien Fouret

For this third issue of the ICC Bulletin, we present five sections, featuring a diverse range of topical contributions from our authors.

The Bulletin begins with an In Memoriam by Alexis Mourre, dedicated to the late Luiz Olavo Baptista, who in addition to being one of the most renown WTO specialist, was extremely active with ICC, as a lawyer, an arbitrator, a member of the ICC Latin American Arbitration Group, and as Council member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law.

The Global Developments section features four contributions from three continents highlighting developments in (i) Colombia, with an examination of a recent Supreme Court decision setting out the framework for setting aside international awards seated in Colombia; (ii) Hong Kong, where interim measures may be rendered by the mainland Chinese Courts to support Hong Kong seated arbitrations; (iii) Hungary, where the recent arbitration law and its amendments challenge foreign institutional arbitrations, including ICC; and (iv) Lithuania, with the Supreme Court refusing to recognize and enforce a foreign award granting ‘unreasonable’ penalties.

In the Commentary section, we offer two very different analyses, starting with the keynote speech delivered in June 2019 in London at the 7th ICC YAF Global Conference, which is a plea for diversity to enhance legitimacy and ensure innovation for the future of international arbitration by a Vice-President of the ICC Court, Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahab. It is then followed by an in-depth analysis of ICC Awards relating to joint operating agreements in the oil & gas industry by Tim Martin, John Gilbert and Martin Gusy.

We also feature a Case Decisions section featuring an article by José Feris and Stephanie Torkomyan addressing the increasing relevant issue of the impact of parallel criminal proceedings on procedure and evidence before ICC arbitral tribunals, relying on a thorough analysis of ICC arbitral awards.

Our ICC Commission Reports section includes the extremely relevant and useful report on ‘Resolving Climate Change Related Disputes through Arbitration and ADR’. This latest report of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR will most likely be the reference material for environmental-related issues and disputes.

Finally, our ICC Activities section is devoted to (i) the newly developed App by ICC Dispute Resolution Services (‘DRS’) and all the features it can offer, as well as (ii) a summary of the ICC Institute Training on the assessment of damages carried out in Singapore last June.

We thank our contributors, our Editorial Board members, Stephanie Torkomyan, Publications Manager at ICC Dispute Resolution Services, and Claire Héraud, Senior Publications Assistant (DRS_Publications@iccwbo.org). We hope you enjoy reading this new edition of the Bulletin.