On 25 October 2022 a joint meeting of the Presidia of the ICAC and the UMAC at the Ukrainian CCI took place, resulting in approving of several decisions aimed at further improving the operations of the arbitration institutions. 

І. Recommendations for the submission of e-documents approved 

Since 1 July 2022, in accordance with Article 11 of the ICAC Rules, all documents related to the initiation and conduct of arbitral proceedings must be submitted by the parties to the ICAC Secretariat in electronic form. 

In order to ensure efficient arbitral proceedings and proper implementation of the requirements of Article 11 of the ICAC Rules, the parties and other participants of the arbitral proceedings shall comply with the approved Recommendations when preparing and submitting documents to the ICAC Secretariat in electronic form. 

The release of Recommendations on submitting e-documents starts a series of Recommendations for the organization of arbitration proceedings that will be prepared and published on the ICAC’s path towards full digitalization of arbitration proceedings. 

The text of the Recommendations is available in the relevant new section on the website.

ІІ. Recommendations for the reimbursement of legal expenses to the parties published

It was decided to publish the ICAC Recommendations for the Reimbursement of Legal Expenses to the Parties in ICAC disputes, approved by the Decision of the Presidium of the ICAC on 2 August 2022, which had been developed for the ICAC arbitrators based on the analysis of the relevant arbitration practice. 

The members of the Presidium noted that the publication of these Recommendations would give the parties and their representatives a clear understanding of approaches to be applied by the arbitral tribunals when deciding on the reimbursement of legal expenses, and would make the arbitration process a more transparent and predictable for the parties. 

The text of the Recommendations is available in the relevant new section on the website.

ІІІ. Draft amendments to the ICAC Rules in connection with the introduction of mediation and combined procedures “Arbitration-Mediation-Arbitration” and “Mediation-Arbitration” in the ICAC approved

On 01 July 2022, the Presidium of the CCI of Ukraine decided to introduce mediation of disputes arising out of international commercial activities and seafaring, and authorized the ICAC and the UMAC to carry out the functions of mediation services providers. 

In this regard, on 02 August 2022, the Presidium of the ICAC approved of the ICAC Mediation Rules, the Regulations on the Mediation Costs, as well as the forms of procedural documents required for the introduction of mediation in the ICAC.

The formation of the ICAC Registry of Mediators, regulatory documents on the introduction of the combined procedures “Arbitration-Mediation-Arbitration” and “Mediation-Arbitration”, as well as the wording of the relevant recommended arbitration clauses are currently being finalized. 

One of the stages of this work was the development of the draft amendments to the ICAC Rules. The amendments to the Rules prepared by the ICAC Working Group were approved at the Presidium meeting and will be submitted for approval to the Presidium of the CCI of Ukraine in accordance with Article 72 of the ICAC Rules. 

The introduction of mediation and combined dispute resolution procedures is to be launched on 01 January 2023, all relevant regulatory documents and information will be published in December 2022. 

Follow the news on the website and on our pages in Facebook and LinkedIn. 

ІV. Recommendations for the arbitral tribunals to improve the arbitral proceedings developed

The ICAC constantly monitors the court practice on challenging arbitral awards. 

Unfortunately, for the first time in the past 3 years, the Kyiv Court of Appeal, by its ruling as of 10 February 2022, set aside the arbitral award of the ICAC (Case No. 824/291/21). 

The ICAC Presidium thoroughly analyzed the grounds for setting aside the arbitral award as explained in the relevant Court Ruling and developed recommendations for arbitral tribunals to prevent similar situations in future.