Tag: International Dispute Resolution

Posted on

Resolving Disputes in International Distribution Agreements in Portugal

Summary

This post addresses very briefly the mechanisms to solve international disputes, in Portugal, in the context of international distribution and agency agreements.

In order to solve disputes, suppliers and distributors have at their disposal all means of dispute resolution, including judicial litigation and other alternative means of resolution (e.g., arbitration, mediation or negotiation). Other remedies may include notifications to the Portuguese Competition Authority or to the Economic and Food Safety Authority.

Litigation

Under European Regulation (EU) No. 1215/2012, foreign companies may bring a judicial proceeding before the Portuguese courts if an agreement conferring jurisdiction has been concluded (according to article 25).

Such agreement attributing jurisdiction must be concluded: (a) in writing or verbally with written confirmation; (b) in a form which accords with practices which the parties have established between themselves; or (c) in international trade or commerce, in accordance with a usage of which the parties are or ought to have been aware and which in such trade or commerce is widely known to, and regularly observed by, parties to contracts of the same type in the particular trade or commerce concerned.

However, this Regulation applies only to member state and to civil and commercial matters, in this sense points out Article 6 of the European Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012.

Arbitration

As mentioned, it is possible to resort to alternative means of dispute resolution, requiring the existence of an arbitration agreement for this purpose. As to this specific scenario, parties may agree to submit to arbitration, thus requiring the intervention of an impartial decision maker.

The arbitration agreement should adopt written form, as the requirement being deemed to be met when the agreement is contained in a written document signed by the parties. A typical advantage of arbitration is that the award is enforceable in far more countries than court judgments considering the New York Convention of 1958 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. When settling their disputes through arbitration in Portugal, parties are granted full confidentiality and, in general, such proceedings are faster than judicial proceedings; plus, the experience and expertise of arbitrators may contribute to a more suitable decision.

Learn more

To know more, please read the Portuguese chapter of the Lexology “Getting the Deal Through” guide “Distribution & Agency 2021”, submitted by the Portuguese team of Victoria Associates (available here).

Victoria Associates has successfully represented clients in disputes related to distribution contractual relationships and welcomes any question that may arise in this context (info@victoria.associates).

Victoria Associates

Team:

Duarte G Henriques – duarte@victoria.associates

João Nuno Frazão – joao@victoria.associates

Maria Teresa Silva – teresa@victoria.associates

Posted on

“Costs and Fees” in International Arbitration in Portugal

Victoria Associates member Duarte G Henriques authors the Chapter “Costs and Fees” in the book “International Arbitration in Portugal”, André Pereira da Fonseca et al. eds., Wolters Kluwer, 2020.

How much is this going to cost me?

This is the first question one asks when thinking about initiating an arbitration.

The article “Costs and Fees” endeavours to answer that question regarding the Portuguese arbitration practice and legal framework. The article addresses the costs in ad hoc arbitration, as well as in the most relevant Portuguese arbitral institution, the recoverability of those costs and the different criteria that may be used to decide upon that issue.

Posted on

Katie Hyman & João Nuno Frazão Join Victoria Associates

It is our pleasure to announce the Victoria Associates’ new members. Katie Hyman, based in Washington DC, and João Nuno Frazão, based in Lisbon joined Victoria Associates as of September 2020.

Katie Hyman is dual-qualified as an English solicitor and New York attorney and is admitted as a special legal consultant in the District of Columbia. She is widely experienced in international dispute resolution, including multijurisdictional, offshore and investor-state matters.

Katie represents a variety of clients, including in the energy and telecoms industries, in high-value, complex international commercial arbitration proceedings under the major arbitral rules all over the world, as well as in investor-state arbitrations. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and accepts arbitrator appointments in addition to her practice as counsel.

With this addition, Victoria Associates has now offices in Washington D.C.

João Nuno Frazão is a lawyer qualified in Portugal, admitted to the Portuguese Bar Assocation in 2016. João is a PhD candidate at Nova School of Law, with research focused on Space Law, International Law and European Law.

Posted on

Kyriaki Noussia and Ted Folkman Join Victoria Associates

Victoria Associates welcome new members Kyriaki Noussia and Ted Folkman.

With the addition of Kyriaki and Ted (alongside Miguel Salas’ joining in April), Victoria Associates has now three new “ports” for our international practice (Athens, Boston and Seville).

