Insights

On 18 September 2024, the UK Supreme Court handed down its judgment in UniCredit Bank GmbH v RusChemAlliance LLC [2024] UKSC 30.  The judgment considers several significant issues relevant to international arbitration.  Primarily, though, it reaffirms: (i) the English court’s strong support for arbitration, in general; (ii) the steps it is prepared to take to hold parties to their agreement to arbitrate; and (iii) the current position for determining the governing law of an arbitration agreement, in the absence of an express election by the parties.

Despite the challenges of 2020, major international arbitration institutions reported a record number of new registered cases. As travel restrictions inhibited cross-border travel, lockdowns were issued around the globe, and many industries began working remotely, arbitral bodies adeptly transitioned to fully electronic filing systems, organized remote hearings, and issued COVID-19 guidance. These changes enabled parties to continue resolving their disputes without major disruption and have set the institutions up for another busy year in the dispute resolution world.

The London Court of International Arbitration (the LCIA) released an update to its Arbitration Rules, which took effect on October 1, 2020 (the 2020 Rules). While the LCIA has characterised the 2020 Rules as a “light touch”1 update on the 2014 edition of the rules (the 2014 Rules), there are some notable developments which bring the 2020 Rules in line with modern practice and other institutions’ rules.