The second RAD conference took place on May 29, 2014 in the Congress Hall of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation. More than 250 guests from various cities of Russia and European countries visited the event in person; besides, more than 70 people watched the Conference in the online format.

The Conference was conducted by the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and with support from Berwin Leighton Paisner BLP and its Russian office Goltsblat BLP, as well as Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners, Monastyrskiy, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners, Watson, Farley & Williams law firms. Anton Asoskov, Alexander Muranov, Roman Khodykin moderated the three sessions within the Conference and edited the “New Horizons of International Arbitration” digest.

This time experts focused on upcoming dramatic reforms in the area of regulation of the arbitral proceedings on the national and international levels. Draft laws presented by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation caused intense debates among the specialists.

The first session referred to as “Legislative Reforms in the field of International Arbitration” was devoted to the memory of M.G. Rozenberg, the leading expert and acknowledged authority in domestic arbitration, Doctor of Law, Professor, member of the Presidium of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, who passed away in 2013.

In the course of the session, Vadim Chubarov, Vice President, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, informed the attendees that on May 26, 2014 the Presidential Council for Codification and Enhancement of Civil Legislation approved the first two drafts of federal laws “On Arbitral Tribunals and Arbitration (Arbitral Proceedings) in the Russian Federation” and “On Amending Certain Legislative Enactments of the Russian Federation Due to Adoption of the Federal Law “On Arbitral Tribunals and Arbitration (Arbitral Proceedings) in the Russian Federation”.”

Elena Borisenko, Deputy Minister of Justice, 2nd Class Full State Judicial Counsellor, noted that the amendments to arbitration laws were related to constant difficulties arising at the stage of enforcing rendered arbitral awards: “pocket” arbitration proceedings, backdated arbitral awards, etc., had resulted in decreased public trust in arbitral tribunals.

Andrey Kostin, the Chairman of the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Professor, Head of the International Private and Civil Law Department with the Moscow State Institute for International Relations (MGIMO), spoke highly of favorable effects triggered by legislative reforms in the field of arbitration and specifically emphasized a stepped-up attention to arbitration on the part of mass media, the state and the business community.

In the course of the second session “Current Issues in Arbitration”, the participants focused their attention on arbitration trends and reforms in Western jurisdictions, in particular, on prospects of establishing the appeal procedure within the already existing arbitration system.

In 2013, the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA) probably set a new global trend by presenting in their updated arbitration rules a procedure for appealing an arbitral award. James Hosking, Partner, Chaffetz Lindsey LLP, Law Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a co-author of the above novelties, by analyzing the American Arbitration Association as an example, submitted a video report on the prospects of appealing arbitral awards.

The participants offered unconventional views or touched upon previously unexplored themes in their reports. For example, Vilija Vaitkutė Pavan, Partner and Head of Litigation Practice at LAWIN, exercised an innovative approach towards anti-arbitration measures (those seeking to prevent forum shopping or enforcement of arbitral awards) and anti-suit measures (seeking to prevent annulment or review of arbitral awards). Sergey Usoskin, Advocate and Senior Lawyer, Ivanyan & Partners, provided the report on the Moscow Convention for Protection of Investors’ Rights. Noah Rubins, Partner, International Arbitration Group, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, comprehensively analyzed Russian investment laws as a whole. убинса, партнера группы международного арбитража Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP.

During the third session, the speakers raised procedural issues associated with arbitral proceedings. Thus, Andrey Panov, Senior Lawyer, Norton Rose Fulbright (Central Europe) LLP, reported on the prospects of virtual hearings. In his opinion, their only strength among a whole range of disappointing weaknesses (such as difficulties with deciding on the venue of arbitration, giving notice to parties, establishing representatives’ identities, determining authenticity of evidence, confidentiality related issues, etc.) was convenience to the participants of the dispute.

The results of the conference were summarized in the digest«New Horizons of International Arbitration. Issue 2", which included both speakers’ reports and studies that remained outside the scope of the Conference.

The video of the Conference can be accessed on YouTube channel of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation..