International Commercial Arbitration in Russia: Results of the Reform

September 2021 marks five years of the arbitration reform in Russia. During this period, fundamental changes have occurred in this area, affecting both arbitration institutions that are authorized to administer disputes on the territory of Russia, and the distribution of categories of arbitrable disputes between permanent arbitration institutions and arbitration tribunals created to resolve a specific dispute (ad hoc arbitration tribunals). The paper attempts to analyze the main results of the reform and assess its impact on Russia’s attractiveness as a place of arbitration. The author comes to the conclusion that, despite some positive consequences of the reform (such as "pocket" arbitration courts leaving the market, resolving the issue of arbitrability of corporate disputes, empowering state courts with the functions of promoting and monitoring the activities of arbitration courts, etc.) a number of problems remained unresolved, and the attitude towards Russia as a place of arbitration remainedalmost unchanged. Moreover, innovations that relate to the procedure for creating arbitration tribunals and obtaining the right to administer disputes on the territory of Russia and apply, among other things, to foreign arbitration institutions, have led to attempts to circumvent the requirements of Russian law both by the parties and by the arbitration institutions that failed to obtain appropriate permission. An equally important problem resulting from the reform includes leaving the market by regional arbitration courts that used to be popular among small and medium-sized businesses that are often not ready to pay rather high arbitration fees set by large arbitration centers. Thus, most of the goals set by the reform ideologists have not been achieved, which indicates the need for further improvement of legislation in this area.

1. Asoskov AV. Razreshenie korporativnykh sporov v treteyskikh sudakh: osnovnye rezultaty zakonodatelnoy reformy [Resolution of Corporate Disputes in Arbitration: Main Results of the Legislative Reform]. Zakon. 2017;5:67-77. (In Russ.).

2. Galperin ML. Iz Singapura v Khelsinki cherez Kemerovo, ili kakoy arbitrazh dolzhen schitatsya inostrannym? [From Singapore to Helsinki via Kemerovo, or Which Arbitration Should Be Considered as Foreign?]. Bulletin of Economic Justice of the Russian Federation. 2020;5:4-11. (In Russ.).

3. Galperin ML, Pavlova NV. Kuda idet treteyskoe razbiratelstvo? [What’s Ahead for Arbitration?]. Zakon. 2019;8:125-139. (In Russ.).

4. Gorodisskiy AA, Tobar KhK. Obzor treteyskoy reformy [Overview of Arbitration Reform]. 2016;1:19-30. (In Russ.).

5. Interview with Joe Liu, Managing Advisor of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HIAC), September 28, 2016. International Commercial Arbitration Abstract. 2016;2:150-160. (In Russ.).

6. Komarov AS. Prospects of international commercial arbitration in the Russian Federation in the light of the reform of legislation on arbitration. Arbitration Journal. Available at: https://journal.arbitration.ru/ru/analytics/perspektivy-mezhdunarodnogo-kommercheskogo-arbitrazha-v-rossiyskoy -federatsii-v-svetereformy-zakono/.

7. Kucher A, Gorlenko A. Reforma treteyskogo razbiratelstva v Rossii: novatsii zakonodatelstva [Reform of Arbitration in Russia: Innovations of Legislation]. Oil, Gas and Law. 2016;2:13-18. (In Russ.).

8. Lazarev SV. Razvitie treteyskogo razbiratelstva i funktsiya sotsialnogo upravleniya [The development of arbitration proceedings and the function of social management]. Moscow District Commercial Court Bulletin. 2020;1:65-69. (In Russ.).

9. Panov AA, Kalinin MS. Rossiyskaya arbitrazhnaya reforma: dva goda spustya. Analiz voprosov, postavlennykh v sudebnoy praktike [Russian Arbitration Reform: Two Years Later. Analysis Of Issues Raised In Court Practice]. Review of Economic Justice of the Russian Federation. 2018;9:66-90. (In Russ.).

10. Treteyskaya reforma. Stanet li Rossiya bolee komfortnoy yurisdiktsiey dlya arbitrazha? [Arbitration reform. Will Russia become a more comfortable jurisdiction for arbitration?]. EZh-Yurist. 2016;15:8. (In Russ.).

11. Khvaley VV. New Legislation on Arbitration: Life Has Improved, Life Has Become More Joyous]. Zakon. 2016;5:87-95. (In Russ.)