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Stockholm Arbitration Report (SAR)

Preview Page SAR 2003 - 1

I. INTRODUCTION

Arbitration as a method of dispute resolution had a thorny way in Russia. Until recently, legislation on this issue was quite narrative. The Law on the International Commercial Arbitration of 7 July 1993 (based on UNCITRAL model law) was the only elaborate well-drafted document that governed the establishment and activity of private international arbitration tribunals in Russia and the enforcement of foreign awards. However, detailed regulation of ancillary proceedings in national courts was missing. As a result, it was virtually impossible to obtain provisional measures. In addition, conflicting policies relating to arbitration were adopted by commercial courts (known in Russia as Arbitrazh courts) and courts of general jurisdiction. To some minds in the top levels of judiciary arbitration, domestic arbitration was nothing more than a pre-judicial method of dispute resolution which implied that a state judge has the power to review an arbitral award on the merits.

New laws put into effect in 2002 as a part of overall judicial reform demonstrate a departure from this concept and provide a coherent framework for proceedings in national courts in support of arbitration. The first fundamental statute is a “Law on Arbitration (Third Party Courts) in the Russian Federation” of 24 July 2002. This law is effective only for domestic arbitration, i.e. proceedings in which none of the parties to a dispute is a foreign organization or an “organization with foreign investments” under the Russian legislation. For this reason it will not be discussed in detail.

Major changes relevant to international commercial arbitration were introduced by other statute, the 2002 Arbitrazh Procedure Code (2002 APC), i.e. rules for proceedings in arbitrazh courts. The 2002 APC was also signed into law on 24 July 2002 and became effective, with a few exceptions, on 1 September 2002. It includes new rules for provisional
(interim) measures, setting aside proceedings and the enforcement of arbitration awards.