Arbitration Scandal, Intrigue and Inquiry: Commentary on the Judgement of the High Court of England and Wales in P&I Developments Limited vs Republic of Nigeria

The English court’s decision, which was published last year on 23 October, is described not merely as precedential but as historic in its impact. This decision is impactful not merely because it released the Nigerian state (the respondent in the arbitral award that was set aside by the English court) from the burden of paying a lion’s share of its forex reserves to a little known offshore entity, but also because this is perhaps the first case where suspicions about abusive procedural tactics and corruption during the arbitral proceedings became a self-sufficient ground to set aside a similar international arbitral award. This article uses the almost detective story that unfolded in this case as an opportunity to address broader issues of public policy, legal ethics and corruption in major international cases, to challenge the traditional understanding of adversarial proceedings and to address other problems that directly implicate the future of arbitration as a means of resolving investment disputes. These issues are also quite relevant for Russia considering the impending legal outcome in the long-running Yukos arbitration.