The German Federal Court of Justice has announced that it has requested guidance under the preliminary reference procedure from the European Court of Justice on the issue of the compatibility of Intra-EU BITs with EU law in Eureko v Slovakia. For background information on the Eureko v Slovakia dispute, see Tracker, Intra-EU bilateral investment treaties". We will report further shortly.

In Hualon Corporation (M) Sdn Bhd (in receivership) acting by its receiver and manager Mr Duar Tuan Kiat v Marty Limited BVIHC (COM) 2014/0090), a judge of the High Court of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court held that a party did not waive its right to arbitration when it commenced court proceedings despite the existence of an arbitration agreement. We will report further shortly.

In Gold Reserve Inc. v Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, No. CV 14-2014 (JEB), (D.D.C. Nov. 20, 2015), the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia refused to stay a lower court judgment enforcing the US$740 million arbitral award against Venezuela pending the appeal. For details of the lower court decision, see Legal update, US District Court allows Gold Reserve to enforce award against Venezuela in Washington DC.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published further analysis of its 2015 caseload. In February 2016, we reported that the ICC had released its 2015 data revealing another increase in caseload (see Legal update, ICC 2015 statistics reveal another small increase in caseload). In this latest publication, the ICC provides a further breakdown of the figures, including new statistics on gender. In 2015, women arbitrators represented just over 10% of all appointments and confirmations and were more frequently appointed or confirmed as co-arbitrators (43%) than they were as sole arbitrators (32%) or tribunal presidents (25%).

The 23rd ICCA Congress took place in Mauritius between 8 and 11 May 2016. The theme of the Congress was international arbitration's contribution to, and conformity with, the rule of law. The Congress featured keynote speeches by Nobel Laureate Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, Judge Abdulqawi A Yusuf of the International Court of Justice, Lord Hoffmann and UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon. In addition, there were panel sessions led by eminent arbitrators, counsel and academics. While the focus was on international arbitration generally, delegates also had the opportunity to hear about arbitration in Africa. It was also announced that the Scottish Arbitration Centre won its bid to host the ICCA Congress 2020 in Edinburgh. We will report further shortly.