A. LEGISLATION, TRENDS AND TENDENCIES
A.1 Legislation
Commercial arbitration in Venezuela continues to be governed
by the Law on Commercial Arbitration (“LCA”) (April 7, 1998;
Official Gazette No. 36.530), based on the UNCITRAL Model
Law. The LCA governs both domestic and international
arbitration in Venezuela.
Venezuela is a party to the New York Convention, the Inter-
American Convention on Extraterritorial Validity of Foreign
Judgments and Arbitral Awards (“Uruguay Convention”), and
the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial
Arbitration (“Panama Convention”).
On July 24, 2012, Venezuela withdrew from the ICSID
Convention. However, the ICSID Convention continues to apply
to contracts in which the parties expressly agreed to use ICSID
as a dispute-resolution forum, and in cases protected by BITs
that include ICSID for resolving investment disputes.
On August 12, 2012 Venezuela became a member of Mercado
Común del Sur (“MERCOSUR”) and adopted the Olivos
Protocol for the Settlement of Disputes, which has been in force
for the original signatories since January 2, 2004. The Protocol
and its Regulations provide a mechanism for the settlement of
disputes as to the interpretation and application of the
MERCOSUR rules.