Sustainable Development Compliance in International Investment Agreements: Enforceable at Arbitration?

By Carolina Joy As international investment agreements (IIAs) increasingly include references to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), investor-state arbitration further becomes a site of global governance, mediating conflicts between private investment protection and public development objectives. Within this dispute resolution mechanism, the tension between the soft law of the SDGs and the hard…

Why It’s Time to Include Taiwan in the New York Convention

By Nathan Yost The 1958 New York Convention (“the Convention”) is the cornerstone of international arbitration. With over 170 signatories, it provides a uniform legal framework for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. This predictability is essential to cross-border commerce as it ensures that arbitration outcomes are enforceable, not just symbolic. However, despite…

Should Naming the Arbitral Seat not be Enough?

By Jeremy Hernandez-Lum Tong In 2020 and 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (“UKSC”) made two seminal decisions on the law governing arbitration agreements, namely Enka Insaat Ve Sanayi AS v OOO Insurance Company Chubb and Kabab-Ji SAL v Kout Food Group. The latter, Kabab-Ji UKSC, recapitulated the reasoning in Enka, but differed…

The Role of Arbitration in Maritime Security Contracts: Risk Allocation and Enforcement Challenges in High-Risk Zones

By Ayoola Babatunde Fadola Introduction Given the complexities of global shipping, maritime security contracts help protect ships, cargo, and human life in hostile seas. These standardized contracts, which cover risks such as piracy, armed robbery, and terrorism, often pose significant challenges for risk sharing and dispute resolution. This essay considers the roles of arbitration in…