The post on Foreign Courts, Arbitration and Protectionism at the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum last month attracted some comments in the LinkedIn International Arbitration Group. I reported on statements made by Russia’s most senior commercial judge, Anton Ivanov, on protecting Russian citizens and companies from foreign courts and international arbitration. Vladimir Yaduta pointed to an interview with Anton Ivanov, to with the link is provided below, and kindly has given me permission to share his comment:
“Quite curious, I should admit. Anton Ivanov seems to be the most progressive and open-minded in Russian judiciary. At least at the moment. Arbitration/Commercial court system is developing rapidly under his supervision. A lot has to be done yet. Here is an interview with Ivanov (January 2012). Just to better understand his viewpoint on a wide range of issues. Ivanov speaking about Russian enterprises and citizens protection has brought up quite a sensitive issue. But he speaks about the consequences, not reasons. That’s the point. By the way, I remember him saying at one of the conferences in Moscow that he is not against International Arbitration institutions, there should be fruitful cooperation. Something like that, but that’s a different story, though.”
PS: The current issue of the German Arbitration Journal, SchiedsVZ, which arrived on my desk today, contains a brief note on Ivanov’s St. Petersburg speech by Christine Heeg and Thomas Weimann: “Russia: The End of the New York Convention?” They will follow up on the topic with a full analysis in one of the coming issues of SchiedsVZ.