Arbitration Court in Russia

Russia has adopted, in 1993, the Federal Law on International Commercial Arbitration which is based on the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission for International Trade Law) Law Model from 1985. The Russian Supreme Commercial Court has established the guidelines on how arbitral awards can be recognized, enforced or set aside in arbitration cases.

The Arbitration Law in Russia

The Arbitration Law in Russia is meant to settle disputes rose from trading activities or economic contracts between two or more parties and at least one of the parties must be a foreign company or a foreign company that invested in Russia. According to the Russian Arbitration Law, there are also disputes that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Arbitration Court, therefore they will need to be addressed to the Russian court system. This kind of disputes can result from:

• -        company registration,
• -        company reorganization,
• -        company liquidation or insolvency cases;
• -        competition disputes,
• -        company reputation disputes.

Arbitration Court  in Russia

As mentioned above, there is a clear distinction between disputes resolved by the Russian Arbitration Court and litigation cases settled by the judicial system. Parties involved in a dispute settlement can opt for the private dispute resolution method and appeal to arbitral tribunals or they can choose to appeal to the arbitration courts that are actually part of the Russian court system. Arbitration courts are usually involved in setting commercial disputes and in case of arbitration cases they can only suspend or recognize and apply arbitral awards. 

The Supreme Arbitration Court in Russia has the role to supervise the lower arbitration courts and it watches over the implementation of arbitration awards. The Supreme Arbitration Court in Russia has also the power to decide the laws that will be applied in dispute settlment cases. Starting 2014, the Arbitration Court has been incorporated in the Russian Supreme Court and it was replaced by a Collegium made of 30 judges.

The arbitration agreement in Russia

The Russian Arbitration Law states that if an arbitration agreement exists, it must be written and it can take various forms from letters exchanged between parties to faxes or e-mails.  However, if parties submit all the evidence that prove the existence of an agreement between parties, then the arbitral tribunal can rule without the actual written arbitral agreement. Cautiousness is advised when drafting an arbitration agreement as there have been cases when arbitration could not be performed because mistakes or incompletions were signaled.

Enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Russia

Russia has signed and ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in 1960 and arbitral awards are enforced, according to the international laws. In Russia, foreign arbitral awards are applied with the help of Russian lawyers who knows exactly the enforcement proceedings as the situation must respect all the legal requirements of the Russian federal courts. The implementation of a foreign arbitral award in Russia can be prescribed upon the expiration of the limitation period.

If you want details about the Arbitration Law or need legal assistance, you can contact our Russian law firm.