It is rare that we all agree at the end of a year that this was a challenging year. Maybe even the worst. That we all look forward to next year. That surely 2021 will be better.
The Covid 19 pandemic, the value of close collaborations and support within the global arbitration community, a shift towards virtual hearings, a first year with the SCC Platform, our series of Online Seminars and much more.
This year we saw the 11th Annual Conference by the Milan Chamber of Commerce, focused on the highly relevant topic of AI and the use of Technology in International Arbitration. The conference looked both at the present and the future with panels addressing how AI is changing the way law is practiced and more importantly, whether we are ready for robot arbitrators and predictive analytics?
A recently published Practice Note by SCC legal counsel Evelina Wahlström examines two years’ of SCC Emergency Arbitrator applications. In the report, EA procedures in the commercial cases from this period are described in detail.
One judgement and several decisions from the Svea Court of Appeal have been uploaded to the Swedish Arbitration Portal.
On 15 December 2020, the SAA and the SCC are co-organising the third annual Swedish Law Day in Russia. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year’s event will be digital, enabling participants to easily join from all over the world. The program includes debates and discussions about topical issues for the Swedish-Russian legal community, as well as an interview with Prof. Dr. Kaj Hober.
Fast-tracking the future? Since the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in March 2020 nearly 40% of the hearings in SCC arbitration cases were conducted online. Arbitrators report a generally positive experience of the virtual hearings, but some show hesitations around technology and the assessment of witnesses.
A list of tips from SCC arbitrators on how to conduct a successful hearing online.
A robust market for investment must have a minimum level of assurance of the integrity and speed of dispute resolution systems. What are keys for unlocking the constructive force of arbitration, and who are the enablers? SCC Secretary General Annette Magnusson had an opportunity to share her view at the recent Virtual Annual Conference of the NCIArb in Lagos, Nigeria.
The SCC now prolongs the offer to get free access to the Ad Hoc Platform for digital case management in Ad Hoc Arbitration until the end of May.
The content of 2020 ICCA Yearbook is now available online - including six decisions on arbitration issues from the Supreme Court of Sweden and two from the Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm.
Speed and quality are the core of the operations of international arbitration, and these attributes have become even more valuable during the ongoing global crisis. A continued dialogue in the arbitration community and joint efforts to outline new best practices and more driven arbitrators are now needed – that was some of the conclusions during a recent Fab Four online discussion.
Welcome to a joint SCC and Ukrainian Arbitration Association (UAA) webinar with a focus on ECT-based claims and awards, including the ECT:s scope of application, personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, and enforcement in Ukraine.
“The debate on Investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) reform needs to continue if we as a global community want to move forward”, says the SCC Secretary General Annette Magnusson in the foreword in a new book analysing and discussing various proposals and reforms.
This week sees the launch of a new joint ICCA-SCC initiative aimed at increasing access to arbitral awards of general interest issued under the auspices of the SCC. Starting this year, a selection of anonymized SCC awards will be published annually in redacted form in the ICCA Yearbook Commercial Arbitration and the KluwerArbitration database.
Twelve anonymized awards rendered under the SCC Rules between May 2016 and November 2019 are now available at the Kluwer Arbitration database. They cover a variety of procedural and substantive law issues that give first-hand insight into the SCC’s arbitration practice.
Insights, guidance and inspiration. We welcome all interested parties - private practitioners, law firms, in-house legal teams and academia to sign up and attend one or several upcoming SCC Online Seminars to get to know the SCC and learn more about online dispute resolution and specific current topics within the arbitral sphere.
The editorial committee of Stockholm Arbitration Yearbook invites scholars and practitioners to contribute to the 2021 edition of the yearbook.
How is international arbitration adapting to a fast-changing world? The School of International Arbitration at Queen Mary University of London, in partnership with White and Case have launched another global survey of international arbitration exploring this issue.
The UNCTRAL Working Group II continues to work on a draft of Expedited Arbitration Procedures to complement the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. The SCC takes part in this group with an expert observer who shares a report on key issues discussed and plans for future work.
SCC Platform is celebrating its first birthday. For a year now, all case communication has taken place on the platform. Thanks to our tailored case management platform the SCC can offer faster, more transparent and secure handling of cases for parties and arbitrators.
There is room for improvement, innovation and creativity in award writing. Both reading awards and writing one can be challenging. Do you agree?
The United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) recently presented a report on the new digital economy and emerging technology. SCC Head of Business Development Lise Alm, with extensive experience from the cross-section of innovation and digitalization, was part of the expert group which drafted the report. Below she elaborates on some of the issues discussed in the report and by UNCITRAL on its 53rd Commission Session.
