Source: https://iclg.com/practice-areas/international-arbitration-/international-arbitration-2017/japan
Timestamp: 2017-08-19 05:37:30
Document Index: 570703501

Matched Legal Cases: ['Art. 13', 'Art. 26', 'Art. 25', 'Art. 27', 'Art. 28', 'Art. 29', 'Art. 30', 'Art 31', 'Art. 32', 'Art. 33', 'Art. 34', 'Art. 35']

International Arbitration 2017 | Laws and Regulations | Japan | ICLG
Home Practice area International Arbitration International Arbitration 2017 Japan
“Arbitrability” is broadly defined in Japan to cover a variety of civil and commercial disputes. Unless otherwise provided by law, civil and commercial disputes that may be resolved by settlement between the parties (excluding that of divorce or separation) are “arbitrable” (Art. 13.1). However, a matter is not “arbitrable” if the final decision of the dispute may be binding on third parties. Although there are few laws which explicitly deny “arbitrability”, the following subject matters are generally considered to NOT be “arbitrable”: (i) validity of intellectual property rights granted by the government, e.g. patents, utility models and trademarks; (ii) shareholders’ action seeking revocation of a resolution of the shareholders’ meeting; (iii) administrative decisions of government agencies; and (iv) insolvency and civil enforcement procedural decisions.
Yes, but in principle, the Arbitration Act allows parties to have broad autonomy and the arbitral tribunal to have broad discretion (Art. 26). The mandatory rules concerning “equal treatment of parties”, “due process” and “public order” (Art. 25 and 26.1). In addition, the Arbitration Act provides “default rules” with respect to the procedure, including: waiver of right to object (Art. 27); place of arbitration (Art. 28); commencement of arbitral proceedings and interruption of limitation (Art. 29); language (Art. 30); time restriction on parties’ statements (Art 31); procedure of hearings (Art. 32); default of a party (Art. 33); an expert appointed by an arbitral tribunal (Art. 34); and court assistance in taking evidence (Art. 35).
Japan has entered into 43 BITs (including Economic Partnership Agreements with investment sections) as of April 2017, most of which explicitly allow parties to resort their disputes to ICSID. Also, Japan is a member country of the Energy Charter Treaty.
The use of commercial arbitration has been stable in Japan in recent years. Although the use of arbitration has not increased dramatically, the increasing number of legal professionals as a result of legal reforms may be affecting the development of international commercial arbitration in Japan. As to international commercial arbitration in Japan, disputes related to distribution agreements, licence agreements and joint-venture agreements are typically referred to arbitration under the JCAA rules. Further, maritime (domestic or international) and construction (mostly domestic) are major areas in which arbitration procedures are frequently used to resolve disputes.