Kyriaki, Ted and Miguel will contribute immensely to growing Victoria Associates’ wealth of knowledge and expertise in their respective areas. Further, Victoria Associates is also increasing the number of areas of the law where we can deliver services, such as oil and gas, shipping and insurance.

Kyriaki Noussia

Kyriaki Noussia

Dr. Kyriaki Noussia is a Greek Lawyer, an Arbitrator and an Academic (Senior Lecturer in Law (Law School, University of Exeter, UK). She is a admitted to the Athens Bar (Greece) and licensed to appear in front of the Greek Supreme Court (Areos Pagos) and the Greek Conseil d’ Etat (Supreme Administrative Court). She has extensive experience in dispute resolution and arbitration and has regularly advised and acted on matters in various areas of law, most notably insurance, reinsurance, shipping, energy, environmental, construction and investment law. Later acquired expertise includes the area of Law and Technology, such as issues relating to robotics and the law, the ethics of AI and the law, the regulation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its application in various industries and sectors as well as cybersecurity issues.  

Theodore J. Folkman

Ted Folkman

Theodore J. Folkman, a Boston lawyer, has twenty years of experience in civil and commercial litigation and arbitration and serves as a commercial arbitrator. He is widely regarded for his expertise in private international law and international judicial assistance.

Ted is experienced in complex civil and commercial litigation and arbitration, with a special emphasis in cross-border disputes, US judicial assistance in aid of proceedings abroad, and foreign sovereign immunity.

Posted on

Custody Deposit and Publication of Arbitral Awards

Custody Deposit and publication of arbitral awards

Portugal is unquestionably spearheading the use of technology, transparency and publicity regarding arbitration and, more particularly, arbitral awards.

Indeed, the recently enacted Ordinance (Portaria) nº 165/2020 of July 7, 2020 sets forth that all arbitral awards related to disputes involving matters of administrative law (whether or not administrated by arbitral institutions) or tax law (administered by the only authorized arbitral institution) are now subject to a custody deposit and to publication in a web-based platform.

The custody deposit must be requested by the presiding arbitrator or by the sole-arbitrator (not by the Chairman of the arbitral institution in question), through an online process which entails the upload of the award in pdf searchable format. The applicant must fill up the form with, inter alia, the following details:

  • Name and address (and other details) of the applicant;
  • Date of the award and date when the award has become final and subject to no appeal (if applicable);
  • Summary of the decision (redacted from any detail that could identify the parties in question);
  • Identity of the members of the tribunal;
  • Identity of the parties and related details;
  • Arbitration agreement whereby the public entity submitted itself to arbitration.

The platform will make those awards publicly available, with the following details:

  • Number and date of the deposit;
  • Date of the award and date when it has become final;
  • Identity of the members of the tribunal;
  • Summary of the decision (redacted from any detail that could identify the parties in question);
  • Full text of the award (redacted from any detail that could identify the parties in question); and
  • Indication of whether the arbitration was administered by an arbitral institution and, if so, identity of the arbitral institution.

This step certainly represents a progress towards transparency in arbitrations involving public entities, making arbitration less opaque and subject to public scrutiny, which have been the major criticisms that have been levelled against the use of arbitration by those entities.

If you want to learn more about arbitration and international dispute resolution, please reach out to us — info@victoria.associates

Posted on

Why Arbitrate in Portugal? Reason 7 – Supportive Courts

International Arbitration & Portugal

Supportive State Courts

In addition to the several previously mentioned advantages in regards to selecting Portugal as an all-encompassing jurisdiction for the resolution of international arbitration disputes, it is worthwhile mentioning the adaptive and supportive Portuguese state courts.

As touched upon in previous posts, Portugal shares historic and legal roots with other Lusophonic countries, which has been a critical factor in the selection of Portugal in the execution of bilateral agreements, making it appealing as a jurisdiction for international arbitration. These agreements have led to Portugal being considered as having supportive state courts within the realm of arbitration.

Courts in Portugal consistently adhere to the principle that the arbitral tribunals are competent to decide on their own competency. A number of cases related to swaps show that courts do not hesitate to refer parties to arbitration even in the event that there exist allegations that these contracts are null for violating public policy. Arbitral tribunals are sufficiently competent to decide on the costs of arbitration, and courts will only intervene where excessive situations occur. Arbitral awards are only set aside when there is a violation of public policy or other fundamental principles of arbitration – which is very rare!

