Private Law

Private Law

Jurisdiction of Arbitral Tribunal in Yukos Oil Case

Document Type : Research Article

Authors
Mohammad Ali Bahmaei 1
Mohsen Borhani 2
1 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Ph.D Student, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran, Iran
10.22059/jolt.2019.249866.1006491
Abstract
In 2005, the majority shareholders of Yukos Oil Company initiated three arbitration proceedings against the Russian Federation administered under the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). In the arbitrations, the claimants complained of arbitrary, unfair and discriminatory treatment, and an unlawful expropriation of the company by the Russian Federation who shall compensate the damage. Based on the claimants’ agreement, the three cases have been initiated in one arbitral tribunal and because of their commonalities, they became the subject of the one proceedings. In response, the Russian Federation, initially, put forwarded jurisdictional objections about the UNCITRAL Arbitration. On 30 November 2009, the arbitral tribunal issued an interim award on Jurisdiction and Admissibility and upheld its jurisdiction to hear the three cases. Finally, on 18 July 2014, the tribunal ordered the Russian Federation to pay damages in excess of USD 50 billion to the majority shareholders of Yukos Oil Company. This is by far the largest award ever rendered by an arbitral tribunal. The tribunal in the awards analyzed some main issues in investment dispute settlements which it has much to teach us in that regard. Thus, the principal aim of this article is to critically analyze the validity arbitral Award with regard to the jurisdictional objections raised by Russian Federation.
Keywords
Energy charter treaty
Yukos
Arbitration
Award
Jurisdictio
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Private Law
Volume 15, Issue 2
Autumn & Winter
October 2018
Pages 323-347