| Conflict Resolution Professionals! Did you know there are over seven million privately owned companies in North America? Connect with the universe of family owned companies who need your services as a professional who speaks their language! Add your profile to our directory of professionals right now. |
|
Investing In China: Arbitrating Your Disputes
By David Carnes
Arbitration is the most popular commercial dispute resolution method in China. An arbitration agreement, whether before or after a dispute arises, is a necessary prerequisite to any form of arbitration. If this option is chosen it is best to include a carefully drafted arbitration clause in the contract, because a sloppily drafted clause might end up in the People’s Courts - first to decide whether or not it is binding, and if it is not, to decide the underlying dispute.
Foreign Arbitration
Arbitration between domestic parties must be held in China. Since Foreign Invested Enterprises (even if wholly foreign-owned), are considered to be Chinese companies because they are established under Chinese law, a dispute between FIEs or between an FIE and a domestically invested Chinese company is considered a domestic dispute and thus must be arbitrated in China (probably not including Hong Kong - current law is unclear on this point). If you put a foreign abritration clause into a contract between your FIE and another Chinese domestic entity, not only will any foreign arbitral award be unenforceable in China, but also the entire clause will be considered unenforceable and thus the People’s Courts will have jurisdiction over any dispute.
Foreign parties often prefer to arbitrate abroad. Hong Kong has a good reputation with both Chinese and foreign investors and is probably the best compromise, but other alternatives include the the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and the London Court of International Arbitration.
The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC)
CIETAC is the most commonly used aritration organization in China, at least for foreign investors. It is affiliated with the
Our articles continue...
|
Chinese government, with headquarters in Beijing and sub-commissions in Shenzhen and Shanghai. Officially it is the busiest arbitral organization in the world, but this is largely due to the fact that it often deals with matters that would be sent to court in other countries. CIETAC has endured withering criticism from foreign investors charging lack of neutrality and other sins, and it has responded by introducing some important recent reforms designed to harmonize it with international standards. The panel of approved CIETAC arbitrators now includes over 250 arbitrators who are either of foreign nationality or from Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan. Many of these arbitrators are ‘old China hands’, quite experienced in China and well-versed in their fields. CIETAC was designed for speed and convenience, and like the People’s Courts it relies more on documentary evidence than witness testimony. Although reforms have brought an increasing emphasis on cross-examination of witnesses, it is still noticeably influenced by China’s tradionally non-adversarial, inquisitorial justice system . Nevertheless the parties temselves have significant freedom to agree on the presentation of evidence. Members of foreign law firms are generally allowed to represent parties in CIETAC Arbitration, and arbitration may be conducted in Chinese, English, or another language. In practice, however, it is difficult to convnce a Chinese party to agree to arbitrate in any language except Chinese. Awards - Foreign-related arbitral awards, whether issued by CIETAC or another Chinese arbitration organization, are considered final and thus the substance of the ruling cannot be challenged in Chinese courts – challenge is limited to narrow bases such as formal defects or fundamental procedural irregularities (corruption, bias, etc.). As is the case in any form of nonconsensual dispute resolution in China, expect difficulties in enforcement. Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards China is signatory to the New York Conventionon, which requires recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards (with certain exceptions such as major procedural irregularities). Again, enforcement in China is difficult in practice. Encouragingly, however, refusal to enforce a foreign arbitral award by a lower court requires confirmation by the Supreme People’s Court in order to be effective. But enforcement is not the end of the road – local protectionism may make actual execution of the award difficult, especially when tracing and seizure of assets is involved. Hong Kong and Macau arbitral awards are enforceable in mainland China under bilateral arrangements, and these arrangements are broadly similar to the terms of the New York Convention. Article Source: http://www.articlerocket.com David Carnes is licensed to practice law in California. He speaks and reads Mandarin Chinese and has several years experience working with Chinese law firms and Sino-American joint ventures. His website is called China Legal Bulletin.
Here are some more mediation articles...
Why Do We Have Conflict At Work? – The Ubiquitous Position Description
By Bob Selden
I once applied for a job as a Training Manager in a dynamic and rapidly developing organisation. My application was successful and I was delighted to find out that one of my colleagues whom I got on Read more...
|
The Secret To Negotiations For Fsbo Sellers
By Raynor James, Fri Dec 9th
When it comes to buying or selling a home, the idea of having tonegotiate can be intimidating. Most of us aren't aware we havenegotiating skills even though we skillfully negotiate daily.(Who Read more...
|
Lemon Law Lawyer Could Be Useful
Since the first lemon law was passed in 1982, all fifty states have enacted some form of consumer protection for owners of defective automobiles. The laws vary greatly from state to state, but the Read more...
|
Understanding Divorce Mediation & Why It Can Be Cost Effective Choice For Couples
By Daphne Succes
When it comes to divorce, many couples assume that they will have to go through a lengthy legal process that is both expensive and emotionally devastating. Divorce mediation, which is an informal Read more...
|
| meeting facilitation news: |
How to Protect Your Customer Data and Your Reputation
When it comes to safeguarding customer data, the stakes are higher than ever in today's wired world. A single security breach can create a legal and regulatory nightmare. How vulnerable is your organization to hackers and disgruntled employees? What can you do to protect your company?<br><br>Sponsored by Cisco, this 30-minute BizWise TV broadcast for small and mid-sized businesses outlines the legal, ethical, and business obligations you face. A panel of security experts will show you how to assess your vulnerabilities, implement an effective security plan, handle an employee suspected of committing a security breach, and execute "damage control" through effective PR if a breach does occur.<br><br><br><br>BizWise TV features TV Style Broadcasts on topics relevant to SMBs. Tune in for a new topic on the third Thursday of every month or watch the previous broadcasts on demand at your convenience.
