Practical Law: arbitration clause providing for ad hoc arbitration invalid where arbitral institution not specified (an update by Maxim Kulkov and Sergey Lysov)

The Russian Ninth Commercial Court of Appeal has ruled that an arbitration agreement, providing for ad hoc arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules in London, was invalid because it was not possible to identify particular arbitral institution to administer the dispute.

The decision contradicts the position of the Supreme Commercial Court. Parties to arbitration
agreements in the Russian Federation would be well advised to identify any arbitral institution that will either administer the case, or that will act as designating and appointing authority, in the clause. While the ruling appears to continue Russian state courts’ recent anti-arbitration approach, there is hope that the courts of higher instances will reverse this ruling. (Case No. А40-130828/16, Ninth Commercial Court of Appeal No. 09АП-48750/2017 of 9 February 2018.)

You may find the link to the original text here or download the pdf of the update here (reproduced from Practical Law with the permission of the publishers).

Authors’ profiles: Maxim Kulkov, Sergey Lysov