In Kilic Insaat Ithalat Ihracat Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi v Turkmenistan (ICSID Case No ARB/10/1), an ICSID ad hoc committee rejected in its entirety the claimant’s request for annulment of a 2013 award for manifest excess of powers, failure to state reasons and serious departure from a fundamental rule of procedure. In the award, the tribunal had dismissed the claimant's claim for lack of jurisdiction on the basis that it had failed to comply with a requirement to submit its dispute to the local courts before arbitration. (For discussion about the award, see Legal update, MFN clause does not apply to Turkmenistan-Turkey BIT dispute resolution provisions).

In Unwired Planet International Ltd v Huawei Technologies Co Ltd & Ors [2015] EWHC 2097 (Pat), Birss J rejected an application for a stay of a counterclaim under section 9 of the English Arbitration Act 1996, on the ground that the applicant had taken a step in the proceedings (for the purposes of section 9(3)) by agreeing to participate in them without reservation. We will report further shortly.

The Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta, Georgia, has created a "Business Case Division" to provide judicial attention and expertise to complex commercial matters, including matters brought under the Georgia International Commercial Arbitration Code (O.C.G.A. § 9-9-20). The Atlanta Centre for International Arbitration and Mediation is also set to open this year on the campus of Georgia State University in Atlanta.

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) has launched an arbitration evaluation system, which allows users to evaluate the conduct of their arbitral proceedings and the performance of their arbitrators. The evaluation system comprises eight forms designed for parties, arbitrators or emergency arbitrators in different types of proceedings.

The Paris Very Young Arbitration Practitioners (PVYAP) have announced the second edition of the Young Arbitrators Match (YAM). YAM challenges young arbitration practitioners to draft an arbitral award based on a set of facts and an exchange of written submissions. The case material is based on the latest Vis moot problem.