Issuance of New Rules of the Court of International Commercial Arbitration

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania

In Romania, the Rules of the Court of International Commercial Arbitration which are linked with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (hereinafter “C-C”) have been revised in order to provide an efficient and effective way to settle a dispute through arbitration. The new rules lay down certain provisions for an efficient mechanism in respect of time and costs of the arbitration process. Some of them are stated below:

1. Emergency Arbitrator:

The provision for the appointment of an emergency arbitrator is provided under Annexure II of the Rules (2018). The president of “C-C” takes decision upon receipt of the application, and appoints an emergency arbitrator within 48 hours = time after deciding upon the jurisdiction of “C-C”. After his/her appointment, the emergency arbitrator has to, within 2 days’ time submit a procedural timetable to the parties and render a decision within 10 days

2. Case management techniques:

There are certain case management techniques placed under Annexure IV of the Rules (2018). These techniques address, among others, the bifurcation of the proceedings, the issuance of partial awards, the identification of issues that need to be addressed only in writing, the limitation of parties’ submissions to only some key aspects of dispute and usage of Audio Video means of communication instead of in-person hearings for saving to time.

3. Expedited Proceedings:

The provision for expedited proceedings has been laid down under Annexure V of the Rules. These proceedings apply automatically, if the value of the dispute is below Fifty Thousand (50,000) lei (approx. $12,500) or as an opt-in alternative. The several advantages of these proceedings are that it consists of a sole arbitrator, a stricter procedural timetable, all communications to be solely via e-mail and a time limit of 3 months to render the award.