The UNCITRAL Model Law contains the fundamental principles of party autonomy as well as all the legal tools necessary for the successful resolution of an international arbitration dispute. These tools, embodied within the Portuguese state court system, include equality of parties, due process as well as the finality of the award. Another advantage of this system entails the fact that any dispute can be subject to arbitration as long as it is not exclusively submitted to the state courts and concern economic interests. Disputes not involving economic interests can also be subject to arbitration so long as the dispute in question is capable of being subject to a settlement by the parties. The state court system also allows for the arbitration of issues concerning labor agreements, which in the past were only open for dispute within judicial courts.

LEARN MORE

If you would like more information or have any questions regarding international arbitration in Portugal, please send us an email to info@victoria.associates and we will be in touch as soon as is possible.

Posted on

Victoria Associates Welcomes Miguel Salas and Sevilla !

Victoria’s reaching the starting point!

We are thrilled to share our latest news with you!

Victoria Associates has reached the starting point and is adding an office where it all has begun. Indeed, the expedition of Ferdinand Magellan truly begun in Sevilla, then the capital city of Castilla (Spain). Victoria was the only ship to return safely to its departure harbour, some three years later.

Now, Victoria Associates is proud to announce that it has an office in Seville, in one of its premium locations and just across the “Catedral de Sevilla” and the “Archivo General de Indias“.(1)

Through the incorporation of its new member, Miguel Salas, founder partner of Salas y Donaire, Victoria Associates is expanding its reach and is now able to provide any kind of services related to international disputes in Spain.

Miguel Salas is a seasoned lawyer, with 25+ years of experience, dealing in a number of areas of law, particularly litigation and arbitration.

With this addition, Victoria Associates not only boosts its reach but also and more importantly is welcoming a lawyer truly embedded in its spirit and values. It will surely be a tremendous and rewarding experience!

Bienvenido Miguel, bienvenida Sevilla,

¡ OLÉ !

(1) The General Archive of the Indies in Seville was founded in 1785 by King Carlos III, with the aim of centralising in a single place the documentation relating to the administration of the Spanish overseas territories that had been dispersed in various archives.

The archive conserves some 43,000 files, with some 80 million pages and 8,000 maps and drawings that come mainly from the entities responsible for the administration of the overseas territories. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1987, along with the Cathedral and the Real Alcázar.

Posted on

Why Arbitrate in Portugal? Reason 6 – A Robust Legal System

International Arbitration & Portuguese Law

A robust legal system

When selecting a jurisdiction for international arbitration, as noted in previous posts, there are several important factors to consider, among them, is the legal system of the country chosen. Portugal has recently implemented some changes to its legal system, including to international arbitration laws, which make it an alluring jurisdiction.

On the 14th of March 2012 the new Portuguese Voluntary Arbitration Law (PAL) came into effect and revoked the former, and more outdated, Portuguese arbitration law. The PAL is inspired by the Uncitral Model Law, and aims to introduce a more modernized system for arbitration and further promote Portugal as an appealing jurisdiction for international arbitration.

PAL provides for the most in-demand features ranging from the principle of separability of arbitration agreements as well as the competence of arbitral tribunals to decide on their own competence to the joinder of third parties, as well as the powers that are granted to arbitral tribunals to order interim measures in pending or about to start arbitrations. The general advantageous principles underlying the PAL are:

  • Party autonomy;
  • Kompetenz-kompetenz: the PAL confers jurisdiction on state courts to decide a dispute only where the arbitration agreement is manifestly null and void, inoperative or incapable of being performed;
  • Adhering to procedural principles such as, party equality, due and fair process, and the adversarial principle.

The principle of separability of the arbitration clause recognized by the PAL is also an advantage as a finding of nullity or unenforceability of the contract will not affect the validity of the arbitration clause.

Arbitral awards in Portugal are final and subject to no appeal. An annulment of the arbitral award may only be granted under very limited and special circumstances. This new arbitration law also provides for very constricted and limited circumstances under which a foreign arbitral award may be refused recognition and enforcement.

