Case may have implications ?

[domaingenius]

This case may have implications for UDRP since it relates to
Jurisdiction in arbitration cases, and even though UDRP is
not pure arbitration I guess will have same effect ;
February 10, 2009
Lawyers fear West Tankers ruling could harm London
Alex Spence

London's position as a leading centre for high-value commercial disputes was dealt a blow today by one of Europe's highest courts.

In a complicated but closely-watched case, the European Court of Justice ruled that English courts could not stop proceedings in another European Union member state even if the proceedings are in breach of an arbitration agreement.

Lawyers in London fear the ruling will deprive companies of an effective legal remedy — the so-called "anti-suit injunction" — that prevents counterparties taking legal action beyond the process they had contractually agreed.

Lawyers said it could result in companies seeking to arbitrate in locations such as Hong Kong or Singapore rather than in London or Paris.

The ruling centred on a claim brought in July 2003 by Allianz SpA, formerly Riunione Adriatica di Sicurtá SpA, a subsidiary of Allianz, one of Europe's biggest insurance companies.

The insurance company sued West Tankers, a British shipping company, in an Italian court after a ship it leased crashed into a jetty in Siracuse, in Sicily.

West Tankers responded by seeking an injunction from the High Court in London to halt the proceedings. It argued that its lease allowed for any disputes to be resolved by an arbitration tribunal in the UK.

The High Court, which has historically taken a strong stance on upholding arbitration agreements, granted the injunction. But the case was later referred by the House of Lords to the European Court of Justice.

Today the ECJ rejected the use of anti-suit injunctions and ruled that it should be up to the Italian court to decide whether it has jurisdiction to hear the case.

"Effectively, the ECJ has removed the ability of the English courts to take a pre-emptive strike against satellite litigation," Richard Smith, a partner at Allen & Overy, said.

Arbitration has become increasingly popular in recent years as an alternative to the potential uncertainty of domestic courts, particularly in industries dominated by multinational companies such as oil and gas, shipping and insurance.

[jberryhill]

No relevance whatsoever. Zero.

The UDRP, by its own terms, includes 4(k) which specifically states that either party may seek independent judicial resolution.

The argument that the UDRP is an "arbitration" as that term is used in the US Federal Arbitration Act, or in corresponding types of laws that put teeth into arbitrations, has been shot down every time it has been tried.

While the UDRP is "arbitration like", the term "arbitration" in some contexts has a specific connotation - i.e. that the parties have agreed to forgo judicial resolution and use the arbitration process instead. Because of that specific meaning of arbitration, one should properly refer to the UDRP as "an administrative proceeding" or some other term. In the casual sense, a lot of people do call the UDRP an arbitration but, again, by its own Paragraph 4(k) it is not what courts call an "abitration" as a term of art.