This Practice Note is an introduction to the FIDIC Green Book 2021 (the Short Form of Contract). It is not a fully detailed clause-by-clause commentary. This article was first published by LexisPSL
The English Commercial Court has now confirmed in two separate decisions that an arbitral tribunal may award a winning claimant its third party funding costs. How significant are these decisions and it is time to rethink the potential reward and risk of international arbitration?
The last year or two has seen changes in arbitration rules and procedures, caused in no small part by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are new LCIA, DIFC-LCIA and ICC arbitration rules. The Seoul Protocol on Video Conferencing in International Arbitration is being regularly used and the Africa Arbitration Academy Protocol on Virtual Hearings has been issued. There have also been revisions to the IBA Rules on Taking Evidence in International Arbitration. This short update looks at the key take-aways from these changes.
A contract may require a party giving notice of a claim to specify the contractual or legal basis of that claim in the notice (or the supporting particulars). What if that party states a contractual or legal basis for the claim but later (perhaps with the benefit of additional information or because of advice from its lawyers) changes its mind or wants to include further contractual or legal bases? This was considered by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal in Maeda Corporation and China State Construction Engineering (Hong Kong) Limited v Bauer Hong Kong Limited [2020] HKCA 830. It found that a subcontractor could not change the contractual basis for its claim once the time period for providing such notice had expired. What, if any, impact will this decision have on the FIDIC forms of contract?
Airports Authority of Trinidad and Tobago v Jusamco Pavers Ltd[1]
The figures published for the ICC for 2018 show that
An issue that often arises in international arbitrations involving the FIDIC forms of contract is whether a claimant's failure to: (a) go through the dispute resolution provisions; or (b) comply with a time-bar clause gives rise to a question of admissibility or jurisdiction. Put another way, if a claimant has failed to issue a notice of claim within 28 days or failed to refer a dispute to a DAB, does the arbitral tribunal have jurisdiction to make an award on the merits or should the arbitral tribunal make an award stating that it lacks jurisdiction?
Background The debate surrounding the use of tribunal secretaries in
It has been suggested that FIDIC’s new Emerald Book may be “a contractors’ charter for riches”. 1 This article examines whether this new form of contract for underground works by FIDIC and the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association is too contractor-biased or whether it provides a sensible and pragmatic risk allocation process, in an area of construction and engineering which is well known for claims. If more risks are placed on the Employer in this form of contract, what are the benefits of the contract compared to, for example, an unamended FIDIC Yellow Book?
This article considers what the arbitration landscape will look like when (or perhaps if!) the UK leaves the EU and concludes that big changes are unlikely.
Much has been said about the new Red, Yellow and Silver Books 2nd Editions launched by FIDIC in December last year. The most obvious comment has been about their size, almost 50,000 words, which is some 60% longer than the 1999 forms. Although the 1999 forms were not perfect, most regular users seem to be agreed that they did not need 20,000 words to fix the issues. This consensus led this author to attempt to cherry-pick the good bits from the 2017 forms and to propose amendments to add the good ideas to the 1999 forms. The amendments apply to all three forms unless it is indicated otherwise.
In this article Corbett & Co. Director Andrew Tweeddale addresses whether sub-clause 20.5 is a condition precedent to the commencement of an arbitration or whether it is an obligation, the breach of which will not affect the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal to resolve the dispute.
There have been two High Court cases within the last 15 months that lift the lid off what some perceive to be questionable practices (particularly in relation to the Eurocom case) that have developed over the last few years in the world of adjudication and arbitration in the UK. The first, in November 2014, was a decision of Ramsey J sitting in the Technology and Construction Court in Eurocom v Siemens PLC and the second, which is the focus of this article, was a decision of Hamblen J, in the Commercial Court in Cofely Limited v Anthony Bingham and Knowles Limited. Both of these cases illustrate the lengths to which some parties will go to steer the nomination process in order to secure the tribunal of their choice. Some view these practices as innocent forum shopping; others see them as tantamount to forum shop-lifting. What is becoming increasingly clear is that these practices have become by no means exceptional or even unusual. Hopefully the outcome of these cases will act as a real deterrent to these practices in the future.
