Originally from Baker and McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook 2014-2015

A. LEGISLATION, TRENDS AND TENDENCIES

A.1. Legislative Framework

Arbitration in Chile remains governed primarily by the Organic Code of Courts (“OCC”), the Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) and Law 19.971 on International Commercial Arbitration (the “ICA Law”).3 Chile is also a signatory to the New York Convention, the Panama Convention and the ICSID Convention. Additionally, most of the free trade agreements as well as the BITs that Chile has entered into provide for specific arbitration mechanisms to settle disputes arising from their application. There was no significant legislative change in arbitration law in Chile during 2014.

Likewise, there have been no major changes with respect to enforcing awards. For a foreign arbitral award to be recognized and enforced in Chile, it must be subject to an exequatur procedure as set forth in article 246 of the CCP. This procedure is heard by the Supreme Court which, without re-examining the merits of the case, will generally grant the exequatur, provided that the arbitral award is "authentic" and "effective" and complies with the requirements set forth in Articles 35 and 36 of the ICA Law, as well as the requirements set forth in the New York Convention (and, when applicable, the Panama Convention).