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Bond markets have been in upheaval recently, with knock-on impacts on decisions on whether to make or defend calls on performance security on construction projects. Louise Woods, Ciara Ros, Jarrod Gutsa and Lauren-Emma Parrott of Vinson & Elkins examine the issues.

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday held that parties’ choice of the AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules, which assign to the arbitrators the power to rule on their jurisdiction, clearly and unmistakably delegates arbitrability decisions to arbitrators and withdraws them from courts in the first instance.

On 2 March 2023, the UK Ministry of Justice (“MoJ”) announced its decision to join the Singapore Convention on Mediation.

The English Court of Appeal has provided guidance on how the UK’s Paris Agreement commitments impact certain investment decisions.

On 22 November 2022, the Energy Charter Conference is expected to vote on the proposed modernisation of the Energy Charter Treaty (the “ECT” or the “Treaty”), following an agreement in principle reached on 24 June 2022, after years of negotiations led by the EU Commission.

On 22 September 2022, the Law Commission of England and Wales (the “Commission”) published its Consultation Paper (the “Consultation Paper”) detailing a suite of proposed revisions to the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”).

On 12 July 2022, the Africa Arbitration Academy (AAA)¹ launched the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) for African States (AAA Model BIT).

Following Decree No. 34 of 2021 concerning the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (the “Decree”), which effectively (i) abolished the Emirates Maritime Arbitration Centre and the DIFC Arbitration Institute (under which the DIFC-LCIA was operating); and (ii) provided for the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (the “DIAC” or the “Centre”) to substitute both institutions by directing the transfer of all rights and obligations of the abolished centres to the DIAC, the DIAC has now issued its new rules.

On 12 January 2022, the Ministry of Law (“MinLaw”) of Singapore announced various amendments to the Legal Profession Act 1966 (“LPA”), which were subsequently passed in the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2022.

In 2007, the Kurdistan Regional Government (the “KRG”) enacted Oil and Gas Law No. 22 of 2007 (the “KRG Oil and Gas Law”). The Federal Government of Iraq (the “FGI”) had initially rejected the draft law, but the regional parliament within Kurdistan approved it on the basis of its view that the draft law was within the KRG’s competencies under the 2005 Constitution of the Republic of Iraq (the “Iraqi Constitution”).

As an industry that accounts for approximately 38% of all emissions globally,[1] the construction community will continue to focus its efforts on reducing emissions, such as by building with less waste, reusing materials, improving general practices and maximising utilization of buildings.