Archive for the ‘Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards’ Category

Heydary Hamilton PC Lawyer – Speaker at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association in Toronto – International Arbitration

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

David Alderson*, of  Heydary Hamilton PC , Toronto, with other panel members, Nancy Thevenin, of Baker & McKenzie LLP, New York and David Lindsey of Chaffetz Lindsey LLP, New York, and panel co-coordinator, Gustavo Lamelas, of DLA Piper LLP, Miami, spoke at the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association held August 4-9, 2011, in Toronto, Canada.

The panel convened and spoke at the ABA Annual Meeting, Section of Litigation event “Strategic Choices in International Arbitration: the Impact of Forum Selection and Choice-of-Law Decisions”.

David Alderson spoke on the subjects of the competence- competence doctrine, severability (separability) and judicial intervention in determining the jurisdiction of a tribunal; and the enforcement of arbitral awards, including public policy exclusion to enforcement and the effect of local limitation periods in the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards in UNCITRAL / Model law jurisdictions.

*David practices with Heydary Hamilton PC , Toronto, primarily in the fields of complex litigation and arbitration, including international disputes. He has been admitted to practice in Ontario (Canada), England and Wales, Bermuda and New York State.  He has practiced with Holman Fenwick & Willan in London, a firm operating in 12 countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, South East Asia and Australia;  Conyers Dill and Pearman in Bermuda, a practice in 10 jurisdictions, including the Caribbean, Middle East, Far East, Europe, South America and South East Asia; and Afridi and Angell in Dubai, which had offices in New York, Washington, Pakistan and throughout the UAE.

His practice experience has focused on both domestic and international arbitrations; institutional and ad hoc arbitrations; expert determinations and valuations; and more rarely statutory arbitration. David has been professionally involved arbitrations in matters as diverse as reinsurance, construction, project finance, marine and maritime, business break-ups and commodities, including oil, grain and food products.

David has significant practice experience in the law of war and the legal consequences of war in the commercial world. David is the author and co-author of chapters of published works on attachment of assets, enforcement of money judgments and the regulation of securities. He blogs on matters of interest to those engaged in cross-border and international litigation and arbitration.

David Alderson, LL.B, LL.M (Lond.)

 

Brief informational summaries about commercial litigation matters in the courts of Ontario and other developments are periodically published on this website. They are intended to be a general comment or general discussion, not legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Should you require legal advice, please contact info@heydary.com or 416 972 9001.

Supreme Court of Canada: Local Limitation Period Applies when Enforcing Arbitration Awards under legislation incorporating the 1958 New York Convention and the UN Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration

Friday, October 15th, 2010

Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) in its judgment released on May 20, 2010, in Yugraneft Corp. v. Rexx Management Corp., 2010 SCC 19, [2010] 1 S.C.R. 649 upheld the Court of Appeal of Alberta’s decision that an arbitral award granted to a Russian company against an Alberta company was time-barred under the Alberta Limitations Act, which sets out a two-year the limitation period.

In its reasons, the SCC relied on Article III of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York, 1958) (“New York Convention”), which provides that recognition and enforcement shall be “in accordance with the rules of procedure of the territory where the award is relied upon”. In addition, SCC interpreted “the rules of procedure” under the Article III of the New York Convention as meaning “any limitation period that, under domestic law, is applicable to the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award”.

The Ontario International Commercial Arbitration Act R.S.O. 1990, Ch. I .9 incorporates some, but not all, of the New York Convention and the entirety of UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (“Model Law”). The basic limitation period in Ontario is two years pursuant to the Ontario Limitations Act, 2002, S.O. 2002, Ch. 24, Sched. B.

Other Citation: Alberta Limitations Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. L-12

David Alderson, LL.B, LL.M (Lond.)

Masha Loftus, M.A., J.D


Brief informational summaries about commercial litigation matters in the courts of Ontario and other developments are periodically published on this website. They are intended to be a general comment or general discussion, not legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Should you require legal advice, please contact info@heydary.com or 416 972 9001.

UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration – New Legislation

Thursday, October 14th, 2010

Legislation based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, as adopted in 1985 has been effected in a number of jurisdictions, including, in part, in Ontario (see International Commercial Arbitration Act R.S.O. 1990, Ch. I.9).

The UNCITRAL Secretariat has recently released a Status of Conventions and Enactments of UNCITRAL update indicating that the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration with amendments as adopted in 2006 has been enacted (at least in part) in 2010 legislation in the jurisdictions of Australia, Ireland and the State of Florida, in the United States of America.

http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/arbitration/1985Model_arbitration_status.html

David Alderson, LL.B, LL.M (Lond.)

Olanyi Parsons, LL.B.


Brief informational summaries about commercial litigation matters in the courts of Ontario and other developments are periodically published on this website. They are intended to be a general comment or general discussion, not legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Should you require legal advice, please contact info@heydary.com or 416 972 9001.