On May 21, 2015, in the Congress Hall of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Moscow, the third Russian Arbitration Day came to a close. It attracted approximately 300 guests from various cities of Russia, the United States and Europe. Besides, the Conference was broadcast live in the online format on the website of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

The Conference was held by the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation and supported by Berwin Leighton Paisner BLP and its Russian office Goltsblat BLP, Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners, Monastyrskiy, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners, Haberman Ilett LLP. Anton Asoskov, Alexander Muranov, Roman Khodykin moderated the three sessions of the Conference and acted as editors of the “New Horizons of International Arbitration” professional digest.

Affirming its status as a landmark event and top-of-the-agenda conference in the field of arbitration both in Russia and abroad, the third RAD brought up issues related to the application of sanctions in the context of arbitral proceedings. The second session, in its turn, was wholly dedicated to investment arbitration issues, while the third session focused on problematic procedural aspects.

Thus, as debates went on, Irina Mutay, advocate and senior official at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation, gave an opinion that sanctions-affected companies find it technically and psychologically challenging to stop referring their disputes to arbitration. In her view, being overriding mandatory rules of law in their nature, sanctions may be applied by arbitrators themselves in the course of arbitral proceedings, and even the choice of an arbitration center in Asia as a forum for dispute resolution cannot guarantee sufficient protection from the effect of such rules.

Kent Phillips, Partner, Berwin Leighton Paisner’s Singapore office, continued discussing alternatives to Western arbitration centers and explained the benefits of using Asian arbitration centers owing to their innovative approaches capable of satisfying high-level demands submitted by international and Russian companies involved in international trade.

Dr. Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof, as the Director General of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), shared how they approach matters associated with improving arbitration standards in the United Kingdom and told about innovations lately introduced to the LCIA arbitration rules.

Dr. Maxi Scherer, Special Counsel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP (London), highlighted trends towards transparency in investment and commercial arbitration.

Arthur Rovine, Professor, Fordham University (New York, USA), dedicated his report to issues of regulatory powers exercised by the host state and investor protection guarantees.

Dmitry Davydenko, Advocate, Muranov, Chernyakov & Partners law firm, reported on international enforcement of settlement agreements in the form of arbitral awards on agreed terms.

Finally, the speakers also delved into an ever topical, pressing issue of reforming arbitral tribunals. Mikhail Galperin, Director of the MoJ Economic Legislation Department, highlighted the key objectives targeted by the reform. Given the fact that, at the moment of the Conference, the State Duma was considering the submitted draft laws, he believed that there was an excellent opportunity to carefully scrutinize the draft laws and become involved in their public debate.

Further, Andrey Kostin, the Chairman of the International Commercial Arbitration Court, informed that the Ministry of Justice would differentiate the treatment of the International Commercial Arbitration Court and Maritime Arbitration Commission at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation (as long-established Russian arbitration institutions) from the treatment of the newly formed arbitral institutions.

Traditionally, the digest «New Horizons of International Arbitration. Issue 3» was published. It summarized the results of the Conference and the articles prepared by the Conference’s speakers and researchers.

The video of the Conference can be accessed on the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation YouTube channel: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3.