site.btaParliament Votes to Establish Electronic Register of Arbitrations at Justice Ministry

Parliament voted to establish an electronic register of arbitrations at the Ministry of Justice. This happened with the adoption on first reading of the draft law amending and supplementing the Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The bill was passed with 143 votes in favour and four abstentions. The amendments were introduced by the Council of Ministers.

The amendments made the entry of permanent arbitral institutions and arbitrators in the register compulsory. The report of the committee on constitutional and legal affairs states that the amendments propose that decisions rendered by arbitral institutions or arbitrators not entered in the register be considered null and void, and that information on the identification of the arbitration, the legal entity to which it is attached, and the details of the arbitrators be made public. The texts introduce a requirement that the arbitrator must not have been convicted of bankruptcy, declared bankrupt or disqualified from practising.

The draft law creates the possibility to hold arbitration hearings by conference call and strengthens the protection of service of documents essential to the proceedings, especially on individuals, by providing for service through a notary or private bailiff. In addition to the protection sought, it provides that arbitral awards will only take effect after service on both parties, and introduces the requirement for electronic record-keeping and electronic files in arbitration proceedings, the committee’s report states.