Intrusion Prevention Case Study: Mainova AG - Energy
This case study examines Frankfurt, Germany energy supplier Mainova AG's reliance on McAfee for its network security.
Corporate Incident Response: Why You Can't Afford to Ignore It
This Foundstone Professional Services paper explains the need for an effective corporate incident response plan and highlights common problems associated with inadequate incident response. It also discusses the steps you need to take when creating a corporate incident response plan and serves as a general guide to the phases that should be included in a comprehensive plan.
Making Your Business Disaster Ready with Virtual Infrastructure
Download this white paper to learn how a virtual infrastructure built on VMware server software can help make your disaster recovery strategy more effective and affordable. The paper emphasizes the need for business continuity and disaster recovery (DR) planning in today's enterprises and explains how a virtual infrastructure enables you to:<ul><li>Extend disaster coverage to more applications</li><li>Reduce recovery time</li><li>Make DR processes more reliable</li></ul>
Master Time Management With a Final 7 Time Management Tips
Time management is a hot topic these days. With more pressure on most people to do more with less, people are constantly turning to gurus in this area to try and improve their time management skills. This paper seven more tips to help people in their quest to master their time usage.
Action Plan in Time Management
Action plans are lists of responsibilities that instruct a person "To carry out to achieve an objective." The list centers on the goals immediately needing achievement on demand. The list or action plan enables one to center his attention on the specific obligations required of him. The marketplace has several software programs that help those people that have busy schedules and time management is a struggle.
Business Continuity Preparedness Handbook
AT&T's Business Continuity Preparedness Handbook provides a broad range of information to support your business continuity planning efforts.<br><br>The 16-page handbook examines business continuity in the context of two potential catastrophic events a pandemic influenza and a hurricane strike and highlights why taking a proactive approach to business continuity planning is essential for all disaster scenarios.<br><br>Topics include:<ul><li>AT&T's own business continuity preparedness efforts</li><li>Planning assumptions for pandemic influenza and the 2006 hurricane forecast</li><li>Best practices recommendations</li><li>AT&T solutions that support business continuity strategies</li><li>AT&T customer support during business continuity "events"</li></ul>
The Inexpensive Instant Message: Creating an E-Mail Newsletter
How does one share accurate, timely information with employees, customers and the community - and do it faster, better and less expensively than using the normal media outlets? The person should turn to e-mail. Faced with a barrage of negative media coverage as a result of innovative steps that provided a few surprises during the 2000-01 upheaval in energy markets, Chelan County PUD (Wenatchee, Wash.) came to this realization: The media were not going to tell their side of the story for them; they had to do it ourselves.
Using Crises as Publicity Opportunities
There are two kinds of Crisis Management: Internal (for when something happens within a company or externally that affects the company directly) and External (for when something happens in the world that indirectly affects the company). The authors' recommend that every company have a written plan on how to handle a range of both internal and external crises. This paper deals with external crisis management, and how one can, with advanced planning, gain positive publicity for the company when an external event occurs.
Telling Everyone You're Ok - A Key Element in Crisis Communications
Have a person ever noticed that one of the first side effects of most disaster situations is that the phone lines in the area immediately go down? The author believes that the first thing people think about in disasters is how it affects the people they know, or maybe just know of. That's why the phone lines go down - calls to check.
Impact of Past Crises on Current Crisis Communication
Previous research based on Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) suggests that an organization's past crises history affects the reputational threat posed by a current crisis when that crisis results from intentional acts by the organization. The study reported on in this paper provides a wider test of crisis history to better assess its role in crisis communication. Results from the present investigation showed that a history of similar crises intensified the reputational threat of a current crisis even when the crisis arose from the victimization of the organization or from an accident, rather than from the organization's intentional acts.
Sample Source: Crisis Management Plans - Part II
This paper includes specific action steps to take in the event of a crisis. Schools should create detailed procedures for each type of crisis that may threaten the school environment. Each process will vary, according to the type and severity of the emergency. The paper also describes the process in which the school recovers and restores its community.
Sample Source: Crisis Management Plans - Part I
Every morning, millions of students pour into school buildings all across the country. Families depend on schools to ensure that the environment in which their children learn and play is as healthy and safe as possible. Emergencies can take many forms, including severe weather and natural disasters, medical incidents, terrorism, and other threats of violence. Although many of these incidents are rare, it is vitally important for schools to be adequately prepared in the case of an actual crisis.
Media Communication Takes on New Dimensions With RMP
It is puzzling why many companies are doing little to prepare the local press for the information that will soon become public. This may stem from the industry's long-standing mistrust of the media. The good news about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP) rule is that it could serve as the catalyst for improved relations between the chemical industry and the news media. The bad news is that both are going to have to learn a new set of rules. Before the RMP rule, a chemical company's communications with the local media took place on two levels - routine and crisis.
Crisis Management and Disaster Recovery: The New Reality - Response to 21st Century Threats
The unfortunate truth is that many companies have failed to recognize that physical events or nagging perceptions can be their undoing. As keepers of corporate reputation, people need to step up to one of their most important responsibilities: developing the capabilities for responding to threatening situations. In the process, if the planning is founded on ethical core values and implemented properly, it can help avert loss of public confidence. Today, up to 25 percent of every chief communicator's time requires attention to readiness planning. That planning had taken on new dimensions that will be discussed in this paper.
|
