Originally from Arbitration Law and Practice in Asia

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I. INTRODUCTION: ARBITRATION IN NEW ZEALAND – HISTORY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

A. History and Current Legislation on Arbitration

New Zealand’s arbitration law is found in the Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act), which was enacted to implement the UNCITRAL Model Law (the Model Law), and thus replaced its 1908 predecessor.

New Zealand is a party to the New York Convention,  the Washington Convention,  and the two earlier Geneva Conventions on arbitration. 

1. Historical evolution of law relating to arbitration

The Act was the result of 1989 and 1991 reports by the New Zealand Law Commission recommending a radical revision of New Zealand’s arbitration legislation. In 2003, the Law Commission reviewed the operation of the Act and found it to be working effectively. Some further amendments were made in 2007 as a result of the Law Commission’s report.

2. Current law

In scheme, the Act consists of certain primary provisions, a First Schedule and a Second Schedule.

The Act’s primary provisions address systemic and conceptual issues, including clarifying the purposes of the Act, which are: 

(a) To encourage the use of arbitration as an agreed method of resolving commercial and other disputes; and

(b) To promote international consistency of arbitral regimes based on the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21 June 1985; and