• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.63-82
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• 2016

In order to cope with the changes of International Commercial Arbitration, the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHIAC) regulated an Emergency Arbitrator for the first time, implementing the arbitration rules in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone on May 1, 2014. Moreover, the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) also regulated the Emergency Arbitrator in the revised arbitration rules on January 1, 2015. However, it caused considerable contradiction that SHIAC and CIETAC admitted an interim measure decision by the Emergency Arbitrator under the circumstance that the Chinese court can impose a preservative measure in the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) and Arbiration Act. This study attempted to compare the main contents of an Emergency Arbitrator regulated in the arbitration rules of SHIAC and CIETAC with arbitration rules of representative arbitral institutions which operate an Emergency Arbitrator. In addition, this study verified the application features and problems through comparing the rule of SHIAC and CIETAC with the rule related to the preservative measure in Chinese law.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.45-66
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• 2018

Two years ago, an emergency arbitrator procedure in accordance with the international arbitration rule has been finally adopted in Korea?a decade after its introduction. Arbitral institutions provide interim measures in the course of tribunal proceedings to avoid litigation in open court that is often expensive and time-consuming. An emergency arbitrator procedure offers an urgent relief prior to the constitution of an arbitral tribunal, thus enhancing the speed and effectiveness of the arbitration procedure even further. Although most of the arbitral institutions interpret that the emergency arbitration rulings are binding on the parties, enforcing the emergency arbitration provisions have some difficulties in practice, and it is not clear whether or not arbitral interim measures will be enforceable under the newly adopted provisions in Korea. In this study, experiences in other countries are explored in seeking for the possible problems and solutions of enforcing the emergency arbitration rulings. For example, Singapore and Hong Kong insert terms such as "finality," "enforceable in the same manner as an order or direction of the Court," "same effect as an arbitral tribunal or interim measures" in their emergency arbitrator legislation to enhance enforcement. Moreover, "urgency inherent" are considered.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.107-129
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• 2017

Arbitration has grown a unique resolving method for international commercial disputes. However, it has considered a similar court process, such as interim relief, during arbitration proceedings. Further, it would be asked for urgent measures before the arbitrators are constituted in the proceedings. In this case, the disputing party has to apply in the court. This is an unattractive factor in international arbitration; therefore, some institutions are trying to reform such an inconvenient system by adopting the emergency arbitrator. The purpose of this study is to look into ways of utilizing the emergency arbitrator for effective dispute resolution in shipbuilding and shipping industries. The emergency arbitrator needs to solve problems such as making a decision on leaving cargos in the ship, matters involving a ship arrest, or issues regarding vessels under construction. In order to utilize the emergency arbitrator system, it needs to make a close partnership with related institutions, prepare Korean-style standard shipbuilding and shipping contracts, and provide training programs for new emergency arbitrators and staff of institutions. Next, the arbitration institution has to have a great working relationship with a court. Finally, it should try to implement a new system, such as on-line service, for the procedures of the emergency arbitrator.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.215-238
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• 2012

This paper is to review the interim measures of arbitral tribunals in international commercial arbitration and to compare the emergency arbitrator systems of international arbitration institutions including the ICDR, SCC, SIAC, ACICA, and ICC. Most arbitration legislation and arbitration rules permit the arbitral tribunal to grant orders for interim measures of protection. Orders for interim measures by the arbitral tribunal are not self-enforcing. However, the revised articles with regard to interim measures of UNCITRAL Model Law of 2006 are regarded to contribute significantly to the effectiveness of interim measures in international commercial arbitration. A party that needs urgent interim or conservatory measures that cannot await the constitution of an arbitral tribunal may make an application for such measures. Major international arbitration institutions have their own rules and provisions for the emergency arbitrator system, which was set forth first by the ICRD in 2006. The application requirements for emergency arbitrators are almost the same. However, there are significant differences in details such as appointments and applications for challenging emergency arbitrators, the process and form of the emergency arbitrator's decision, etc. Therefore, it will be necessary to consider these differences for more desirable emergency arbitrator proceedings in Korea.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.64
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• pp.99-128
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• 2014

Last year, Seoul International Dispute Resolution Center(SIDRC) was set up to facilitate and promote international arbitration in Korea. This study was focused on the revision of arbitration rules such as ICC, SIAC, HKIAC and JCAA. As a leading arbitration institution in the world, ICC has tried continuously to provide more efficient service to their client by adopting emergency arbitrator(EA) & multi party arbitration. Other three institutions also introduced almost same mechanism to compete each other. These two new system is very innovative in international arbitration. First of all, EA was designed to provide interim measure service to preserve or protect parties' right before the constitution of arbitral tribunal. Arbitration institutions and arbitral tribunals should be careful to decide these requests are legitimate or not because too hasty approval on joinder or consolidation without full consideration such as parties' intention or argument may issue another serious problem - setting aside an award rendered after joined or consolidated.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.55
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• pp.125-154
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• 2012

