Abstract

(Minor updates & revisions 11/09/2024) This paper provides a comparative study of the autonomous sanction regimes implemented by the United States (US), the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom (UK) in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine, examining their impact on the conduct of international arbitration proceedings. The paper also considers Russia’s countermeasures, particularly its strategy of granting exclusive jurisdiction to Russian courts for disputes involving sanctioned parties, even when arbitration agreements exist. While concrete cases in practice demonstrate that sanctions do not necessarily bring arbitrations to a complete halt, the different and opposing sanctions regimes and their exemptions can create additional and unique hurdles for practitioners, increasing costs, the duration of the proceedings and complicating recognition and enforcement in certain jurisdictions. Given the global prominence of these jurisdictions in international business and arbitration, this study aims to analyse their sanction regimes and provide practitioners with an overview of the potential impediments that could arise in conducting arbitration in these contexts.

This paper will be part of the second TDM Special Issue on "Sanctions and International Arbitration: Impact on Substantive and Procedural Issues". More information here www.transnational-dispute-management.com/news.asp?key=1960