Following a recent increase in the number of applications to the courts by business entities against tax and customs authorities, tax and customs litigation is a new and rising trend in Vietnam. Most, if not all, of these applications have been initiated by businesses challenging the decisions of tax and customs authorities in regards to determining tax liabilities or imposing enforcement measures, such as freezing a business’ bank account. Under Vietnamese law, decisions such as…
In circumstances where an arbitration clause expressly includes only some, but not all, of the parties to a transaction, and a dispute arises between all concerned, naturally, only those parties included in the arbitration clause may participate in the arbitration, leaving the other parties to seek redress from the courts. The question is what the non-parties to the arbitration can do if the arbitration touches upon their interests? In Jaya Sudhir Jayaram v Nautical Supreme…
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…
Introduction In a recent decision, Heineken Asia Pacific Pte Ltd v Super La Via Sdn Bhd [1](Heineken) the Malaysian High Court held that a party accused of trademark infringement could not rely on being a mere middleman just facilitating the importation of counterfeit goods to be sold by another party to a non-Malaysian market to avoid liability. The assertion of non-ownership of the said goods is not a statutory defence under the Malaysian Trade Marks…
On 25 December 2019, the PRC Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) released the amended Provisions on Evidence for Civil Proceedings (“Amended Evidence Rules”), which will come into force on 1 May 2020, replacing the old evidence rules that have been in effect since 2002. Major Provisions Significant provisions in the Amended Evidence Rules include, among others, the following. 1. Electronic data evidence Articles 14, 15, 93 and 94 of the Amended Evidence Rules set out the…
On 4 July 2019, the Grand Chamber was established under Taiwan’s courts of final appeals (including the Supreme Court and Supreme Administrative Court), opening a new chapter for Taiwan’s judicial system. The purpose of the Grand Chamber is to enhance the consistency in interpretation of statutes in court decisions in Taiwan. The Grand Chamber system (大法庭制度) replaces the “Precedent and Resolution” system (判例選編及決議制度) in Taiwan, which previously served the role of harmonizing conflicting legal interpretations…
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…
In order to file a petition for a compulsory enforcement, a petitioner is required to identify the location of the obligor’s property. If a creditor wins a civil case against a debtor but cannot identify the debtor’s property, then the creditor would not be able to enforce the judgment against the debtor. In this regard, the Japanese legal system has been unsuccessful in obliging the debtor to disclose its assets. Traditionally, the creditor would be…
Overview of Australia’s class action system Class actions are a well-established dispute resolution mechanism in Australia, under both State and Federal regimes. The threshold requirements for bringing a class action are low: class actions require only that seven or more group members have claims against the same person(s), which are in respect of, or arise out of, the same, similar or related circumstances and give rise to at least one substantial common issue of law…