Six months have passed since the SCC reorganized operations, moved home and adapted to the new situation caused by the pandemic. Everything changed, yet it has been business as usual.
In a panel by Forte Markets on July 2nd addressing the impact of AI on international arbitration, SCC’s Lise Alm was asked whether judges could be replaced by AI, and how far away we are from robot arbitrators. Her answers in short were “no” and “quite far”.
Gender diversity in arbitral tribunals is increasing and has doubled over the past four years. But there is room for improvement.
The increased adoption of emerging technology, such as artificial intelligence and distributed ledger technology (blockchain), is creating a new digital economy and affecting international trade and dispute resolution. With these changes comes a need for new or updated international legislation. The UNCITRAL and UNIDROIT have jointly been exploring this area and some of the early reports are now available. SCC’s Lise Alm has participated in the expert sessions.
One of the consequences of Covid 19 on International Arbitration is a rapid increase in the development and adoption of digital tools and procedures. This is also likely to speed up the adoption of more disruptive technology such as predictive AI and blockchain.
Lise Alm, Head of Business Development at SCC takes a seat on the board of SWAN, Swedish Women in Arbitration Network.
Evelina T. Wahlström, Legal Counsel at SCC, has been appointed a new board member of Young Arbitrators Sweden (YAS). Evelina has worked at SCC for eight years and was previously at Svea Court of Appeal in Stockholm.
The SCC adopts a Model Agreement for Submission of an Existing Dispute to Arbitration.
The SCC Guidelines for Arbitrators serve as a practical tool and source of information for arbitrators appointed in SCC arbitrations.
”We must constantly work on staying relevant” Annette Magnusson says in interview with Fabian Bonke.
The SCC Online Seminars Serie has come to an end – for this season. Given the success of this initiative, the initiative will continue already this Fall.
The 2017 SCC Expedited Arbitration Rules are now available in Russian.
SCC’s Secretary General Annette Magnusson and Legal Counsel Natalia Petrik will participate in the virtual Paris Arbitration Week. Annette Magnusson will be discussing the future of international arbitration and Natalia Petrik will address questions on conflicts of interest.
The fifth edition of the book “Commercial Arbitration in Sweden” by Finn Madsen has just been released. It incorporates recent developments in Swedish arbitration law up to 1 March 2019, including changes in the Swedish Arbitration Act and the SCC Rules.
Arbitrators and tribunals are welcome to reach out to the SCC to see if the Ad Hoc Platform is the right tool for their proceedings.
In a series of short episodes, members of 39 Essex Chambers are filmed in conversation with friends and colleagues from different parts of the world. In this video Lindy Patterson QC talks to Annette Magnusson, SCC Secretary General.
On 4-5 June, Putilin Sippel and the American University of Central Asia co-host the event with webinars conducted over two days. SCC Legal Counsel Natalia Petrik will participate in the session “Making Your Arbitration Time and Cost-Efficient”.
With proceedings turning digital to a higher and higher degree, the SCC arranged two panel discussions on the topic of online hearings. Both panels were moderated by Prof. Patricia Shaughnessy of Stockholm University and introduced by Annette Magnusson, Secretary-General of the SCC. Ms Magnusson indicated in her opening remarks that the challenges posed by the pandemic also present opportunities to rethink and optimise the international arbitration process going forward.
The report just published in the “ICCA International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration” reflects current arbitral practice in Sweden.
Svea Court of Appeal dismisses an application for a summons in which the claimant moved that an arbitral award should be declared invalid.
A recently published report examines Emergency Arbitrator Decision in investor-state disputes under the SCC Rules.
“Online hearings when the parties cannot agree” from April 29 and “Arbitration and Climate Change” from April 16 is the first two session recordings made available from the SCC Online Seminar Series. All the online seminars and panels will be recorded and made available on the SCC website.
In a new episode of Vienna Arbitration Talks, SCC Secretary General Annette Magnusson shares her experience and perspective on international arbitration of today.
In a time when the possibilities for physical meetings is severely limited, the need for virtual hearing facilities increases. In light of this, the Stockholm International Hearing Centre (SIHC) has announced the launch of a virtual platform for digital hearings.
In a joint initiative to support the online administration of proceedings, the SCC and Thomson Reuters offer the SCC Platform to ad hoc arbitrations globally, starting in May. Use of the Ad Hoc Platform will be free of charge for arbitrations commenced during the COVID-19 outbreak.
The conclusion of 2019 marks 10 years with Emergency Arbitration at the SCC. By some seen as a controversial innovation at the outset, emergency arbitration has since become a standard element of international arbitration.
2019 show an increase in cases filed with the SCC compared to 2018, double the number of applications of emergency arbitrators and no change in the number of investment arbitrations filed.
