Switzerland – Accelerated Procurement for Urgent Government Projects
By Matthias Scherer and Samuel Moss
In May 2008, the Swiss Federal Government commenced a consultation process with a view to the full revision of the Federal Law on Public Procurement. During the process, however, it became clear that a full revision was not advisable due to delays of the WTO Government Procurement Agreement of 15 April 1994 to which the Federal Law has to conform. The Federal Government therefore decided to put the full revision on hold and to focus on certain elements of the Law that required urgent attention.
In May 2010, the Government submitted to the Parliament a proposal for an amendment of the Federal Law on Public Procurement (Message to the Parliament of 19 May [...]
The New Russian Mediation Laws – Coming to terms with Alternative Dispute Resolution?
In comparison to the Western world, business culture in Russia is more often than not one of confrontation and of mutual tests of strength, especially in the construction sector. Hence the important volumes of court decisions carrying the authority of res judicata to settle a dispute, while alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods such as mediation relying on the parties’ bona fide have been much less used so far.
In this regard, the recent adoption on July 27, 2010 of Federal Laws 193-FZ and 194-FZ improving the legal regime of Mediation (the Mediation Laws) can be seen as a bold and satisfying legislative move to complete the legal framework of ADR in Russia and stimulate the use of [...]
A return to Arbitration?
Disputes in the construction industry have historically lent themselves to the utilisation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes. During the boom times of the late nineties and early noughties, parties to construction contracts focussed less on hard dollar contracts and strict legal claims, and more on relationship based contracting and dispute avoidance, such that reliance on more formal ADR fell away.
With the return of more difficult times, ADR has again come under the spotlight. It seems widely accepted that arbitration in the domestic arena in Australia has become largely undistinguishable, in terms of time and money spent resolving disputes, from litigation.
Meanwhile [...]
