Facebook, Australia reach deal to restore news pages after shutdown

Facebook agreed to restore news pages on its site in Australia after it said late Monday that it had reached a favorable deal with the government there.

The deal, which came after 11th-hour negotiations and intense backlash against the company, would enable Facebook to run news without having to go through a government-run arbitration process, Facebook’s head of news partnerships, Campbell Brown, said in a statement.

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Explained: Why Amazon is feuding with its partner Future Group and billionaire Mukesh Ambani

A legal spat between Amazon.com Inc. and its Indian partner that started with an arbitration verdict in Singapore has got fiercer in New Delhi courtrooms. And neither side is ready to back off.

The US e-commerce giant and Mumbai-based Future Group, whose retail assets billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s RelianceIndustries agreed to buy for $3.4 billion in August, are locked in a dispute over that deal. Amazon says Future violated a partnership contract with the asset sale to its rival and wants to scuttle it, while the indebted Indian group says it would collapse if the transaction fails.

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Revision of form requirements for an arbitration clause in Swiss international arbitration law

Switzerland has revised its international arbitration law during summer 2020. The revised provisions of the 12th Chapter of the Private International Law Act (“PILA”) entered into force on January 1, 2021. The article at hand offers a handy overview on the revised Art. 178 PILA[1] governing the form requirements from a thoroughly practical approach, focusing on its key changes and developments in international arbitration.

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Cyprus: International Arbitration Comparative Guide

1 Legal framework

1.1 What is the relevant legislation on arbitration in your jurisdiction? Are there any significant limitations on the scope of the statutory regime – for example, does it govern oral arbitration agreements?

The laws that apply to arbitration in Cyprus are as follows:

  • the Arbitration Law (Cap 4);

  • the International Commercial Arbitration Law (101/1987) (‘ICA Law'), which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law of 1985 and applies only to international commercial arbitration;

  • the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, which was ratified in Cyprus by Law 84/1979; and

  • the Foreign Court Judgments (Recognition, Registration and Enforcement) Law (121(I)/2000).

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Hong Kong court stays proceedings for arbitration, honouring arbitration agreement in insurance policy

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance stays third party proceedings commenced by an insured against an insurer, on the basis that the parties are bound by the arbitration clause contained in the insurance policy. Despite the outcome being that the main action and the third party proceedings will ultimately be pursued in different forums, by upholding the parties’ contractual agreement to arbitrate, the Court reinforces its pro-arbitration credentials and the principle of party autonomy.

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Arbitration in Spain in times of COVID

Today more than ever, it is essential for companies to quickly and efficiently resolve any legal dispute or conflict that may affect them. The global COVID-19 pandemic has indeed weakened the Spanish and international business framework, and companies need, more than ever, an impartial system that allows them to:

  • Protect their rights and interests

  • Obtain resolutions that bring their disputes with third parties to an end in the short term

  • Avoid the eternization of judicial proceedings.

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Hong Kong court stays proceedings for arbitration, honouring arbitration agreement in insurance policy

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance stays third party proceedings commenced by an insured against an insurer, on the basis that the parties are bound by the arbitration clause contained in the insurance policy. Despite the outcome being that the main action and the third party proceedings will ultimately be pursued in different forums, by upholding the parties’ contractual agreement to arbitrate, the Court reinforces its pro-arbitration credentials and the principle of party autonomy.

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Singapore High Court’s ruling on overlapping arbitration and jurisdiction clauses

A dispute resolution clause specifies the process, usually by way of litigation or arbitration, through which parties wish to resolve a dispute between them. A dispute resolution clause must be drafted with essential clarity and certainty; otherwise parties may have no choice but to argue about the dispute resolution clause itself.

The recent decision of the Singapore High Court in Silverlink Resorts Limited v MS First Capital Insurance Limited [2020] SGHC 251 concerned the ironic situation where one clause in the contract refers disputes to arbitration, while another clause refers to litigation.

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Hong Kong court stays proceedings for arbitration, honouring arbitration agreement in insurance policy

The Hong Kong Court of First Instance stays third party proceedings commenced by an insured against an insurer, on the basis that the parties are bound by the arbitration clause contained in the insurance policy. Despite the outcome being that the main action and the third party proceedings will ultimately be pursued in different forums, by upholding the parties’ contractual agreement to arbitrate, the Court reinforces its pro-arbitration credentials and the principle of party autonomy.

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Chile files arbitration suit against Albemarle over lithium royalties

SANTIAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Chile has launched an arbitration process against U.S.-based miner Albemarle, the world’s largest lithium producer, for allegedly underpaying royalties on its sales, the head of the state development office told a local newspaper on Sunday.

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Charity disputes and ADR

The recent case of Hussain v Chowdhury [2020] EWHC 790 (Ch) makes clear that, before giving permission to commence charity proceedings, the courts expect the parties to actively engage with alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures in trying to resolve their dispute.

