Originally from Arbitration in Asia - 2nd Edition

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[1]    INTRODUCTION

The principle of arbitration existed in the ancient Myanmar judicial system prior to the British-India period, although it was of course, different in form from what we know today. At that time, arbitration cases were decided by persons chosen by the parties who acted as judges of the matter referred to them by the parties. 

The history of the law of arbitration in Myanmar, which is based on English law, can be traced back to 1886, when Myanmar became part of British India. Until 1937, Myanmar was part of British India and the laws of India were applicable to Myanmar. As a result of this, the Code of Civil Procedure of 1882 (India Act No.14 of 1882), in which the provisions relating to the law of arbitration  were embedded were applicable to Myanmar. These provided for: 1) reference to arbitration of disputes after they have arisen and that 2) agreement to refer future disputes to arbitration cannot be enforced. When the Code of Civil Procedure of 1882 was repealed by the Code of Civil Procedure of 1908  (India Act No. 5 of 1908), there was no substantial change in the law of arbitration.  The Indian Arbitration Act of 1899 (India Act No. 9 of 1899) was enacted on the lines of the English Arbitration Act of 1889. Thereunder, disputes, present or future, could be referred to arbitration. The Indian Arbitration Act was, however, applicable only to then Rangoon (now Yangon), the capital of Myanmar.  The provisions relating to the law of arbitration in the Code of Civil Procedure and the Indian Arbitration Act of 1899 were repealed by the Arbitration Act of 1944 (the “1944 Act”), which corresponds to the India Arbitration Act of 1940.