Mealey's International Arbitration : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's International Arbitration

August 13, 2025
Spain Loses Bids To Dismiss 2 ICSID Award Petitions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two District of Columbia federal judges on Aug. 12 issued separate rulings denying the Kingdom of Spain’s motions to dismiss petitions to confirm two International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) awards against it and in favor of EU-based renewable energy investors, with one judge also confirming an award worth more than 60 million euros.
August 12, 2025
Tribunal Says Records Of Qatari Death Sentence Against Investor Not Confidential

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s order in response to the state of Qatar’s request to treat as confidential an arbitration claim brought against it by a French-Algerian investor, writing that it will maintain confidentiality of certain pleadings and memorials but not of any records relating to a death sentence issued in Qatar against the investor.
August 12, 2025
Judge Compels Arbitration Of Dispute Over German Litigation Funding

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge on Aug. 11 granted a third-party litigation and arbitration funder’s motion to compel arbitration of a German entity’s complaint seeking declaratory relief that an arbitration agreement entered into between the parties as part of an agreement to fund litigation against German truck makers is not enforceable.
August 12, 2025
$325M Award Confirmed In Dispute Over Control Of Telecommunications Company

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a petition to confirm an arbitral award worth more than $325 million against majority shareholders of a Latin American telecommunications company in a dispute over control of the company, finding that the arbitration tribunal was permitted to fashion relief not sought by the parties under the applicable arbitration rules.
August 11, 2025
Tribunal Issues New Findings On Requirements Of India-Pakistan Water Treaty

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands — A Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal on Aug. 8 issued an award explaining the interpretation, application and binding effect of a water treaty between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of India, writing that the treaty imposes enforceable obligations on India’s design and construction of dams and hydroelectric plants on western rivers despite India’s nonparticipation in the arbitration.
August 08, 2025
U.S. Energy Investor Asks Court To Enforce $732M Award Against Argentina

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. company filed a petition in District of Columbia federal court seeking to enforce an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) tribunal’s award worth more than $732 million in damages, attorney fees and costs against the Argentine Republic for harming its investments in Argentine electricity generation.
August 07, 2025
Arbitration Agreement In Unsigned Aluminum Contract Is Enforceable, Judge Says

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a U.S. company’s petition to compel arbitration of an aluminum pricing dispute with a Swiss company and denied the Swiss company’s cross-petition to enjoin arbitration, finding that the parties “objectively manifested their mutual assent” to the terms of a draft contract requiring arbitration of such disputes despite not signing the draft or finalizing certain other terms contained in it.
August 06, 2025
D.C. Circuit Remands $57B Petition Against Russia Over Jurisdictional Issue

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 5 vacated and remanded a judge’s denial of the Russian Federation’s motion to dismiss a petition to confirm arbitral awards against it worth more than $57 billion, writing that the court wrongly deferred to the tribunal on a jurisdictional fact that requires independent evaluation by the court.
July 30, 2025
COMMENTARY: AI In Construction Arbitration – A Fast-Evolving Landscape

By Peter Rosher, Alison Eslick and Alice Jones
August 04, 2025
Tribunal Awards $730M To Investor, Rejects Argentina’s Economic Crisis Defense

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on Aug. 4 published a tribunal’s award to a U.S. entity for more than $730 million in damages, attorney fees and costs for a 23-year-old claim against the Argentine Republic for harming its investments in Argentine electricity generation plants, with one arbitrator dissenting as to the distribution of arbitration costs and attorney fees.
August 01, 2025
Judge Stays Discovery Application, Instead Compels Arbitration In Argentina

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on July 31 granted a motion by two Florida companies to stay an application for discovery assistance filed by an investor seeking to bring criminal charges against the companies and to compel arbitration in Argentina of the dispute related to a purchase agreement between the parties, writing that the court can apply federal arbitration law to a proceeding that began as an ex parte application to obtain evidence.
July 28, 2025
Judge Increases Judgment In Chinese LED Contract Award To $270K

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on July 25 granted a Chinese company’s motion to alter or amend a previously entered judgment confirming a Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SIAC) arbitral award against a Florida company, ordering the award worth more than $252,000 converted to U.S. currency and adding more than $17,000 in prejudgment interest.
July 25, 2025
9th Circuit Urged To Not Order More Briefing In $1.3B Indian Satellite Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — Four entities affiliated with an Indian company that won an arbitral award worth more than $1.3 billion against an Indian state-owned company urged the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals not to order supplemental briefing on remand after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated an en banc Ninth Circuit ruling finding no jurisdiction over the award-debtor, writing that new arguments would be improper at this stage of the nearly 15-year-old case.
July 25, 2025
Judge Severs Fee Provision In Cruise Company’s Employment Arbitration

