A message from ICCA: new court decisions for Yearbook 2025

A message from ICCA:

The latest update of court decisions in the 2025 ICCA Yearbook Commercial Arbitration is available on the Kluwer Arbitration database, and we are glad to present a selection of our materials.
 
Among the highlights is a substantial update on Brazilian jurisprudence. In a series of recent decisions, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) consistently granted recognition of foreign arbitral awards, emphasizing the limited nature of the recognition proceeding and repeatedly refusing to re-examine the awards’ merits. Specifically, the STJ found in first instance in Stability Marine Inc v. Trading Orion Exportação de Café Ltda, and the STJ Special Court confirmed on appeal in Trading Orion Exportação de Café Ltda v. Stability Marine Inc, that a respondent’s request to modify the amount determined in an award based on an objection to the exchange rate applied by the arbitrator implied a re-examination of the merits that is prohibited in the context of recognition proceedings. Similarly, in Piaggio Group Americas Inc. v. Asset Beclly Investimentos E Participações EIRELI, the STJ held that assessing the correct application of applicable law pertains to the merits and cannot be examined in the recognition proceedings, thereby narrowly interpreting the public policy exception. Furthermore, the STJ affirmed in P E I G v. I I DE M I L its established jurisprudence that due process requirements are met without letters rogatory, so that postal service suffices for giving notice of the arbitration, provided there is unequivocal proof of receipt, because arbitral tribunals are ‘eminently private bodies’.
 
Also featured among the most recent Yearbook additions are four decisions from the Supreme Court of Ukraine rendered in 2024 concerning the recognition, enforcement, and validity of arbitration agreements and awards, in which the Supreme Court has consistently ruled in favor of maintaining the integrity of arbitral proceedings. Of particular interest is the Supreme Court’s decision in Lionel Air S.A.C. v. State Company for Export and Import of Military and Special Purpose Products and Services ‘Ukrspetsexport’, where the Court granted recognition and leave to enforce an award against a state-owned weapons trader, dismissing public policy objections that enforcement might affect the state-owned enterprise’s strategic operations related to the ongoing conflict. Also noteworthy is the decision of the Supreme Court’s Joint Chamber of the Commercial Court of Cassation in Farm ‘Stoyanova I.S.’ v. Nor-East Agro Limited Liability Company, where, reversing its earlier practice, the Court held that courts cannot decide on the merits of an application solely seeking a declaration that an arbitration agreement is invalid.
 
Finally, building on the ICCA-KIAC conference “Africa & International Arbitration: Untold Stories” in Kigali, the 2025 Yearbook now includes a focus on African arbitration jurisprudence across several jurisdictions, including Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, and Uganda, concerning the arbitrability of disputes as well as the enforcement and annulment of awards. For example, the High Court of Uganda held in Xsabo Power Ltd, Bryan Xsabo Strategy Consultants (U) Ltd, Mola Solar Systems (U) Ltd, Consicara Global Investors Ltd and Dr David Alobo v. Great Lakes Energy Company NV that public policy must be interpreted narrowly, covering only fundamental principles of domestic law, and in Kampala International University v. Housing Finance Company Limited found no abuse of process or public policy violation when a creditor sought enforcement in Uganda after commencing execution proceedings in the seat of arbitration, affirming the “parallel entitlements” doctrine. In Remote Partners Ltd v. Mega Business Services Ltd, the Rwandan Commercial High Court dismissed an annulment action where the applicant’s arguments, though framed as procedural errors, were actually aimed at reviewing the arbitrator’s calculation of the amount owed.
 
The full decisions, including English translations and indexing, and additional decisions from England, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Luxembourg, Moldova, the Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, are available by accessing the 2025 Yearbook on Kluwer Arbitration.