Originally from World Arbitration Reporter (WAR) - 2nd Edition

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I.  INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN MONACO HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration

The Monegasque law on arbitration has developed in two ways: from a domestic point of view and from an international one.

In terms of domestic arbitration, a law dated 22 January 1930 has created part III of the Code of Civil Procedure named “arbitration in civil or commercial matters” and articles 940 to 965 of the said Code.

Article 940 has established the principle of domestic arbitration in civil or commercial matters.

This rule has been modified twice:

• article 940 has been supplemented by a Law dated 21 December 1950 which has added a paragraph 2 allowing the parties in commercial matters the possibility to include an arbitration clause in their contract,

• article 945 has been modified by a Law dated 25 June 1970 providing for the status of the arbitrators.

Law n°473 dated 4 March 1948 regarding the conciliation and arbitration of collective labor disputes has also created a domestic arbitration procedure concerning exclusively collective labor disputes (i.e. disputes which concern several employees or representatives from one or several companies).

Law n°1361 of 4 July 2009 has amended article 7 of Law n°473. This amendment aims at improving the consensus on the arbitrators’ impartiality.

The number of arbitrators appointed on a list by the Director of the Judicial Services (equivalent to the Minister of Justice) was extended. Moreover, those arbitrators are now appointed after consulting the legal representatives of trade unions as well as employers’ associations.