Technologies for our security – Defence

Defence

Lawy­ers from A/L/M Part­ners have advi­sed on both dis­pu­tes bet­ween defence con­trac­tors and con­tro­ver­sies bet­ween defence com­pa­nies and pro­cu­re­ment orga­ni­sa­ti­ons. Due to their neu­tra­li­ty and de fac­to con­fi­den­tia­li­ty, arbi­tral tri­bu­nals are the pre­fer­red opti­on for dis­pu­te reso­lu­ti­on in this field, but the Ger­man courts have also repea­ted­ly demons­tra­ted their com­pe­tence and inde­pen­dence in pro­cee­dings con­cer­ning defence equip­ment. Alter­na­ti­ve dis­pu­te reso­lu­ti­on mecha­nisms are rare­ly used in the sec­tor for various reasons, but this may chan­ge over time, espe­ci­al­ly in rela­ti­ons bet­ween defence contractors. 

Relevant matters include:

Advi­sing a com­pa­ny in the defence indus­try in nego­tia­ti­ons with a public cus­to­mer on com­pen­sa­ti­on claims fol­lo­wing the ter­mi­na­ti­on of a major pro­cu­re­ment program

Repre­sen­ting an inter­na­tio­nal defence orga­ni­sa­ti­on in ad-hoc arbi­tra­ti­on pro­cee­dings sea­ted in Brussels (with cor­re­spon­ding appli­ca­ti­on of ICC rules) against a Ger­man tech­no­lo­gy com­pa­ny about dama­ges claims ari­sing from an alle­gedly unlawful ter­mi­na­ti­on of a sup­p­ly con­tract by the organisation

Repre­sen­ting a defence con­trac­tor in ICC arbi­tra­ti­on pro­cee­dings against a joint ven­ture part­ner for pro­gram delays, cost over­runs and work share accru­als and advi­sing on a sett­le­ment solution

Advi­sing a defence con­trac­tor on the pos­si­ble inva­li­di­ty of clau­ses in stan­dard pro­cu­re­ment con­tracts of the con­trac­ting authority

Advi­sing a defence con­trac­tor on issues rela­ting to the pro­ce­du­ral stan­ding of joint ven­ture part­ners and the pro­cu­re­ment organisation

Advi­sing a com­pa­ny in the defence elec­tro­nics sec­tor on a joint ven­ture dis­pu­te regar­ding con­tri­bu­ti­ons to the joint ven­ture and the dis­so­lu­ti­on of the joint ven­ture by way of a settlement 

Repre­sen­ta­ti­on of a defence con­trac­tor in a joint ven­ture dis­pu­te in the artil­lery sec­tor about the con­se­quen­ces of a dive­st­ment of busi­ness units and com­mer­cial claims of third con­tract partners

Advi­sing a defence con­trac­tor against claims brought by a Midd­le Eas­tern sales repre­sen­ta­ti­ve for alle­gedly bro­ke­ring the sale of mili­ta­ry equipment

Advi­sing a defence com­pa­ny on the sale of mili­ta­ry equip­ment to Sau­di Arabia

Repre­sen­ting a defence com­pa­ny in a DIS arbi­tra­ti­on with a com­mer­cial agent regar­ding the sup­p­ly of equip­ment to a sub­ma­ri­ne program