The Russian Experience of Countering the Abuse of Arbitration: the Results of Russian Arbitration Reform, in: Czech (& Central European) Yearbook of Arbitration

Vol. 14: Abuse of Arbitration. Amsterdam : Lex Lata B. V., 2024.

Melnikova A., Makarov R., Branovskaya Y.

Under the general editorship: A. J. Belohlavek, N. Rozehnalova

The present article describes and analyses the reform of international commercial arbitration in Russia in 2016. The main result of the reform was the tightening of requirements for arbitration institutions that may operate in the Russian Federation. One of the consequences was the abuse of the arbitral proceedings by the parties to the dispute, which can include both procedural and substantive unfairness. Examples of bad faith have been identified by Russian courts while recognizing and enforcing arbitral awards or while considering applications to set them aside.. Russian courts have identified certain characteristics of institutional arbitration by which it can be distinguished from ad hoc arbitration, including, inter alia, the existence of its own arbitration rules, a recommended list of arbitrators. As a result, it can be concluded that in Russia it is rather difficult to enforce an arbitral award issued by an institution that does not have the status of a permanent arbitration institution. This article proposes one solution to this challenge.

Keywords: arbitration, abuse of law