February 19, 2016
An array of laws on the arbitration reform in Russia was adopted in December 2015. This was preceded by almost three-year preparatory work by the Ministry of Justice in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Supreme Court, and representatives of business and legal communities. All entities that were involved in drafting these laws had a common goal of solving a number of serious problems the Russian arbitration faced in the past twenty years: arbitrators’ dependence on the founders and leadership of the permanent courts of arbitration, improper practices in the course of arbitration, use of arbitration for dishonest purposes and, as a consequence, a constant decline in demand for arbitration among business actors. In the process of these laws’ preparation a number of experts expressed concerns that implementation of the proposed laws might lead to ‘governmentalization’ of arbitration and a decrease of its accessibility.
The laws stipulate a new scheme of arbitration tribunals’ organization, in accordance with the latest world trends a system of interaction between arbitration courts and state courts will be modernized, arbitrability of disputes will be significantly expanded, and procedural rules of arbitration will be clarified. However, adoption of laws is only the first stage of a broad-scale reform; it is expected that a series of normative acts necessary for implementation of the laws will have been issued by the time the laws become effective (by the 1st of September 2016).
The Guest Conference of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum “Arbitration Reform: Next Steps?” in Kaliningrad is the first major international event after the adoption of arbitration reform laws where developers of the adopted laws, practitioners and leading arbitration experts will be involved in professional comprehensive discussion of the forthcoming reform of arbitration proceedings, further steps of its implementation, exchange of opinions on the prospects of further development of arbitration in Russia and abroad.
The following panel discussions will be held during the
Conference:
New rules of establishment and functioning of arbitration tribunals;
Procedural novelties in arbitration.
Among participants of the Guest Conference there are representatives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, scientific community and practicing lawyers from Russia, Baltic states, Scandinavia, Poland and Germany.
The Conference will be held on February 19, 2016 in Kaliningrad, Russian Federation. Participation in the Conference is free of charge.
