RACING TO REVISE INSTITUTIONAL ARBITRATION RULES: HOW TO MAINTAIN THE ATTRACTIVENESS OF ARBITRATION IN A CHANGING WORLD
Even a perfunctory review of leading institutional arbitration rules reveals that these rules are revised periodically. Accordingly, the most prominent arbitration institutions have revised their arbitration rules during the last couple of years. For example, the current arbitration rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) have been in force only since 1 January 2012. The amended American Arbitration Association (AAA) arbitration rules came into effect on 1 October 2013 and the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) rules of arbitration, as amended, became effective on 1 October 2014. The new China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) arbitration rules entered into force on 1 January 2015. These revisions aim at strengthening the neutral framework for the resolution of cross-border disputes, making these rules more user-friendly, and ensuring that they meet the challenges of a changing world, reflecting best international practice and increasing procedural efficiency. These revisions deal with emergency arbitrator, interim measures of protection, joinders, consolidation, med-arb, confidentiality, tribunal-appointed experts and expedited arbitration rules, among other things.
The Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) is also in the process of revising its arbitration rules, the current version of which came into effect on 1 August 2011. The present revision provides a good example of the kind of revisions that have either been implemented, or are being considered, by the most prominent arbitration institutions.
Apr-Jun 2015 issue
Curtin Law School