Welcome from the Editors-in-Chief

Samaa Haridi and Julien Fouret

We hope this finds our readers well and in good health notwithstanding the unfortunate global pandemic that has impacted our lives so dramatically this year. For this third issue of 2020 of the Bulletin, we are delighted to feature six different sections, offering a range of insightful updates and content for our 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 members Massimo Benedettelli and Giuditta Cordero-Moss honor the indelible marks left by Piero Bernardini, François Perret, Giorgio Bernini and Marco Weigmann in the field of international arbitration. Their loss is mourned by members of the international arbitration community around the globe.

We begin with the Global Developments Section, which offers key developments from seven different jurisdictions, starting with recent case law from the Unqited States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, holding that 28 U.S.C. Section 1782 which permits discovery in aid of foreign proceedings does not apply to private commercial arbitrations seated outside of the U.S. Another significant decision hailing from the U.S. Supreme Court, covered in this Edition, held that the New York Convention does not negate non-signatories’ ability to enforce arbitration agreements. The Section also includes updates on international arbitration in Albania; recent Danish and Spanish jurisprudence on public policy as a ground to refuse enforcement of arbitral awards; and a review of a recent first from the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, setting aside an investment treaty award where a tribunal had declined jurisdiction to hear an investor’s dispute against Venezuela. The Section also offers a summary of the most recent development in the Yukos saga, whereby the Court of Appeal of the Hague reinstated arbitral awards rendered against the Russian Federation.

Finally, the Section includes an update from Turkey where the Court of Cassation defined the contours of its public policy and arbitrator autonomy.

In the Commentary Section, we feature an article by Catherine Schroeder analyzing the impact of COVID-19 on arbitrators, and the need to adapt to increasing challenges caused by the global pandemic.

The ICC Practice and Procedure Section presents a thorough analysis of the role of language in ICC Arbitration, and the process – based on available ICC cases – for determining the language of the arbitration in roughly a quarter of all ICC Arbitrations where the parties do not make a selection in their contract.

The ICC Commission Reports Section includes news from the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR; and the script of Michael McIlwrath’s ‘Quo Vadis’ address to the members of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR on the occasion of its centenary.

The ICC Activities Section includes reports from the ICC Court Regional Directors on the dispute resolution panorama and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Section also offers reports of ICC annual events, namely, the 8th ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration, the ICC-FIDIC Conference on International Construction Contracts, the 8th ICC MENA Conference on International Arbitration; and two reports of recent online events: the ICC YAF on Virtual Hearings and the ICC International Centre for ADR’s Webinar on ICC Mediation.

Finally, the Book Review Section presents an excellent review by Gabriele Ruscalla of ‘The ICSID Convention, Regulations and Rules: A Practical Commentary’, edited by Julien Fouret, Rémy Gerbay and Gloria M. Alvarez.

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