Originally from Arbitration Law and Practice in Central and Eastern Europe

1. GENERAL LEGAL FRAMEWORK

1.1 National law

a) Current status
What is the current status? When was it enacted? Have there already been amendments?

At present, Czech arbitration law is governed by Act No. 216/1994 Coll., on Arbitration Proceedings and the Implementation of Arbitration Awards (hereinafter the “Arbitration Act”). It was passed by the Czech  Parliament on 1 November 1994, and came into effect on 1 January 1995. This new law revoked Act No. 98/1963 Coll., on Arbitrability in International Trade and the Implementation of Arbitration Awards, as well as several provisions of Act No. 99/1963 Coll. on Civil Proceedings (hereinafter the “Civil Procedure Code”),

Act No. 214/1992 Coll. on the stock exchange and Act No. 229/1992 Coll. on the commodity exchange. The Arbitration Act has not been subject to any amendments since it was enacted. On 9 May 2002, a new Act No. 229/2002 Coll. on Financial Arbitrators was passed. It established the function of the ‘financial arbitrator’, who is to decide on claims between financial institutions and their clients. This law became effective as of 1 January 2003, and has not been amended since.

b) Future development
Are amendments intended? If so, please outline the timing and the intended changes.

As a result of the amendment to the Civil Procedure Code that came into effect on 1 January 2001, some provisions of the Arbitration Act became incompatible with the Civil Procedure Code.1 In particular, this concerns provisions regarding the setting aside of arbitral awards (see 8.3 hereunder for further details).