The Ljubljana Arbitration Centre at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (The LAC) - World Arbitration Reporter - Second Edition

The Ljubljana Arbitration Centre at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (“The LAC”) is an autonomous and independent arbitration institution providing administrative services for the resolution of disputes through arbitration, mediation, conciliation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

The LAC has been administering the resolution of domestic and international disputes since its establishment in 1928, thus it represents the central arbitration institution in Slovenia.

The creation of the LAC in 1928 was inspired by the Austro-Hungarian legal system and culture. Between 1928 and 1945, the LAC administered both domestic and international commercial disputes involving parties from neighbouring countries and other parts of Europe. Between 1945 and 1991, the work of the LAC was focused on administration of “intra Ex-Yu” arbitrations. In this period, the LAC gained valuable experience in providing administrative services for the resolution of disputes involving parties from the Central and South-Eastern Europe region.

Following 1991 when Slovenia became an independent and sovereign state, the work of the LAC focused mainly on international arbitration involving parties from the region, taking advantage of Slovenia’s geo-strategic position in the region and the crossroads between two important pan-European corridors, namely the 5th and 10th transport corridors connecting Western and Central Europe to Eastern and South East Europe.

For four decades (between 1965 and 2013), the LAC was known as “The Permanent Court of Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia”. In order to better familiarise the business community, lawyers and other users of arbitration services from the region with its services, the LAC is now operating under the new name “The Ljubljana Arbitration Centre at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (The LAC)”. The identity of the institution thus remains the same, whereas for commercial reasons the name has been modernised. This change in the name is consistently reflected in Art. 1 of the Arbitration Rules of the Ljubljana Arbitration Centre at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia [Ljubljana Arbitration Rules] (“Ljubljana Rules”), in force as of 1 January 2014: [“The Ljubljana Arbitration Centre at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (the LAC), also known as the Permanent Court of Arbitration attached to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia…”].