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on July 24 granted in part and denied in part a cruise company’s motion to compel arbitration of an indigent Nicaraguan employee’s claims related to an injury sustained while aboard the company’s vessel, severing from the agreement fee-splitting provisions that would bar the employee from participating due to his inability to pay.
July 24, 2025
Romania Opposes Mining Investors’ Bid To Revive $3.3B Claim

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published Romania’s countermemorial opposing an annulment application filed by Canadian and British gold and silver mining investors who are challenging a tribunal’s award rejecting their claim against Romania for $3.3 billion in damages and ordering them to pay the nation $10 million in attorney fees and costs, which Romania says was the correct outcome.
July 24, 2025
Judge Confirms Award In Biopharmaceutical Dispute With Hong Kong Company

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted an American biopharmaceutical company’s unopposed petition to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) tribunal’s award rejecting claims against the company for violation of a licensing agreement, which did not include any monetary award of damages or fees but resolved the intra-company dispute on the merits.
July 23, 2025
Peruvian Instrumentality Loses Bid To Dismiss $168M Broadband Contract Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on July 22 denied a Peruvian state-owned instrumentality’s motion to dismiss a petition against it to confirm an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitral award worth more than $168 million for a contract dispute for the abrupt termination of broadband contracts with a Peruvian company, against it.
July 23, 2025
Cruise Rape Claim Can’t Be Arbitrated Under New York Convention, Judge Says

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge denied a cruise company’s motion to compel arbitration of an employee’s allegations that she was drugged and raped by another employee on a vessel at sea, ruling that the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (EFAA) prohibits arbitration of the dispute under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention).
July 22, 2025
English Appeals Court Reverses Denial Of Korea’s Challenge To $48.5M Award

LONDON — A panel of the English Court of Appeal allowed an appeal by the Republic of Korea and found that a lower court erred by not permitting it to challenge an arbitration tribunal’s award for lack of jurisdiction over the dispute, finding the court improperly interpreted a treaty governing the arbitration between Korean and a U.S. investor.
July 22, 2025
Bankrupt Turkish Claimant Must Post $2M To Maintain Claim Against Turkmenistan

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on July 21 published a tribunal’s decision granting in part Turkmenistan’s request that a Turkish company accusing the state of impairing its energy investment in violation of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) be required to post security to cover potential arbitration costs and ordered the claimant to post $2 million in security.
July 22, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms $52M Chinese Award For Investment Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the confirmation of a Chengdu Arbitration Commission (CAC) arbitral award worth more than $52 million in favor of a Chinese citizen, issued against a Chinese national who resides in California, finding that the arbitration agreement was valid, that the award-debtor had notice of the proceeding and that allegations of one arbitrator being distracted do not violate public policy of the United States.
July 17, 2025
Russia Challenges Finding Of Jurisdiction In $34M Crimean Arbitration Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Russian Federation on July 16 filed an appellant brief to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals urging it to reverse a finding of jurisdiction over it under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) in a joint petition by 11 Ukrainian companies seeking to confirm arbitral awards worth more than $34 million for the seizure of their assets in Crimea, writing that the ruling contradicts recent D.C. Circuit precedent.
July 17, 2025
4th Circuit Won’t Rehear Challenge To $8M Iraq War Contract Award

RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a Kuwaiti company’s petition for a panel and en banc rehearing of its challenge to an $8 million arbitral award it was ordered to pay for a dispute with Kellogg Brown & Root International Inc. (KBR) over logistics contracts performed during the Iraq war.
July 16, 2025
D.C. Circuit Reverses $50M Award Against Zimbabwe For Lack Of Jurisdiction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 15 reversed a district court’s finding of jurisdiction over an action to enforce a Zambian court’s judgment confirming an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitral award worth roughly $50 million against the Republic of Zimbabwe and affiliates in favor of two Mauritian mining investors, finding that a lower court improperly applied a jurisdictional statute that applies to arbitration awards, not money judgments.
July 16, 2025
Judge Confirms $7.6M Award Against Niger For Airport Investment Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge granted a Luxembourg investor’s motion for default judgment and confirmed a decade-old International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award worth more than $7.6 million against the Republic of Niger for harming its investment in operating a Nigerien airport.