In a demonstration of unity, international arbitral institutions today issued a joint message in the wake of the corona outbreak.
Svea Court of Appeal rejects the motion to reduce the compensation to the arbitrator.
Our thoughts go to those doing their best to protect the health of our communities and to help stop the spread of COVID-19 at this time. It is truly a challenging time for us all. Many parties and tribunals involved in SCC arbitrations have also turned to the SCC for information and guidance, and the SCC has therefore made the following information and guidance available. The information will be updated continuously.
The Stockholm Chamber of Commerce welcomes Charlotta Falkman as Chairperson of the SCC Board, and Crina Baltag as a new Member of the SCC Board.
The SCC is fully operational but working remotely, as the SCC Secretariat takes measures to adapt to the COVID-19 outbreak.
A checklist recently published by Hafez Virjee of Delos Dispute Resolution and Maria Hauser-Morel of Hanefeld provides guidance for parties, counsel and arbitrators when holding hearings in times of COVID-19. The checklist will be continuously updated.
The SCC is pleased to announce the launch of its Online Seminar Menu. This is an initiative introduced to maintain the dialogue with our users and other stakeholders, notwithstanding the many recent cancellations of conferences and events where the SCC would have contributed as speaker and/or organizer.
In an effort to help arbitration professionals identify and understand the data protection and privacy obligations to which they may be subject in an international arbitration context, the ICCA-IBA Joint Task Force on Data Protection in International Arbitration has released the ICCA-IBA Roadmap to Data Protection in International Arbitration for public consultation.
Users of the SCC Platform now have the power to combine the use of the SCC Platform with the digital workflow assistant ExhibitManager.
It is with great sadness that the SCC has been reached by the news that Prof. Tang Houtzi passed away on 2 March 2020 at the age of 95.
Stockholm International Hearing Centre (SIHC) continues to improve their services arranging arbitration and mediation hearings, earlier by adding a fourth venue of 17000 sqm, and recently by a visual and structural update of their website.
Svea Court of Appeal rejects the challenge.
Having considered the risk of further spread of the COVID-19 (the “coronavirus”), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce has decided to take cautionary measures for employees travelling abroad.
In January this year, SCC participated as challenge giver in the first annual Stockholm Startup Bootcamp, providing a challenge on how to broaden the playing field in arbitrator selection.
The second edition of Mannheimer Swartling’s guide, that provides the essentials for anyone participating in arbitration in Sweden, is now available in a Russian translation.
Earlier this February, international and Swedish arbitration experts celebrated the book release together with authors Jakob Ragnwaldh, Fredrik Andersson and Celeste Salinas Quero at an SCC evening event.
Gain insights into the trends in international dispute resolution on digitialization and automation as well as an update on the SCC Platform, at the evening event co-hosted by the SCC and Merilampi in Helsinki on March 10th.
Stockholm is the third most popular place for arbitration, in the Russian National Committee of the International Chamber of Commerce’s new survey published 2019. Up one position from its 2012 survey.
On March 4, the SCC, the Swedish Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan Bar Association and Mannheimer Swartling are co-organizing a seminar that gives you an excellent opportunity to receive first-hand knowledge on recent developments in international arbitration and distinctive features of arbitration in Azerbaijan.
On 2 March 2020 in Frankfurt, the SCC in cooperation with Goethe University Frankfurt will organize a half-day conference on Innovation and Technology in Investment Arbitration: Trends and Challenges. The conference will be held in connection to the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot.
In 2019 the Svea Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Sweden dealt with several noteworthy cases related to challenges of arbitral awards. Now SCC provides a brief summary review of these decisions.
The settlement of investment disputes by arbitration and mediation in the OHADA Area was at the forefront of discussion at the recent colloquium hosted by the Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA) in Douala, Cameroun.
Svea Court of Appeal rejects the challenge claim regarding the partial award and some parts of the final award in an investment dispute.
How far has automation in arbitration come? Which are the ethical concerns related to automation in this field? What is the hype about and how far have we actually come? These topics will be discussed from both a European and US perspective at the seminar hosted by the SCC and Debevoise in NYC on February 4th.
Join us for the celebration of the release of “A Guide to the SCC Arbitration Rules” and meet the authors Jakob Ragnwaldh, Fredrik Andersson and Celeste Salinas Quero on February 4. The Guide is the first article by article commentary to the SCC Arbitration Rules for an international audience.
Since the first case in 2001, the SCC has administered a total number of 30 investor-state arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty. Reports from the institutions involved in investor-state arbitration under the Treaty was part of the content when the Energy Charter Treaty Forum convened in Singapore.
With the new year the SCC welcomes Charlotta Falkman as the new chairperson and William McKechnie as a new member of the SCC Board.