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) has published revised rules of arbitration, which come into force on 1 January 2012 (the ICC Rules 2012). The ICC Rules 2012 apply to all arbitrations commenced on or after 1 January 2012, unless the parties have agreed to submit their arbitration to the rules in effect on the date of their arbitration agreement (Article 6(1)). The ICC Rules 2012 explicitly require both the arbitrators and the parties to make every effort to conduct the arbitration in an expeditious and cost-effective manner. The changes will force participants to define more aspects of their claims and outline the merits of the dispute earlier on in the process. The Rules also contain new penalties for behaving in a way that undermines the process's efficiency. The new Rules permit the tribunal, when making allocating costs, to take into account the extent to which each party has conducted the arbitration in an expeditious and cost-effective manner. Entirely new provisions relate to the emergency arbitrators, case management, and multi-party arbitrations. The ICC Rules 2012 take into account developments in arbitration practice and procedure, and in information technology, since the last revision of the rules in 1998, the aim being to provide modern and flexible procedures that promote efficiency in the arbitral process.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.65-83
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• 2011

The purpose of Emergency Arbitrator System is to provide parties with the possibility of obtaining interim measures before constitution of the arbitral tribunal. This paper examines the Emergency Arbitrator System set forth in Article 32 and Appendix II of Arbitration Rules of Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) in comparison with Article 37 of ICDR International Arbitration Rules. This paper also provides a case study of 4 Decisions rendered by Emergency Arbitrators under the auspices of SCC in 2010. It was found that it took only 4 days on average from the date upon which the request for emergency interim measures was registered to SCC to the decision rendered by Emergency Arbitrators. The figures of average days reflect its rapidity well, one of the most preferred characteristics of arbitration. However, a case study of SCC decisions shows that only one request for interim measures was successfully granted. In other words, it was found that the requirements for granting of interim measures by emergency arbitrator were quite strictly applied. If interim measures is to be granted, it was found that the requesting party should prove to satisfy the requirements for granting of interim measures as follows: First, the requesting party has to demonstrate that it may suffer irreparable or serious harm in commercially-sensible, not in a strictly literal sense unless the interim measure is granted. Second, the party requesting interim measures has to persuade the Emergency Arbitrator that the request was of an urgent nature. Third, the requesting party is required to meet the reasonable possibility that it may succeed on the merits of the claim.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.67-92
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• 2023

In international commercial arbitration, interim measures play a crucial role in enforcing arbitral awards by prohibiting a party from hiding assets or destroying any evidence which are critical during arbitral proceedings before the arbitral tribunal renders a final award. While Chinese commercial arbitration system acknowledges interim measures, it has faced criticism for perceived deviations from the evolving international arbitration trends. Nevertheless, recent developments indicate that China is actively aligning itself with the global trend in promoting international commercial arbitration, leading to notable changes in interim measures. This paper aims to examine the prevailing international trends of interim measures in commercial arbitration and conduct an analysis of the current status of interim measures in Chinese commercial arbitration by analysing some relevant cases and regulations. By doing so, it can provide practical insights to Korean companies on how to effectively utilize interim measures when they settle their disputes by arbitration with Chinese counterparts.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.69
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• pp.261-301
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• 2016

Recently the abusive calls on on-demand bonds have been a critical issue among many engineering and construction companies in Korea. On-demand bond is referred to as an independent guarantee in the sense that the guarantee is independent from its underlying contract although it was issued based on such underlying contract. For this reason, the issuing bank is not required to and/or entitled to look into whether there really is a breach of underlying contract in relation to the call on demand-bonds. Due to this kind of principle of independence, the applicant has to run the risk of the on demand bond being called by the beneficiary without due grounds. Only where the call proves to be fraudulent or abusive in a very clear way, the issuing bank would not be obligated to pay the bond proceeds for the call on on-demand bonds. In order to prevent the issuing bank from paying the proceeds under the on-demand bond, the applicant usually files with its competent court an application for injunction prohibiting the beneficiary from calling against the issuing bank. However, it is in practice difficult for the applicant to prove the beneficiary's call on the bond to be fraudulent since the courts in almost all the jurisdictions of advanced countries require very strict and objective evidences such as the documents which were signed by the owner (beneficiary) or any other third party like the engineer. There is another way of preventing the beneficiary from calling on the bond, which is often utilized especially in the United Kingdom or Western European countries such as Germany. Based upon the underlying contract, the contractor which is at the same time the applicant of on-demand bond requests the court to order the owner (the beneficiary) not to call on the bond. In this case, there apparently seems to be no reason why the court should apply the strict fraud rule to determine whether to grant an injunction in that the underlying legal relationship was created based on a construction contract rather than a bond. However, in most jurisdictions except for United Kingdom and Singapore, the court also applies the strict fraud rule on the ground that the parties promised to make the on-demand bond issued under the construction contract. This kind of injunction is highly unlikely to be utilized on the international level because it is very difficult in normal situations to establish the international jurisdiction towards the beneficiary which will be usually located outside the jurisdiction of the relevant court. This kind of injunction ordering the owner not to call on the bond can be rendered by the arbitrator as well even though the arbitrator has no coercive power for the owner to follow it. Normally there would be no arbitral tribunal existing at the time of the bond being called. In this case, the emergency arbitrator which most of the international arbitration rules such as ICC, LCIA and SIAC, etc. adopt can be utilized. Finally, the contractor can block the issuing bank from paying the bond proceeds by way of a provisional attachment in case where it also has rights to claim some unpaid interim payments or damages. This is the preservative measure under civil law system, which the lawyers from common law system are not familiar with. As explained in this article, it is very difficult to block the issuing bank from paying in response to the bond call by the beneficiary even if the call has no valid ground under the underlying construction contract. Therefore, it is necessary for the applicants who are normally engineering and construction companies to be prudent to make on-demand bonds issued. They need to take into account the creditability of the project owner as well as trustworthiness of the judiciary system of the country where the owner is domiciled.