Source: http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/wgd_question/what-legislation-applies-to-arbitration-in-your-country-are-there-any-mandatory-laws-2/
Timestamp: 2019-11-18 11:34:42
Document Index: 506603629

Matched Legal Cases: ['§1', '§ 2', 'art. 167', 'art. 353', 'art. 177', 'art. 353', 'art. 180', 'art. 367', 'art. 182', 'art. 373', 'art. 185', 'art. 356', 'Art. 75']

Arbitration in Egypt is governed by the Egyptian Arbitration Law (Law 27 of 1994), as amended, which is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. The Arbitration Law provides provisions and rules for both domestic arbitrations and international commercial arbitrations whose seat of arbitration is in Egypt. No distinction is made between the two in terms of substantive rules and public policies governing the arbitration. The distinction between the two arises in procedural issues such as the location of the court circuit that will enforce the award or determine the award’s validity or lack thereof.
Czech arbitration law mainly consists of the Act No. 216/1994 Coll., on Arbitral Proceedings and the Enforcement of Arbitral Awards (Arbitration Act). It applies to arbitrations based on arbitration agreements concluded after 1st January 1995.
Most provisions of the Arbitration Act are modifiable and give the parties an option to influence the arbitral proceedings, nevertheless some provisions are mandatory. In particular, Section 18 of the Arbitration Act ensuring the parties an equal standing in arbitral proceedings and the opportunity to fully assert their rights.
The Czech Code of Civil Procedure has a supplemental role in arbitral proceedings on issues the Arbitration Act does not regulate. In such cases, provisions of the Civil Procedure Code shall apply accordingly (Section 30 of the Arbitration Act). Based on this principle of subsidiarity, state courts have ruled that some procedural rules originally designed to apply only to court proceedings should apply to arbitral proceedings as well, e.g. the duty to instruct parties that they have not outlined all decisive facts yet.
The recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is governed by the New York Convention, if an award was issued in a contracting state to the said convention. In other cases, the Act No. 91/2012 Coll., on Private International Law (the PIL Act), which entered into force on 1st January 2014, applies.
The relevant legal provisions governing arbitration are set out in the Civil Procedural Code (the “CPC”). To this end, Book IV of the CPC enshrines the general set of rules applicable to arbitration, covering inter alia the arbitral convention, the arbitral tribunal, arbitration proceedings, the arbitral award and annulment thereof, enforcement of the arbitral award.
In addition, the CPC comprises in Book VII, Title IV – “International arbitration and effects of foreign arbitral awards” a separate set of rules applicable to international arbitration and the effects of foreign arbitral awards.
The arbitration rules set out in the CPC are in general suppletive, parties being free to amend or derogate from them. Notwithstanding, party autonomy is subject to several limitations, parties being required to observe several public policy and mandatory provisions, such as the written form of the arbitral award, the grounds of incompatibility of arbitrators, or the rules regarding arbitrability of disputes.
Major applicable laws for arbitration proceedings in China are the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China (“the Arbitration Law”) and Chapter 28 of the Civil Procedure Law of the People’s Republic of China (“the Civil Procedure Law”), both of which are mandatory laws.
Reference should also be made to interpretations and statements of the Supreme People’s Court of China regarding specific issues in arbitration which provide important clarifications and guidance in many aspects of arbitration law and practice, such as Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court concerning Some Issues on Application of the Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China.
Arbitration proceedings in Poland are regulated by a separate chapter (Part Five) of the Polish Civil Procedure Code (CPC).
In principle, under Article 1184 §1 CPC, the parties are free to determine the procedure before the arbitral tribunal. However, several provisions of Polish arbitration law are regarded as mandatory.
Challenge of the arbitrators before a state court (Article 1176 § 2 CPC)
Equal treatment of the parties (Article 1183 CPC)
The right to be heard and present one’s case (Article 1183 CPC)
Waiver of the right to object (Article 1193 CPC adopting Model Law Article 4)
Petition to set aside the arbitral award (Article 1205 CPC).
