Mealey's International Arbitration

  • July 24, 2026

    Tribunal Dismisses Wind Power Investors’ 353M Euro Claim Against Germany

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published an award in which a tribunal by majority found jurisdiction over arbitral claims brought by Irish and German wind energy investors against the Federal Republic of Germany for breach of the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) but unanimously rejected their claim for 353 million euros and said Germany did not breach the treaty by imposing new wind power regulations.

  • July 24, 2026

    ICSID Committee Won’t Annul $110.7M Award Against Peru In Electricity Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published an ad hoc committee’s decision dismissing the Republic of Peru’s application to partially annul a rectified arbitral award ordering it to pay two Singaporean investors more than $110.7 million for a power plant investment dispute, finding that the tribunal did not commit significant errors except for a slight lack of “procedural courtesy” and ordering Peru to pay more than $1.9 million in attorney fees and costs of the proceeding.

  • July 23, 2026

    Judge Enforces Award Worth More Than $1B Against South Sudan And Its Bank

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on July 23 granted a Qatari bank’s motion for default judgment against the Republic of South Sudan and summary judgment against its state-owned bank, the Bank of South Sudan (BOSS), and enforced an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award against them worth more than $1 billion for defaulting on a roughly $700 million loan, rebuffing BOSS’s arguments opposing enforcement based on “vague allegations of corruption.”

  • July 22, 2026

    ICSID Award Worth $390M Was Timely Enforced Under Local Law, D.C. Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 21 affirmed a $390 million federal court judgment entered after the confirmation of an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) award in favor of airline investors and against the Argentine Republic, writing that the case was timely filed under the District of Columbia’s 12-year statute of limitations.

  • July 22, 2026

    5th Circuit: Court Had No Jurisdiction To Administratively Close Hurricane Ida Suit

    NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a lower federal court lacked jurisdiction to issue an order applying Crescent City Surgical Operating Co. v. Interstate Fire & Cas. Co. and administratively closing an insured’s breach of contract lawsuit during the pendency of domestic and foreign insurers’ appeal of its order setting a deadline for the parties to complete arbitration of a Hurricane Ida coverage dispute.

  • July 21, 2026

    Litigation Funders Ask 3rd Circuit To Stay Appeal Pending Petition For Cert Funding Dispute

    PHILADELPHIA — Three litigation funders filed a motion on July 20 asking the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to stay their appeal challenging a federal judge’s denial of their motion to compel arbitration of a discovery dispute with a German claims administrator, writing that their separate, pending petition for a writ of certiorari arising out of a separate case between the same parties “bears directly on this case.”

  • July 21, 2026

    3rd Circuit Issues Mandate After Denying Stay Pending Contractor’s Petition For Cert

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 20 issued its mandate based on its finding that quasi in rem jurisdiction exists over a petition to enforce an international arbitration award worth more than $140 million against an Italian contractor and in favor of a Chilean company; the contractor had moved to stay the mandate pending the disposition of its planned petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • July 20, 2026

    Judge Won’t Stay Ukrainian Oil Company’s $5B Award Petition Against Russia

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge on July 17 denied the Russian Federation’s motion to stay a petition brought against it by a Ukrainian state-owned oil company and five of its subsidiaries to confirm a Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal’s award worth roughly $5 billion despite Russia’s pending challenge to the award in Dutch courts, noting that the dispute is more than a decade old.

  • July 17, 2026

    3rd Petition For Certiorari Filed Challenging Denial Of Hurricane Claim Arbitration

    NEW ORLEANS — A group of domestic insurers filed the third petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming the denial of a motion to compel arbitration of a dispute over damage from a Louisiana hurricane under a state law barring arbitration of such disputes, asking the court to find that the Fifth Circuit applied the wrong law to their equitable estoppel argument under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention).

  • July 16, 2026

    4th Circuit Reverses Confirmation Of Dutch Arbitral Award To Insolvent Insurer

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 14 reversed and remanded a lower court’s confirmation of a $166,797,838 arbitral award issued in favor of insolvency practitioners for a Dutch insurer in liquidation, finding that the petition was filed in the lower court after the statute of limitations expired under the Federal Arbitration Act but that the award is a foreign judgment enforceable on remand under North Carolina law.

  • July 14, 2026

    Tribunal Won’t Stay $117M Award Against Argentina Pending Annulment Application

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published an ad hoc committee’s decision denying the Argentine Republic’s request to stay enforcement of a rectified award against it worth more than $117 million for breach of an Italian company’s contract pending the outcome of Argentina’s application to annul the award, finding that the circumstances of the case do not support a continued stay.

  • July 09, 2026

    Chilean Company Opposes Stay In $140M Award Row Pending Petition For Certiorari

    PHILADELPHIA — A Chilean company filed a brief July 8 denying that a circuit split was created by the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of quasi in rem jurisdiction over a petition to enforce an international arbitration award worth more than $140 million and urging the Third Circuit to deny an Italian award-debtor’s motion to stay the court’s mandate pending disposition of a planned petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • July 09, 2026

    English Panel Says India Didn’t Waive Immunity From Arbitral Award Enforcement

    LONDON — The Court of Appeal of England and Wales issued a ruling affirming that the Republic of India has state immunity from an application to enforce a Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) award against it worth more than 195 million euros for harming the investment of shareholders in a satellite company, opining that India did not waive its immunity by entering the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the New York Convention).

