A. LEGISLATION, TRENDS AND TENDENCIES
A.1 Arbitration in Infrastructure Concession Contracts
The recently enacted Law 1682 of 2013 (“Law 1682”) governs
transport infrastructure contracts. Article 14 of Law 1682
provides that disputes arising from such contracts may be
submitted to arbitration. However, the arbitral tribunal may not
decide on the legality of an administrative act when such act was
issued by the State entity as a result of its exceptional powers.
The arbitral agreement must contain the suitability requirements
to be met by the arbitrators. Nevertheless, the contract or any
document related to the contract may not contain the specific
nomination of the arbitrators that will compose the tribunal. State
entities must establish in the arbitration agreement a cap on
arbitrators’ fees.
The Colombian National Agency of Infrastructure (NAI)
established arbitration in its model concession contract as one of
the mechanisms to resolve potential disputes. The model contract
provides that when the conditions are met to resort to
international arbitration, the rules of the International Center for
Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association will
apply.