Derains & Gharavi secures ICSID win for Albania over gambling investment dispute, with full award of costs

Derains & Gharavi obtained on 29 May 2013 an Award (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/18) in favor of the Republic of Albania, with full legal and arbitration costs, dismissing all claims amounting to approximately USD 10 million for lack of jurisdiction. The claims were brought by an Albanian gambling company and its 65% shareholder (a dual national of both Italy and Albania) under the Italian-Albanian BIT and the Albanian Investment Law for the alleged expropriation of a gambling permit. Please click here to read the full Award. This is the seventh victory of the firm in ICSID arbitration out of seven cases so far, after the victory for the Republic of Albania against Pantechniki (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/21), the Republic of Turkey against Saba Fakes (ICSID Case No. ARB/07/20), and investors DLP v. Yemen (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/17), Rumeli/Telsim v. Kazakhstan (ICSID Case No. ARB/05/16), Lemire v. Ukraine (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/18) and Arif v. Moldova (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/23).

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION

Melanie van Leeuwen will speak on the topic of the independence of arbitrators during the “New Developments in International Commercial Arbitration” conference organised by the University of Neuchâtel on 15 November 2013, in Neuchâtel, Switzerland.

GLOBAL ARBITRATION REVIEW AWARD FOR DERAINS & GHARAVI THAT IMPRESSED

Last Friday Derains & Gharavi won the Global Arbitration Review Award for the boutique or regional practices that impressed in 2012. The award is chosen through an online vote by GAR readers.

The GAR Awards dinner took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Bogota (Colombia) on the eve of the IBA Arbitration Day. Stephen Jagusch who handed out the award, said: the award “celebrates the growing range of options available to clients in international arbitration.” The category encompasses single-focus firms with all their partners in one location or full-service firms that handle international arbitration in regions not traditionally associated with the field.