Litigation & Arbitration Group Client Alert: London Arbitration – A Brief Summary

As an eventful 2016 draws to a close, we reflect upon some of the more notable developments that have taken place this year in the London arbitration market.

BREXIT

While it has been widely debated whether Brexit will make the English Courts less attractive as a dispute resolution forum for commercial parties, it is generally agreed that those concerns (if valid at all, which is unlikely) do not apply to London based arbitration proceedings.

In particular, the reciprocal enforcement of court judgments in Europe is a matter of European law that will, absent some other steps being taken, be affected by Brexit. In contrast, the worldwide enforcement of arbitral awards is governed by the New York Convention, to which the UK is a Contracting State irrespective of its position in Europe.