Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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Effective January 1, 1992, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Geneva (the “CCIG”) adopted revised rules of arbitration (the “Rules”).1Simultaneously, the CCIG appointed an arbitration committee of five persons to carry out its increased tasks under the Rules.2

Pursuant to its former Arbitration Directives, in force as of 1980, the CCIG acted essentially as an appointing authority.3 Under the Rules, the main responsibility of the CCIG will remain the appointment of arbitrators (see infra section I). In addition, the CCIG is taking on the new task of deciding challenges against arbitrators (see infra section II). The CCIG will not, however, become as involved in arbitrations as has the International Chamber of Commerce (the “ICC”) through its Secretariat and International Court of Arbitration (see infra section III). The Rules also contain provisions about arbitral procedure (see infra section IV). Finally, the Rules introduce innovations regarding an expedited arbitral procedure (see infra section V) and arbitrators’ fees (see infra section VI).

The purpose of this article is to describe the underlying philosophy of the Rules, not to offer detailed comments.4 However, some basic differences from other arbitration rules will be outlined. Like most other institutions, the CCIG is available to oversee arbitrations outside its home country. In practice, however, the Rules are rarely referred to for arbitrations outside Switzerland. Hence, some comments on the interaction between the Rules and Swiss law of international arbitration are in order.5