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BVI International Arbitration Centre Expands Global Representation with Addition of 10 New Arbitrators

The British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Centre (BVI IAC), an independent not-for-profit institution serving the demands for dispute resolution in the international business community, today announced the addition of 10 members to its arbitration panel.

The 10 new arbitrators represent nine countries, further expanding the skillset and diversity of the BVI International Arbitration Centre Panel. Now composed of more than 200 international arbitrators, the panel represents common law and civil law jurisdictions, and the arbitrators speak a broad range of languages, including Cantonese, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.

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New Restriction on Arbitration Clauses in State - Foreign Investor Contracts

In order to improve the Egyptian status with regards to the international arbitration disputes, in which the state is party of whether wholly or partially, the Egyptian Prime Minister has issued a new Decree No. 2592 of the year 2020 (hereinafter referred to as the “New Decree”), which fundamentally and ambiguously amended the provisions of the Decree No. 1062 of the year 2019 on organizing the Supreme Commission to study and provide opinion on international arbitration cases, in which the state is part of.

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Australian media firms squeeze more from Google as new law looms

Australia claimed an early win in a protracted licencing battle with Google on Wednesday as media companies lined up to announce content deals with the internet giant that were reportedly far more lucrative than their global rivals.

A month after the Alphabet Inc-owned company threatened to shut down its search engine in Australia to avoid what it called “unworkable” content laws, the country’s two largest free-to-air television broadcasters have struck deals collectively worth A$60 million ($47 million) a year, according to media reports.

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The winds of change - new arbitration rules for the International Court of Arbitration

The winds of change blow on and on. Even as the United Kingdom completed its historic exit from one international body with the expiry of the Brexit transition period on New Year's Eve, so we were reminded – the very next day – that internationalism persists. As 2021 dawned upon us, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC"), headquartered in Paris since 1923, marked the arrival of its new Rules of Arbitration ("2021 ICC Rules") on New Year's Day.

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Managing costs in international arbitration: Covid-19 and economic choices for businesses

When the coronavirus pandemic heralded the globe in 2020, little was predictable, let alone known, in terms of the paralysis and crises it would cause, given the unquantifiable damage and its impact on global socio-economic livelihood. The scale of the outbreak is unprecedented and quite extraordinary. One stark reality of COVID-19 is that many commercial disputes are bound inevitably to result in court or arbitration proceedings due to the adverse impact of the pandemic.

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How reliable is witness testimony in international arbitration? ICC Commission publishes report

How reliable is witness testimony in international arbitration? ICC Commission publishes report on “The Accuracy of Fact Witness Memory in International Arbitration” and provides guidance on best practice for in-house counsel and external lawyers.

The ICC Commission on Arbitration (the “Commission”) has published a report on “The Accuracy of Fact Witness Memory in International Arbitration” (the “Report” - accessible here). The Commission decided to undertake this work following a guest speech (entitled ‘Unreliable Recollections, False Memories and Witness Testimony’) delivered by Toby Landau QC at a meeting of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR (in October 2015). The Report sets out the work undertaken by a Task Force (set up by the Commission) on ‘Maximising the Probative Value of Witness Evidence’ and incorporates scientific input from psychologists specialising in human memory. This article discusses the Report’s findings and lists some key practical considerations practitioners can take away from these conclusions.

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The winds of change - new arbitration rules for the International Court of Arbitration

The winds of change blow on and on. Even as the United Kingdom completed its historic exit from one international body with the expiry of the Brexit transition period on New Year's Eve, so we were reminded – the very next day – that internationalism persists. As 2021 dawned upon us, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC"), headquartered in Paris since 1923, marked the arrival of its new Rules of Arbitration ("2021 ICC Rules") on New Year's Day.

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Record year for arbitration cases registered with ICSID

The record number of new arbitration cases registered with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in 2020 highlights the confidence that investors retain in resolving their disputes with states and state sponsored companies through arbitration, an expert has said.

According to ICSID, which is part of the World Bank and deals in international investment dispute resolution and conciliation, there were 58 new cases registered with it last year, up from the previous record high of 56 in 2018 and the 39 recorded in 2019. The number of cases registered with ICSID has typically been rising since the late 1990s.

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The Ristori Decree Impact on Italian procedural arbitrations and potential challenge of awards containing decisions based on remote hearings

On 27 October 2020 the Italian Council of Ministers approved the Law Decree no. 137/2020 on “Further urgent measures regarding health protection, support for workers and businesses, justice and safety, related to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19” (the so-called Ristori Decree), which was published in the Official Gazette on 28 October 2020 and came into force on 29 October 2020.

The Ristori Decree sought to provide “refreshments” for the economic sectors affected, directly or indirectly, by the new series of restrictive measures imposed by Prime Ministerial Decrees of 13, 18 and 24 October 2020, to contain the worsening of the pandemic in Autumn 2020. It should be pointed out that the Decree may be subject to amendments by the Parliament at the time of its conversion into law.

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