Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

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I. INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN SLOVENIA – HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

Slovenia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991. The Yugoslav legislation (which in this part remained practically unchanged until 2008) was based on the old Austrian law, contained in the chapter on arbitration in the Austrian Zivilprozessordnung from 1895. Compared to the other socialist countries, Yugoslavia had a more liberal legislation in the field of arbitration. The concept of “real” (voluntary) arbitration was retained.1 Yugoslavia was not a party to the Moscow Convention, which formed the system of compulsory arbitration in disputes between economic entities from different Eastern European states. Since 1963, not only international, but also domestic arbitration has been allowed and utilised in practice. However, the necessity of an overall revision of arbitration law in Slovenia was recognized already in the early nineties as the old law appeared outdated and, in certain aspects, even ‘arbitration unfriendly.’2 A comprehensive reform of arbitration law in Slovenia was implemented in 2008, when the Arbitration Act (hereinafter: AA) was adopted.3 The new law is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Arbitration. Although there are some divergences between the Arbitration Act and the UNCITRAL Model Law, Slovenia now counts as one of “model law jurisdictions.” It must also be stressed out that the new law already took into account the latest amendments of the UNCITRAL Model Law, adopted in 2006. These concern mostly the loosening of form requirements for an arbitration agreement and the establishing of a more comprehensive regime dealing with interim measures in support of arbitration. The acceptance of the UNCITRAL Model Law was perceived to be a proper way to make Slovenia a regionally attractive venue for international arbitration, while a reform should in general contribute to promotion of arbitration in domestic cases as well. It may futher be assessed that by close reliance on the UNCITRAL Model Law, Slovenian arbitration law became more transparent to foreigners, which should positively influence the development of arbitration in Slovenia.