Post-award Interest in the Asia-Pacific

The Yukos Awards are among some of the most widely discussed awards in international arbitration. A remarkable point that does not receive the “interest” it deserves is the fact that post-award interest has added USD 7 billion to the awarded value—making a considerable impact on arguably the biggest case to be handled via international arbitration.

Even though post-award interest can have very serious economic consequences, most attention in academic literature to the question of interest is limited to pre-award interest, where the discussion revolves around formulaic approaches towards ensuring that pre-award interest is accounted for in claims for compensation. Post-award interest is either ignored completely or when discussed, there is not enough appreciation of the complex questions (in terms of conflict of law, specific jurisdictional issues, among others) that are central to any reasonable discussion of post-award interest. Responding to the dearth of attention paid to this very serious but often overlooked area, this text provides an in-depth analysis of the subject ensuring comprehensive coverage of all relevant issues in major Asian Pacific and Middle Eastern jurisdictions—arguably the fastest-growing economic regions in the world.

The book is structured in a manner where a leading lawyer from a jurisdiction has contributed a chapter providing analysis on all possible questions that a reader may have in relation to post-award interest. The eighteen jurisdictions that have been covered are: Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. Each chapter provides an in-depth analysis of the law on post-award interest, including questions of private international law while simultaneously providing practical guidance on the following questions:

• power to award post-award interest;

• determination of applicable rate;

• procedural questions;

• public policy issues; and

• role of national courts.

The text is structured in an easy-to-use manner, with each author responding to the same set of questions, making comparative research across jurisdictions very easy and efficient.

Parties and counsel involved in arbitral proceedings with a nexus to the jurisdictions covered in this book will find the insights provided valuable and, unquestionably, so will arbitral tribunals. From an academic perspective, this publication is sure to lead to further debate on the topic. Policymakers may also take inspiration from comparing the approach taken in other jurisdictions on matters of post-award interest when refining the legal framework in their home jurisdictions. This book will hopefully contribute to the ongoing efforts to bring about consistency and predictability in the manner in which tribunals deal with damages in general, and post-award interest in particular.