Portugal is a part of around 60 bilateral investment treaties, making it a prime location for the resolution of international arbitration cases from a varying and wide range of countries.  Portugal is also a signatory party to the most relevant international treaties related to arbitration, such as the New York Convention and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention. Being a part of these various treaties makes it so that there is less legal confusion when selecting Portugal as a jurisdiction for arbitration.

LEARN MORE

If you would like more information or have any questions regarding international arbitration in Portugal, please send an email to info@victoria.associates and we will be in touch as soon as is possible.

Posted on

Why Arbitrate in Portugal? Reason 5 – Modern Country, Modern Facilities

Portugal & International Arbitration

Recently modernized infrastructures and facilities

Portugal is a developed country with many modern infrastructures and facilities. In recent times, Portugal has been considered a spearhead in terms of new technologies and IT solutions. This is especially relevant in terms of the fact that many of these new technologies have also been applied to the Portuguese judicial system.

Since the late 90’s, Portugal initiated a program to renovate and modernize its infrastructures, including court premises. The judicial system is supported by a modern IT infrastructure that allows almost every lawsuit to be managed online by court judges, court clerks and counsel. Almost every court judge will allow the taking of witness depositions via video-conferencing, including by Skype as well as other applications.

Portugal currently contains modern arbitration centres and state-of-the-art facilities to manage arbitrations and hold hearings. An example of those facilities may be found in the website of the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAC) HERE.

Procedures before state courts are almost entirely managed through web-based platforms, the most important and notable of which is referred to as “Citius”, which was introduced by the Portuguese ministry of justice. Thanks to this web-based platform, paperless dockets have been a reality in Portugal for many years now. There are many other advantages of this platform including allowing for the submittal of court documents and decisions, as well as the consultation of proceedings by judges, lawyers and court clerks. Other advantages of this platform included notifications being provided online, as well as the logistical coordination of the proceedings themselves.

Arbitration has been benefiting from this new landscape, for example, if one party intends to begin arbitration and needs an interim measure; all that must be done is to file a request via the “Citius” web-based platform. The request will then arrive at the judge’s desk the following day. This online system works for every arbitration related matter that needs to be dealt with by state courts, with the exception of the Supreme Court of Justice.

What makes Portugal’s adaptation of modernized facilities and the usage of new technology in the judicial system is that not only has this greatly streamlined and facilitated the international arbitration dispute resolution process, but also that Portugal’s path to modernization, in comparison to other countries, has been less fraught with setbacks during this process.

LEARN MORE

If you would like more information or have any questions regarding international arbitration in Portugal, please send us an email to info@victoria.associates and we will be in touch as soon as is possible.

Posted on

Why Arbitrate in Portugal? Reason 4 – A Safe and Friendly Place

Portugal & International Arbitration

A safe, stable and reliable jurisdiction

Portugal, with its stable economic, political and legal systems has been growing increasing popular in the realm of being considered as an advantageous destination not only for tourism but also for the resolution of international arbitration disputes. Alongside this, Portugal is considered to be one of the safest countries in the world with a ranking as among the top 5 safest countries in the world, according to World Atlas.

With the recent destabilization in many European countries in regards to political, economic and even in terms of elevated terror threats, Portugal has remained among the very few which has remained stable in all these regards over the past years.

With the looming uncertainty of Brexit in the UK and the fact that the fate legal and political systems has been up in the air until the decision has been completely resolved, has deterred many from selecting the UK as a stable jurisdiction.

The rise of the extreme right in several other European countries has also served to destabilize not only their respective economies but has also brought uncertainty to the fate of their political and legal systems.

The rise of terrorism in Europe over the past few years in many countries has also served to dissuade many in seeking out these countries. There have been several significant terrorist attacks, and in some countries more than one attack, over the past decade alone in France, Germany, Norway, Ukraine, and the UK. Portugal’s terrorist threat index rate is the lowest within the EU, due to political, but also geographic reasons as it only borders Spain, with the other border being the Atlantic Ocean.

These considerations all factor into the selection of a safe and stable jurisdiction for the resolution of international arbitration disputes. Those who select Portugal as a jurisdiction have the peace of mind that at any given moment the political and legal systems won’t simply drastically change, thusly potentially negatively affecting the outcome of a successful resolution.

If you need more information, send us an email info@victoria.associates