Russia has significantly revised its arbitration laws as of 1 September 2016. On that date, two laws—the Federal Law “On Arbitration (Arbitral Proceedings) in Russia” and the Federal Law No. 409-FZ—come into effect, and amend a number of existing laws regulating arbitration. The new laws, commonly referred to as the “arbitration reform,” change considerably the legal framework for arbitral proceedings in Russia.
Among other developments, the reform:
- addresses the arbitrability of “corporate disputes” (described in more detail and in Chart 1 in the attached PDF);
- introduces mandatory licensing of arbitral institutions;
- creates certain benefits for institutional arbitration as compared to ad hoc arbitration;
- adopts a presumption of arbitrability of disputes and identifies a revised list of disputes that are not arbitrable (these are discussed and listed in Chart 2 in the attached PDF);
- introduces eligibility requirements for arbitrators in international arbitrations; and
- provides for greater role for local courts in assisting with formation of arbitral tribunals and the taking of evidence, while also allowing parties to exclude the courts from taking certain steps (such as assisting in the formation of the tribunal and reviewing awards) in some circumstances.
