LISBON ARBITRATION

It is widely accepted in the international arbitration community that arbitral tribunals may draw adverse inferences from a party’s failure to produce a document requested in the proceedings. As an example of that, the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration (“IBA Rules”) specifically recognize this possibility in Article 9.5. In this context, an adverse inference can be described as the presumption that an unproduced document is unfavourable to the interests of the p...

Technology advances of the last decade have irreversibly changed the way we communicate, and international arbitration is no exception to this new reality. Although some of the possibilities allowed by the use of new technologies, such as virtual hearing rooms and the use of highly hyperlinked submissions, may still not be standard at this point – and, most importantly, may not suit or be cost-effective in all kinds of arbitral procedures –, it is already common practice between arb...

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has recently revised its Note to Parties and Arbitral Tribunals on the Conduct of the Arbitration under the ICC Rules of Arbitration (“Note”). The Note provides the users of ICC arbitration (including parties, arbitral tribunals and administrative secretaries) with useful, practical guidance on the conduct of arbitrations under the ICC Rules of Arbitration (last amended in 2017). Importantly, the new version of the Note applies to “all ICC a...

1.   Technological Wave Around 20 years ago, Richard Susskind predicted that lawyers would regularly use e-mails to communicate with clients [1] . Time proved him right. Thereafter, 10 years ago, the same author predicted that “the foundations of dispute resolution [would] be rocked by a combination of electronic disclosure, e-filing in the courts” [2] . Once again, time proved him right. He now predicts that new technologies are one of the main drivers of a big transformation in the lega...

According to most laws and regulations regarding arbitration, the parties may freely agree on the rules governing the proceedings and, in the absence of such agreement, the arbitral tribunal defines and conducts the arbitral proceedings under the rules that it considers appropriate [1] . The arbitral tribunal has, typically, broad discretion and room for flexibility when conducting the arbitral proceedings, within certain limits: firstly, the boundaries arising from the agreement of the...

On 29 August 2018 the Cour d’appel of Brussels rendered a decision that was widely reported as potentially causing an ‘earthquake’ in sports arbitration. Is that really the case? Analysing a dispute between, among others, Doyen Sports Investments Limited (“Doyen”) and the Belgian club ASBL Royal Football Clube Seraing United (“Seraing”) against FIFA, UEFA and La Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBBL (“ASBL”), the Cour d’appel decided that the clause of arbitration...

In Portugal, the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards are governed by the provisions of the New York Convention, treaties and conventions which are binding on the Portuguese State and articles 55 to 58 of the Portuguese Arbitration Law (PAL). Under article 55 of PAL, “Without prejudice to the mandatory provisions of the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, as well as to other treaties or conventions which are binding on the P...

Among other reputed arbitral institutions, Delos Dispute Resolution was founded back in 2014, and was introduced as an arbitral institution devoted to respond to the needs of businesses globally for time and cost efficiency in the resolution of disputes through arbitration. Considering that the seat of the arbitration is one of the most consequential aspects of this particular dispute resolution method, Delos intended to provide its users the information and tools necessary for a conscious...

… saved! In a recent decision of 20 February 2018 [1], the Cour de droit civil of the Swiss federal court rejected an important and aggressive annulment request of the arbitral award of 9 March 2017 rendered, in the context of international arbitration, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in the case RFC Seraing v. FIFA, CAS 2016/A/4490. The basis for the annulment request was, among others, the lack of independence of the CAS’ arbitrators owing, according to the annulment requ...