In Switzerland, international arbitration is governed by chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Act (PILA) which entered into force on 1 January 1989. An arbitration is deemed international, if at least one party to the arbitration agreement had its domicile or habitual residence outside Switzerland at the time of the conclusion of the arbitration agreement. Since 1 January 2011, Domestic arbitration is governed by the 3rd title of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC). However, parties to an international arbitration dispute may declare the provisions on domestic arbitration of the CPC to apply in lieu of the provisions of the PILA (art. 167 para 2 PILA). Equally, the parties to a domestic arbitration are granted the possibility to agree on the provisions of the PILA to apply instead of the CPC (art. 353 para 2 CPC).
While great emphasis is placed on party autonomy in adapting the arbitral proceedings to their needs, Swiss arbitration law contains several mandatory requirements, namely the provisions on arbitrability (art. 177 PILA and art. 353 CPC), the provisions stipulating the lack of independence or impartiality as grounds to challenge an arbitrator (art. 180 para 1 (c) PILA and art. 367 para 1 (c) CPC), the provisions requiring the arbitral tribunal to ensure equal treatment of the parties and compliance with their right to be heard (art. 182 para 3 PILA and art. 373 para 4 CPC), as well as the provisions providing for assistance by the state courts at the seat of the arbitral tribunal (art. 185 PILA and art. 356 CPC) are among the mandatory rules.
The legislation which applies to an arbitration is dependent on whether the arbitration is governed by the laws of the United Arab Emirates (“UAE”), or by the laws of distinct jurisdictions such as the Dubai International Financial Centre (“DIFC”) or the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”), generally understood as “Free-zone Jurisdictions”), both of which have their own arbitration laws/regulations.
Federal Law No. 6 / 2018 on arbitration (the “UAE Arbitration Law”) replaced Articles 203 to 218 of Federal Law No. 11/1992 (the “UAE CPC”).
The ADGM has established an arbitration hearing centre (the “ADGM Arbitration Centre”) on Al Maryah Island. The ADGM Arbitration Centre became fully operational on 17 October 2018 as a venue for arbitration.
The Arbitration Act 1996 (the 1996 Act) will apply if the arbitration is seated in England and Wales or Northern Ireland. The Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 (the 2010 Act) will apply if the arbitration is seated in Scotland. The mandatory provisions are set out in Schedule 1 of the 1996 Act, and s.8 of the 2010 Act. Mandatory provisions include those in relation to duties of the arbitral tribunal and parties, challenges to arbitrators and arbitral awards. Additionally, the Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Act 1966 sets out a special regime for ICSID awards.
The responses below focus on the 1996 Act and not the 2010 Act.
The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) is the controlling legislation governing arbitration at both the state and federal level in the United States. Chapter 1 of the FAA contains general arbitration. It primarily governs domestic arbitrations, but is also relevant to international arbitration to the extent that it does not conflict with Chapters 2 and 3. Chapters 2 and 3 of the FAA incorporate the New York and Panama Conventions, respectively, and thus govern international arbitrations. In addition to the FAA, other laws also regulate arbitration at the federal level, including the Patent Act and the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
Our analysis here focuses mainly on the FAA. However, in the U.S., each state has the power to legislate regarding arbitration and other matters at the state level. Each state has enacted laws that govern arbitration that apply to arbitrations seated in that state. See, e.g., New York Civil Procedure Practice and Rules (“CPLR”), Art. 75. The FAA preempts state laws that are inconsistent with the Act, but state laws that are not contrary to provisions of the FAA are enforceable.
Arbitration law in the U.S. is also developed through case law. Accordingly, practitioners should always look to the case law of the governing jurisdiction in addition to any statutory laws.
If the seat of the arbitration is in Austria, the arbitration proceedings will be governed by Austrian arbitration law, which is contained in the Fourth Chapter of the Austrian Code of Civil Procedure (sections 577–618).