In its bulletin of 5 January 2016, the ICC announced penalties to encourage arbitrators to deliver up their awards more quickly than at present. The tardiness of some arbitrators has long been cause for major discontent amongst both lawyers and clients. Corbett & Co.’s worst experience was a sole arbitrator who took more than 18 months to issue an award on a preliminary issue!
FIDIC is arguably the most widely used standard form of international construction contract but reported FIDIC cases are rare. Is it time for an increased publication of FIDIC cases? There are three categories of decisions arising out of FIDIC dispute resolution provisions: 1. Decisions of the Engineer or the Dispute Adjudication Board (DAB), which will generally not be published or reported to anyone other than the parties involved in the dispute. 2. Decisions of arbitral tribunals, which are not usually made public although this is subject to certain exceptions. 3. Decisions of national courts, which are a relatively rare occurrence for the reasons discussed below.
The 1999 FIDIC forms of contract contain a number of obligations and/or conditions precedent that require (a) a party to give notice of a claim (Sub-Clauses 20.1 and 2.5); (b) refer the claim to the Engineer (Sub-Clauses 20.1 and 3.5); and (c) submit the dispute to a Dispute Adjudication Board (“DAB”) (Sub-Clause 20.4). If either party gives a notice of dissatisfaction relating to the DAB’s Decision then Sub-Clause 20.5 provides that: “Where notice of dissatisfaction has been given under Sub-Clause 20.4 above, both Parties shall attempt to settle the dispute amicably before the commencement of arbitration. However, unless both Parties agree otherwise, arbitration may be commenced on or after the fifty-sixth day after the day on which notice of dissatisfaction was given, even if no attempt at amicable settlement has been made.”
Corbett & Co. Director Andrew Tweeddale has contributed a chapter to the Chartered Institute of Arbitration (CIArb) liber amicorum recently published in celebration of its centenary. Andrew has written a chapter entitled “Shifting the Burden of Proof: Revisiting Adjudication Decisions”. He comments: “I was delighted to be invited to contribute to this publication, especially as this is the CIArb’s centenary.”
Articles on Arbitration The Need For Reasons - O, Reason
One of the grounds where a New York Convention award may be refused recognition and enforcement is where the award has not yet become binding on the parties, or has been set aside or suspended by a competent authority of the country in which, or under the law of which, that award was made. A similar provision exists in the English Arbitration Act 1996 s.103(2)(f). Under both the New York Convention and the Arbitration Act 1996 the word “may” is used which indicates that even if the award has been set aside at the seat of the arbitration it might still be enforced in another country. This article focuses on recent developments under English law as to how the courts have dealt with the enforcement of annulled awards. We also examine the Arbitration Act 1996 s.103(5) which provides that where an application for the setting aside or suspension of the award has been made to the relevant court, the court before which the award is sought to be relied upon may, if it considers it proper, adjourn the decision on the recognition or enforcement of the award. In countries which have adopted modern arbitration laws there is an almost universally held pro-enforcement attitude when considering international arbitration awards. However, when an award is challenged, or has been set aside at the seat of the arbitration, the enforcing courts may have to consider the status of the award. One view is that an award that has been set aside at the seat has no legal status and therefore there is nothing to enforce. An opposing view is that the annulment of the award at the seat of the arbitration does not affect its validity. The English courts have, however, approached the question in a pragmatic way. They have rejected an approach based on legal theory and simply applied a test as to when an award, which has been set aside, should or should not be enforced.
The purpose of the 1958 New York Convention is to facilitate so far as possible the international recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Nevertheless it provides that a court may refuse to do that if such an award has already been set aside or suspended at its seat. The English courts have interpreted this word ‘may’ as giving themselves a wide discretion. But it is one that in practice is likely to result in a refusal to enforce.
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