Introduction

The Rules of Arbitration Procedure (“the Rules”) of the Danish Institute of Arbitration (DIA) entered into force on April 13, 2021. The Rules are prepared in Danish and English. In the 2021 Rules, following the previous 2013 version, the following substantial changes have been made:

• The communication in the case shall primarily take place by the use of emails;

• The articles regarding consolidation and additional parties are updated;

• The Chair’s Committee may under special circumstances preclude a party from appointing a specific legal representa-tion, if the purpose of such appointment is to create a conflict of interest with the tribunal;

• A detailed provision on appointing a secretary of the tribunal is introduced;

• A special rule on requests for presenting documents and other evidence is introduced;

• A clear legal foundation for conducting virtual hearings is introduced.

Denmark ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in 1972.

The Danish Arbitration Act 2005  (“the Act”) is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law 1985 (“the Model Law”). The few main differences between the Act and the Model Law are as follows:

• Under the Act, with the exception of specific labor law disputes (Section 7(2)), every type of dispute is arbitrable, including consumer cases, provided that the arbitration agreement in such cases is concluded after the dispute arises;