New Developments in the Legal Framework of International Arbitration in the Russian Federation – A View from St Petersburg - (SAR) 2003 - 1

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Stockholm Arbitration Report (SAR) - (Individual Back Volumes)
Stockholm Arbitration Report (SAR) - (Individual Back Issue)

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I. INTRODUCTION
Arbitration as a method of dispute resolution had a thorny way in
Russia. Until recently, legislation on this issue was quite narrative. The
Law on the International Commercial Arbitration of 7 July 1993 (based
on UNCITRAL model law) was the only elaborate well-drafted
document that governed the establishment and activity of private
international arbitration tribunals in Russia and the enforcement of
foreign awards. However, detailed regulation of ancillary proceedings in
national courts was missing. As a result, it was virtually impossible to
obtain provisional measures. In addition, conflicting policies relating to
arbitration were adopted by commercial courts (known in Russia as
Arbitrazh courts) and courts of general jurisdiction.
To some minds in the top levels of judiciary arbitration, domestic
arbitration was nothing more than a pre-judicial method of dispute
resolution which implied that a state judge has the power to review an
arbitral award on the merits.
New laws put into effect in 2002 as a part of overall judicial reform
demonstrate a departure from this concept and provide a coherent
framework for proceedings in national courts in support of arbitration.
The first fundamental statute is a “Law on Arbitration (Third Party
Courts) in the Russian Federation” of 24 July 2002. This law is effective
only for domestic arbitration, i.e. proceedings in which none of the
parties to a dispute is a foreign organization or an “organization with
foreign investments” under the Russian legislation. For this reason it
will not be discussed in detail.
Major changes relevant to international commercial arbitration were
introduced by other statute, the 2002 Arbitrazh Procedure Code (2002
APC), i.e. rules for proceedings in arbitrazh courts. The 2002 APC was
also signed into law on 24 July 2002 and became effective, with a few
exceptions, on 1 September 2002. It includes new rules for provisional
(interim) measures, setting aside proceedings and the enforcement of
arbitration awards.
Provisions of the 2002 APC are generally in line with standard
international practice. However, in case of differences, the 2002 APC
yields to international instruments. Russia is a party to a number of
multilateral conventions regarding international arbitration and
enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. The Russian Federation is a
party to the New York Convention on the Recognition and
Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958) and European

 Ilya Nikiforov, Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev & Partners, Nevsky