Austrian arbitration law grants the parties extensive autonomy with only few mandatory legal provisions that cannot be waived by agreement of the parties. The parties are largely free to agree on the manner in which their arbitration proceedings shall be conducted. In the absence of such an agreement (which may also be a reference to a set of rules provided by an arbitral institution), Austrian arbitration law applies as default rule. If the agreement of the parties and the Austrian arbitration law are silent, the arbitrators are free to conduct the proceedings at their discretion limited by mandatory law and the fundamental principles of fairness and the right to be heard.
The Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Cap. A18, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004) (the “ACA”) remains the federal law on arbitration in Nigeria. The ACA mandatorily applies to all domestic arbitrations where parties have not chosen another law to govern the arbitration.
Lagos State also enacted the Lagos State Arbitration Law (2009) (the “Lagos Law”). Unless the parties have expressly otherwise agreed, the Lagos Law applies to all arbitrations where Lagos State is the seat of arbitration. The Lagos Law is a replica of the UNCITRAL Model Law (the “Model Law”), and incorporates the 2006 amendments made to the Model Law.
There is some other legislation that applies to arbitration in Nigeria. Such legislation includes the Judgments Ordinance (Cap. 175) Laws of Federation of Nigeria, 1958 and the Foreign Judgments (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act (Cap. F 35) Laws of Federation Nigeria, 2004 in which judgment has been defined to include awards. Also, rules of procedure for the recognition and enforcement of awards and other arbitration-related proceedings exist in the various rules of courts.
The legislation on arbitration has some mandatory provisions denoted by the use of the word “shall”. See C. N. Onuselogu Ent. Ltd. v. Afribank (Nig.) Ltd. (2005) 1 NWLR (Pt. 940) 577. The failure to comply with such mandatory provisions may result in the successful challenge of an arbitral proceeding or award. For instance, an arbitration agreement must be in writing. Such writing must be contained in (a) a document signed by the parties; or (b) any means of communication which provide a record of the arbitration agreement (such as exchange of letters, telex, telegrams; or (c) in an exchange of points of claim and points of defence in which the existence of an arbitration agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by another. See section 1 of the ACA.
Also, the arbitrators/arbitral tribunal must ensure that there is fair and equal treatment of the parties. See sections 14 of the ACA and 34 of the Lagos Law. An arbitral award must be in writing and signed by the arbitrators, with reasons stated for the absence of any signature by the non-signing arbitrator. It must also state the place and date of the award (sections 26, ACA and 47, Lagos Law). The award or any decision made by a tribunal consisting of three members must be made by the majority (see Article 31 of the First Schedule to the ACA (“the Arbitration Rules”). The absence of the signature of one out of three arbitrators on an arbitral award does not render such an arbitral award invalid. See Gaslink Nigeria Ltd v. Reliance Textile Industries Ltd. (2017) 12 CLRN 1.
The Federal Law “On International Commercial Arbitration” of 1993 (as amended in 2015) (“ICA”) governs international arbitrations seated in Russia.
The Federal Law “On Arbitration (Arbitration Proceedings) in the Russian Federation” of 2015 (“DAA”) governs domestic arbitrations. Some of the DAA’s provisions equally apply to international arbitrations seated in Russia (on requirements to arbitrators, retention of case materials, establishment of permanent arbitral institutions and admission of foreign arbitral institutions, arbitration-mediation relations, and arbitrators’ and arbitral institutions’ liability).
The Code of Commercial Procedure and Code of Civil Procedure govern recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards and ancillary proceedings, as well as a list of non-arbitrable disputes.
The legislation which governs all arbitrations, both domestic and international, in Ireland is the Arbitration Act, 2010 which incorporates the UNCITRAL Model Law into Irish law.
The Norwegian Arbitration Act 2004 provides the legal framework for arbitration in Norway. The Act applies equally to national and international arbitrations. As only a few of the rules are mandatory, the parties retain autonomy over the dispute resolution process. The Arbitration Act is to a large extent based on the UNCITRAL Model Law.
