Legal Insights

Legal tech, digital evidence, hacked evidence… these all are trending buzz words in a field that lawyers appear to conquer these days. At the same time, lawyers must be aware of the new risks associated with that innovation. Whatever is digital, can eventually be hacked. Possibly, the client will…

Mediation’s main disadvantage as an international dispute resolution method is its difficulty enforcing settlements. The Singapore Convention addresses this problem. It aims to mirror in the world of mediation the 1958 New York Convention's role in the world of arbitration. Namely, the Singapore…

In June 2020, the ICSID tribunal in Addiko Bank v Croatia rendered a decision on Croatia’s jurisdictional objection which was based on the alleged incompatibility of the BIT with the EU acquis, i.e. the body of common rights and obligations that are binding on all EU Members, including the Achmea…

Sustainable International Investment Agreements (IIAs) must safeguard the balance of the overall give and take between the foreign investor and the host state as well as between economic, environmental and social priorities. Therefore, drafting Sustainable Development friendly IIAs involves a…

On 5 May 2020, 23 EU states have signed the “Agreement for the Termination of Bilateral Investment Treaties between the Member States of the European Union”.

In the Brundtland Report, Sustainable Development was defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". In this sense, the notion of Sustainable Development encompasses a balance between three "interdependent…

In a recently rendered decision (18 OCg 5/19p), the Austrian Supreme Court departed from its previous practice of setting aside arbitral awards on grounds of arbitrator bias only in particularly glaring cases. As a consequence, future challenges no longer need to meet this high threshold. However,…

In dispute resolution, the skill of coherent and convincing “storytelling” is essential for an attorney to win its case. Similarly, as arbitrators are given substantial authority by the parties, transparent and rational decision-making may be of crucial importance to fruitfully resolve a dispute.

In November 2018, the Austrian Supreme Court handed down a landmark decision (18 ONc 2/18s), clarifying that an arbitral tribunal may verify the accuracy of a claim that is subject to insolvency proceedings despite the otherwise exclusive jurisdiction of the insolvency court, provided that the…