Giving due and fair notice of arbitral proceedings is critical when commencing an arbitration, as a failure to do so can affect the validity and enforceability of any arbitral award. Under Article 34(2) of the UNCITRAL Model Law, adopted by section 81(1) of the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609), the Hong Kong court may set aside an award if the applicant proves that it was not given “proper” notice of the proceedings or the appointment of…
Effective from 1 March 2025, the Pilot Scheme on Facilitation for Persons Participating in Arbitral Proceedings in Hong…
Introduction Hong Kong’s Arbitration Ordinance (Cap. 609) (“AO”) has adopted Articles 17-17H of the UNCITRAL Model Law on…
A. LEGISLATION AND RULES A.1 Legislation International arbitration in Hong Kong continues to be governed by the Arbitration Ordinance (Cap 609), to which there have been no legislative amendments. A.2 Institutions, rules and infrastructure A.2.1 The 2024 HKIAC administered arbitration rules On 1 June 2024, HKIAC introduced a new version of its Administered Arbitration Rules. The 2024 Rules continue HKIAC’s “light touch” approach, respecting party autonomy, a key feature of HKIAC administered arbitrations. The changes…
Introduction It is a well-established principle in Hong Kong that foreign proceedings instituted in breach of an arbitration…
Introduction In recent years, the world has witnessed an explosive growth in the popularity and value of virtual…
The Court of First Instance (CFI) already considered twice this year in the context of interim measures whether an arbitrator’s order amounted to an award or interim order: see our blog post on the decisions in G v N and W v Contractor.[1] But questions for the CFI as to what constitutes an award continue. InL v R [2024] HKCFI 1611, the plaintiff (L) applied to the CFI to set aside a Settlement Agreement (SA)…
The Hong Kong courts consistently adopt a robust and purely mechanistic approach to applications resisting enforcement of awards,…
Whether an arbitral tribunal’s decision constitutes an “award” is an important question. It determines, for example, whether the…
Multi-party and multi-contract scenarios are commonplace in international arbitration. Many arbitration rules offer regimes seeking to tackle problems that may arise in such complex scenarios. An example is the regime under Article 29 of the 2018 HKIAC Rules. It allows a claimant to commence a single arbitration under multiple contracts where (i) a common question of law or fact arises under each arbitration agreement giving rise to the arbitration, (ii) the rights to relief claimed…