On February 16, the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the International Commercial Arbitration Bill into Law. The document was passed by the Legislative Chamber on August 5 and approved by the Senate on September 11.
The Law defines arbitration as a dispute settlement procedure, regardless of whether it is carried out by a permanent arbitration institution or by an arbitration tribunal established to settle a specific dispute. An arbitrator is an individual appointed by the parties in an agreed manner to settle a dispute in arbitration
An arbitration agreement, according to the law, is an agreement of the parties to refer to arbitration all or certain disputes that have arisen or may arise between them through any particular legal relationship, regardless of whether it is of a contractual nature or not. It is made in writing in the form of an arbitration clause in a contract or a separate agreement.
The parties are free to set the number of arbitrators, and in the absence of such a setting, three arbitrators shall be appointed. An arbitrator may be challenged only in the presence of circumstances that give rise to reasonable doubts about his impartiality or independence, or if he does not meet the requirements of the agreement. The powers of an arbitrator shall be terminated if he/she is legally or actually unable to perform his functions or for other reasons fails to take over, or refuses to appoint or the parties agree on such termination.
The parties can also agree on the place of arbitration at their discretion. In the absence of such clause, the place of arbitration shall be determined by the arbitration court taking into account the circumstances of the case, including the factor of convenience for the parties. The parties can agree on the language or languages to be used in the arbitration.
The parties may conduct their affairs in arbitration directly or through duly authorized representatives, including those appointed from among foreign organizations and citizens.
The arbitral tribunal shall settle a dispute in accordance with such rules of law that the parties have chosen as applicable to the merits of the dispute. When arbitration is conducted by more than one arbitrator, any decision of the arbitral tribunal, unless the parties have agreed otherwise, shall be adopted by a majority vote of all members of the court.
If, in the course of the arbitration proceedings, the parties settle the dispute, the arbitral tribunal shall terminate the proceedings, and at the request of the parties, and in the absence of objection from the arbitral tribunal, fixes this settlement in the form of an arbitral award on agreed terms.
The law also defines the procedure for appealing against the decision of the arbitration court and the grounds for its cancellation. Thus, an appeal to a court of an arbitral award can be made only by filing an application for cancellation in accordance with the provisions of the law.
The arbitral award, regardless of the country in which it was made, is recognized as binding and is enforced when a written application is submitted to the court.
The law takes effect within six months from its official publication.
