Austrian courts are explicitly authorized by law to issue interim or

protective measures with respect to arbitration proceedings. This rule

appears in section 585 of the Austrian Code of Civil Procedure

(Zivilprozessordnung, hereinafter “ZPO”), which provides that the

existence of an arbitration agreement neither prevents a party from

seeking an interim or protective measure from a court nor prevents a

court from granting such relief. Arbitration Agreement and Interim

Measures by Court Section 585: “It is not incompatible with an

arbitration agreement for a party to request, before or during arbitral

proceedings, from a court an interim measure of protection and for a

court to grant such measure.”

 

This provision was added to the Austrian arbitration statute by the

Arbitration Amendment Act 2006 (Schiedsrechts-Änderungsgesetz),

which implemented the UNCITRAL Model Law on International

Commercial Arbitration. In fact, the newly introduced section 585 ZPO

codified the existing case law of the Austrian Supreme Court, which had

already recognized the authority of the domestic courts to grant interim

and protective measures with respect to arbitration proceedings.1

 

Article 33 ¶5 Vienna Rules (Rules of Arbitration of the International

Arbitral Centre of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in Vienna,

last revised as of 1 July 2013) also expressly authorizes the parties to

apply to a domestic court or any other competent authority for interim

measures of protection.