Arbitration in Croatia is governed by the Croatian Arbitration Act, published in the Official Gazette No. 88/2001 on October 11, 2001 as in force since October 19, 2001.
Although the parties to the arbitration proceedings are free to choose the applicable arbitration rules, there are some mandatory rules that the parties cannot deviate from. These rules are the rules on arbitrability and public order, as well as some mandatory rules of the Arbitration Act, such as the provisions on the fair trial and equal treatment, provisions on the grounds for challenge of arbitrators, provisions on the appointment of the judges of Croatian courts as arbitrators, provisions on written arbitral awards, content, annulment and state of origin of the arbitral award, and the competence-competence provisions.
Chile has different legislations for domestic and international arbitration. Domestic arbitration regulation is contained in Articles 222 to 243 of the Code of Judicial Organization (CJO) and Articles 628 to 644 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CCP). For all the domestic arbitration matters that are not regulated in such statues, the general rules of civil procedure shall apply. Besides the said provisions of the CJO and the CCP, Chile does not have a law dedicated specifically to domestic arbitration. On the other hand, since September 2004 Chile has a specific law dedicated to international arbitration called the International Commercial Arbitration Law No 19.971 (ICAL), which is almost completely based in the UNCITRAL Model Law. However, Chile has not adopted the 2006 amendments to the Model Law. The CJO, the CCP and the ICAL are official laws of Chile, therefore they are mandatory statutes. Nevertheless, as the arbitration agreement is considered a contract under Article 1.545 of the Civil Code (CC), the parties may adopt different rules to conduct the arbitration procedure, always in respect of public order.
The following laws and rules govern arbitration in the Philippines:
a) Republic Act No. 976- An Act to Authorize the Making of Arbitration and Submission Agreements, to Provide for the Appointment of Arbitrators and the Procedure for Arbitration in Civil Controversies, and for Other Purposes, otherwise known “The Arbitration Law” of 1953;
b) Republic Act No. 9285- An Act to Institutionalize the Use of An Alternative Dispute Resolution System in the Philippines and to Establish the Office for Alternative Dispute Resolution, and for Other Purposes, also known “ADR Act of 2004”;
c) UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration;
d) New York Convention;
e) Special Rules of Court in Alternative Dispute Resolution otherwise known “Special ADR Rules”;
f) Executive Order No. 1008- Creating an Arbitration Machinery for the Philippine Construction Industry. This law mandated arbitration as mode for settling disputes in construction industry; and
g) Philippine Jurisprudence or Supreme Court Decisions on arbitrations.
Domestic arbitral proceedings are governed by the provisions of the Seventh Book of the Greek Code of Civil Procedure (GrCCP), articles 867 – 903.
The 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law has been incorporated into the Greek legal system by virtue of Law 2735/1995 which controls international commercial arbitral proceedings having their seat in Greece with the exception of articles 8, 9 and 36 which are generally applicable regardless of the place of arbitration. It is noted that the 2006 revision of UNCITRAL Model Law has not yet been incorporated into the Greek legal system.
Certain provisions of the Seventh Book of GrCCP are made applicable by reference under provisions of the Law 2735/1995 also to international commercial arbitral proceedings. This is the case as regards article 867 GrCCP which controls the arbitrability question (applicable by indirect reference under article 1 para. 4 L. 2735/1999). This is the case also as regards article 896 GrCCP, which controls the scope of the res judicata effect of the arbitral award (applicable by direct reference under article 35 para. 2 L. 2735/1999). In general, the application of the provisions of the Seventh Book of GrCCP to international commercial arbitral proceedings on an ancillary basis is not precluded as a matter of principle.
At the same time, the scope of application of other provisions of the Seventh Book of GrCCP controlling in general international arbitral proceedings, has been drastically limited, if not extinguished, by the application of the Model Law together with the New York Convention. This is true for example with regard to article 903 of the GrCCP which sets the conditions for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in general.