A. Legislation, Trends and Tendencies
A.1 New Belgian Arbitration Act
Belgium has adopted a new Arbitration Act3 for arbitration
proceedings commenced as from September 1, 2013 where the
seat of the arbitration is in Belgium, irrespective of the parties’
nationality. Arbitration proceedings already pending at that date,
and all court proceedings initiated with regard to such
arbitrations, will continue to be governed by the formerly
existing Belgian Arbitration Act. The new Arbitration Act is
largely based on the most recent version of the UNCITRAL
Model Law, but some specific Belgian features have been
maintained, such as the different procedure for setting aside an
award. The main goals of the reform are to clarify a number of
legal uncertainties, to increase efficiency in arbitration
proceedings, and to enhance Belgium’s attractiveness as a forum
for arbitration. We highlight below the key features of the new
arbitration rules, which make no distinction between domestic
and international arbitration proceedings.