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Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our BD Director, Asia Pacific, Lara Quie and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our clerking team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquiries@twentyessex.com
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

singapore@twentyessex.com
t: +65 62257230

Contact

Contact with chambers should be made through the Practice Management Team. They are happy to discuss client requirements and provide further information on such matters as the expertise and experience of individual members, fees, working practices and languages spoken. We have members able to work in French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Greek and Chinese (Mandarin).

Outside working hours, a member of our team is always available to be contacted on matters of an urgent nature. Contact should be made using the Chambers main number or email.

For our Singapore office, for client enquiries please contact our BD Director, Asia Pacific, Lara Quie and for all other queries please contact Lynn Quek. Out of office hours calls will automatically be diverted to our clerking team in London.

London

20 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3AL

enquiries@twentyessex.com
t: +44 20 7842 1200

Singapore

28 Maxwell Road
#02-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites
Singapore 069120

singapore@twentyessex.com
t: +65 62257230

25/03/2015

Oliver Caplin obtains innovative order for service of a notice of arbitration under the Hague Convention on Service from the Commercial Court

This is an archived article, and some links may not work. Contact us if you have any questions.

The Russian law evidence before the Commercial Court was that a recent decision of the Federal Court of Arbitration Moscow District (dated 27 March 2014 in Case No. A41-6930/13) provides that service of a notice of arbitration upon a Russian based entity via the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters 1965 (the “Hague Convention”) is now a prerequisite to successful enforcement of any award obtained against that Russian party under the New York Convention.

Prior to Oliver’s involvement, an application for service of two notices of arbitration in related proceedings under the Hague Convention was made on paper by the client, but without success. The Judge reviewing the application was of the view that it was not appropriate for the Hague Convention to be used for the service of private notices of arbitration, they not constituting “judicial” or “non-judicial” documents for the purpose of the Hague Convention.

Permission was, however, granted for the application to be renewed orally. In successfully obtaining the order required by his client from Eder J, Oliver developed an innovative argument to allay the Court’s concerns through relying on the Practical Handbook on the Operation of the Hague Service Convention, and guidance contained on the scope and purpose of the Hague Convention contained within in it.

It appears that no such order has been obtained before. If it transpires that the courts in Russia follow the Federal Court of Arbitration’s decision, it may be that orders of the nature obtained in this case will become common place. This case also demonstrates the importance of considering questions of enforcement right at the beginning of proceedings, rather than encountering unwelcome (and potentially avoidable) difficulties many years down the line.


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