Australian Courts: Granting a stay of proceedings The Australian courts are often requested to enforce an arbitration agreement by granting a stay of court proceedings. A stay application may be made when a party has commenced court proceedings despite the existence of an arbitration agreement in the underlying contract. In Australia, the courts may be requested to grant a stay in relation to domestic arbitrations under section 8 of the Commercial Arbitration Act 2010 (NSW)…
The Federal Court of Australia (FCA) has enforced two ICSID awards against the Kingdom of Spain (Spain) in Eiser Infrastructure Ltd v Kingdom of Spain. [1] The FCA rejected Spain’s argument that it was immune from the jurisdiction of the Australian courts (asserted pursuant to sections 9 and 10(7) of the Foreign States Immunities Act 1985 (Cth) (Immunities Act)). The investors (Investors) involved in two ICSID arbitrations applied under s35(4) of the International Arbitration Act…
Six years after its inception, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping has entered a new, more mature stage. Now based on a more inclusive, transparent and sustainable approach, the global development strategy has been gaining more traction in the 130+ collaborating countries. However, there are two sides to this particular coin: as the opportunities grow, so do the risks. Risk mitigation and compliance for BRI projects have become top…