Originally from Chamber of Arbitration of Milan Rules: A Commentary

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ARTICLE 10 – STATEMENT OF DEFENCE

1. Respondent shall file its statement of defence, with counterclaims if any, with the Secretariat within thirty days from the receipt of the request from the Secretariat. The Secretariat may extend this time limit for justified reasons.

2. The statement shall be signed by the party or by its counsel with power of attorney and shall contain or be accompanied by:
a. the name and domicile of Respondent;
b. a statement of its defence, however brief;
c. a statement of counterclaims, if any, and of their value;
d. the appointment of the arbitrator or any relevant indications as to the number of arbitrators and the method for their selection;
e. the evidence, if any, in support of the statement of defence and all documents that the party deems useful appropriate to produce;
f. a brief statement, if any, as to the rules applicable to the proceedings, the rules applicable to the merits of the dispute or as to the ex aequo et bono decision, the seat and the language of the arbitration;
g. the power of attorney conferred on counsel, if already appointed.

3. The Secretariat shall send the statement of defence to Claimant within five working days from the filing. Respondent may send the statement of defence directly to Claimant, provided that the statement is also filed with the Secretariat.

4. Where Respondent does not file a statement of defence, the arbitration shall proceed without it.

1. The relevance and importance of the Statement of Defence

In an arbitration conducted under the CAM Rules, the Statement of Defence is the first opportunity for the Respondent to present its position on the Claimant’s assertions, make any objections to the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, attempt to join in the proceedings any other parties, and assert any counterclaims that it may have against the Claimant. Article 10 of the CAM Rules is similar to the Answer contemplated by several other arbitration rules,1 in that it is submitted before the constitution of the Arbitral Tribunal and does not require Respondent to set out its full defence and strategy. This will come at a later time in the proceedings. Indeed, Article 10 expressly provides that the Statement may be “brief” and that the arbitration proceedings may proceed even in the absence of its being filed.2

Mirroring the requirements and approach adopted for the Request for Arbitration, Article 10 defines the filing procedures and minimum content of the Respondent’s initial pleading. These include the Respondent’s position on the critical matters of the number of arbitrators, the arbitrator or co-arbitrator’s name, the method of selection of the arbitrator(s), as well as the seat, rules, language of the arbitration, and any counterclaims it may have against the Claimant. After this, Article 10 leaves to the Respondent’s discretion what to provide by way of argument, legal authorities, and supporting documents with its Statement. Thus, the Respondent must decide, as a matter of strategy, whether to adhere to the minimum requirements or present a more fully articulated and supported Statement at the beginning of the case.