Generally, arbitration with features relating to two or more states. For example, an arbitration seated in London between an English company and a Singapore company concerning a construction project in London (or elsewhere) will generally be considered an international arbitration.

Arbitration analysis: Under French law, proper notification of arbitral awards to foreign states through diplomatic channels requires delivery to the authority designated by the recipient state’s law. Neglecting this can prevent the triggering of deadlines for actions like annulment applications. The Paris Court of Appeal ruled that an acknowledgment of receipt by the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs was insufficient to start the time limit for filing an annulment application. There was no proof that the notification was properly transmitted to the Litigation Department of the Libyan Ministry of Justice, the authorized recipient under Libyan law. Thus, Libya’s annulment application is deemed admissible. This highlights the importance of strictly following international notification procedures, especially with sovereign states. Written by Clément Fouchard, partner at Reed Smith.

Arbitration analysis: The Paris Court of Appeal dismissed a challenge to partially annul an ICC partial award arising from an EPC project dispute, holding that the tribunal’s decision to bifurcate proceedings on a ground not raised by the parties does not exceed its mandate where the applicable rules permit bifurcation. The court also dismissed challenges based on due process and international public policy, emphasising that the parties had ample opportunity to debate the bifurcation. This decision confirms the broad discretion afforded to arbitral tribunals in procedural management and the high threshold for annulment on this ground. Practitioners in construction and energy disputes should advise clients on bifurcation strategy early, as challenges to such decisions rarely succeed. Written by Clément Fouchard, partner at Reed Smith, and Mathilde Adant, associate at Reed Smith.

Law360, Expert Analysis: Global energy supply chains depend on a limited number of critical maritime corridors and fixed infrastructure. Lisa Richman, Fabio Cozzi and Milo Molfa, all partners of McDermott Will & Schulte contend that international arbitration can serve as a dispute resolution tool in the context of the Hormuz crisis.

Arbitration clauses provide for disputes to be dealt with by an appointed arbitral tribunal and can arise in both domestic and international contexts. An arbitration clause may, or may not, provide for an institution (such as the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) to administer the arbitration under its own rules or other rules. The arbitration clause can also provide for arbitration that is not administered by an arbitral institution but that is conducted in accordance with established arbitration rules, such as the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. In practice, most ad hoc arbitrations are conducted on the basis of the UNCITRAL Rules, because they provide a recognised and tested framework for the proceedings. Another benefit of adopting UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules is that the rules provide for the designation of an appointing authority to constitute the arbitral tribunal to allow the arbitration proceedings proceed, where a respondent is attempting to block the proceedings by refusing to participate in the appointment of the tribunal. The International Bar Association (IBA) has

Arbitration clauses provide for disputes to be dealt with by an appointed arbitral tribunal and can arise in both domestic and international contexts. Arbitration can be conducted on an ad hoc basis (in accordance with a set of arbitration rules, such as the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA) Terms, and/or the applicable national arbitration law) or administered by an arbitration institution, typically in accordance with the arbitral institution’s arbitration rules. There are a variety of institutional arbitration rules available for incorporation into arbitration agreements, leading examples including those of the International Chamber of Commerce (the ICC Rules) and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) (the LCIA Rules). By way of example, this Practice Note discusses, in the context of the law of England and Wales, the LCIA’s recommended arbitration clause for future disputes, although it should be noted that the points made may be relevant to other institutional arbitration clauses. Example institutional clause: LCIA model clause for future disputes ‘Any dispute arising out of or in connection with this contract, including any question

Mealey’s International Arbitration Report recently asked industry experts and leaders for their thoughts on the use of artificial intelligence tools in international arbitration. We would like to thank the following individuals for sharing their thoughts on this important issue.

The Mauritian legal system is a hybrid system of laws, which amalgamates both the French civil law and the British common law practices, characterised by a duality of concepts ie procedural law in criminal and civil litigation is mainly English whereas substantive law is based on the French Napoleonic Code. The Mauritian legal system possesses characteristics of both civilian and common laws, which it has adapted to its own specific needs to form a distinct corpus of Mauritian law. This is reflected by the different regimes which govern domestic arbitration and international arbitration. While the provisions for domestic arbitration are contained in the Civil Procedure Code 1808 (Code de Procédure Civile) (CPC), international arbitration is governed by the International Arbitration Act 2008 (IAA 2008), which is based on UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (the Model Law). This Practice Note should be read in conjunction with Practice Notes: Arbitration in Mauritius—an introduction and Enforcing arbitral awards in Mauritius. Basis of the IAA Experience in other countries have shown that the application of same rules to both domestic

Arbitration analysis: Can inter-state arbitration be an effective political tool? Sophie Lamb, partner, and Ciara Murphy, associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, look at why the case of Enrica Lexie has generated such political interest and controversy.

This Practice Note provides an introduction to some of the key features of international arbitration. Practice Note: Arbitration—an introduction to the key features of arbitration, which is referred to below, may also be of interest to those seeking an understanding of arbitration as a form of dispute resolution. There is no authoritative definition of 'international arbitration'. At its simplest, it is arbitration with some element of an international character. Although the meaning of 'arbitration' is well settled, there is no generally agreed definition of the necessary 'international' character. Further, 'international arbitration' is often taken to mean 'international commercial arbitration' (contrasted with, for example, international investment arbitration) and as such it is important to understand what is 'commercial' for these purposes. International commercial arbitration has grown substantially in the last 40 years in part as a result of the huge growth in world trade and in part because of the perceived benefits of international commercial arbitration as compared to other forms of dispute resolution. These benefits include:

In many jurisdictions, there are relatively few substantive differences between pursuing international arbitration or domestic arbitration proceedings. This Practice Note identifies when differences may arise and considers the impact of such differences on the conduct of the arbitration. You may also be interested in Practice Notes: Arbitration—an introduction to the key features of arbitration, Institutional arbitration—an introduction to the key features of institutional arbitration, Ad hoc arbitration—an introduction to the key features of ad hoc arbitration and International arbitration—an introduction to the key features of international arbitration What makes an arbitration domestic or international? A domestic arbitration is one concerned with purely national or domestic issues. This means, in general terms, that all aspects of the arbitration proceedings are related to a single jurisdiction. For example, the nationality of the parties, the governing law of the contract, the place of performance of the contract and the facts giving rise to the dispute will all relate to the same jurisdiction. An international arbitration, on the other hand, will reach beyond the borders of a single

This Practice Note considers the circumstances in which domestic, local or national courts may support, intervene in or interfere with international arbitration proceedings (or the arbitral process) and identifies the limitations (or restrictions) on such courts’ powers. In general terms, national courts tend to play a limited role in relation to international arbitration proceedings or processes. As described in this Practice Note, court intervention is usually kept to a minimum in order to respect the private nature of the dispute resolution mechanism chosen by the parties. The scope of court intervention is usually limited to the following areas: • granting emergency relief at an early stage in the arbitral process, eg to restrain or stay court proceedings brought in breach of the arbitration agreement (either domestically or, in certain circumstances, in other jurisdictions) or to prevent an arbitral tribunal from wrongly assuming jurisdiction over a dispute • providing support for the appointment of the arbitral tribunal • dealing with procedural issues during the arbitration proceedings, eg securing the attendance of witnesses at the hearing of the