  • July 09, 2026

    Insurer Asks High Court To Determine Applicable Law In Hurricane Arbitration Row

    NEW ORLEANS — A domestic insurer filed a petition for a writ of certiorari urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that it says “cemented” a circuit split over the law applicable to enforcement of arbitration agreements with nonsignatories based on equitable estoppel by holding that arbitration of its dispute with an insured over a claim for hurricane damages and bad faith was barred under Louisiana law.

  • July 08, 2026

    High Court Distributes Petition Over Louisiana Anti-Arbitration Law

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — After a group of insured Louisiana municipal entities waived their right to respond, the U.S. Supreme Court on July 8 distributed for conference a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by a group of foreign and domestic insurers who claim that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created a circuit split by applying Louisiana law and barring arbitration of hurricane damage policy disputes.

  • July 02, 2026

    Russian Investor Urges D.C. Circuit To Lift Stay Of $172M Petition Against Ukraine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Russian oil investor in an appellant brief to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals argues that a federal judge improperly refused to lift a stay on postjudgment discovery as it seeks to enforce a confirmed arbitral award worth more than $172.9 million against Ukraine, which has been in place since Russia invaded Ukraine and which the United States continues to support due to “national security” concerns.

  • July 02, 2026

    Tribunal Won’t Bifurcate U.S. Company’s Dispute Over Moldovan Domain Name

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) published a tribunal’s order denying the Republic of Moldova’s request to bifurcate its jurisdictional objections to arbitration claims brought by a U.S. investment company that claims that Moldova harmed its interest in a contract to market “.md” website domains by refusing to renew its contract, finding that the objections are “intertwined” with the merits.

  • July 02, 2026

    Judge Awards $28.1M Against Spain In ICSID Energy Award Case

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A District of Columbia federal judge entered final judgment against the Kingdom of Spain for more than $28.1 million representing an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitral award against it for breaching the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) by rescinding government incentives for wind energy investors after the parties agreed that the court’s prior ruling denying Spain’s motion to dismiss “‘resolved’” the merits of the case.

  • June 30, 2026

    Companies Must Pay $296K In Attorney Fees For Award ‘Obtained Through Fraud’

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on June 29 ordered three Cypriot companies that are the beneficiaries of a since-vacated JAMS award worth more than $102 million, which the court said was “obtained through fraud,” to pay more than $296,000 in attorney fees to the original award debtor, which previously won vacatur of the award issued against it as part of a dispute between shipping companies.

  • June 30, 2026

    Dutch Investors Win $71M In Aluminum Action Against Ukraine

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 29 published a tribunal’s award ordering Ukraine to pay two Dutch investors $71 million in restitution for the 2015 renationalization of their shareholding in aluminum assets, plus interest, arbitration costs and an undisclosed amount of attorney fees, but dismissed their other claims for damages.

  • June 29, 2026

    Russia’s Petition For Review Of Jurisdiction Over Crimean Arbitration Award Denied

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied the Russian Federation’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling affirming federal jurisdiction over two petitions to confirm arbitral awards collectively worth more than $252 million against it and in favor of Ukrainian investors for Russia’s alleged expropriation of their assets in the Crimean peninsula, which Russia claimed were not based on valid arbitration agreements.

  • June 29, 2026

    High Court Denies Spain’s Petition For Review Of Intra-EU Arbitration Cases

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 29 denied the Kingdom of Spain’s petition for a writ of certiorari seeking review of a District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling finding jurisdiction over petitions to confirm intra-European Union arbitral awards against it and in favor of Dutch investors and a Luxembourgish company, which Spain had opposed as prohibited under EU law.

  • June 26, 2026

    Reinsurer Gets Confirmation Of $9.2M Arbitration Award In Settlement Case

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a reinsurer’s cross-motion to confirm a final arbitration award and denied an intergovernmental risk pool’s Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) vacatur petition in a dispute over a $9.2 million catastrophic injury settlement, holding that the arbitration panel did not manifestly disregard reinsurance, settlement or contract law in finding that the risk pool acted in bad faith and that its challenges largely sought impermissible review of the panel’s factual findings and contract interpretation.

  • June 23, 2026

    Canadian Dairy Investor Loses Bid To Annul Dismissal Of 87M Euro Claim

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on June 22 published an ad hoc committee’s decision dismissing a Canadian investor’s application for annulment of a split tribunal’s refusal to award him damages for the loss of indirect holdings in Serbia allegedly worth 87.5 million euros, finding that the tribunal properly explained its reasoning and did not exceed its powers and ordering the investor to pay Serbia’s attorney fees and the arbitration costs.

  • June 22, 2026

    3rd Circuit Grants Venezuela Extension In $5.8B Oil Shares Auction Appeal

    PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a request by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, appearing with new counsel, to postpone by 60 days oral argument in a pending appeal brought by it, its affiliates and losing bidders of a Delaware federal court’s order approving a more than $5.8 billion bid for Venezuela’s oil shares located in the United States, which the court is auctioning off to enforce confirmed arbitral awards and Venezuela’s bond debts.