The past and present of Russian international arbitration law and their implications outside Russia: an appraisal of the Russian arbitration reform under the New York Convention

Thesis

The 2016 Russian arbitration law reform introduced a licensing system for Russian arbitral institutes. Prior to the reform, Russian law had struggled to combat potential abuse by parties that owned their own arbitral institutes, which could appoint arbitrators that would decide disputes in favour of the institutes’ owners. The reform also introduced new rules for the arbitrability of Russian corporate and procurement disputes. These disputes must be arbitrated in licensed institutes, and most must be arbitrated with a Russian seat, for the arbitral award to be enforceable in Russia.

This thesis analyses whether the licensing system for Russian arbitral institutes makes it possible for the Russian government to exert pressure on arbitral institutes. The subordination of arbitral institutes to the Russian government through the licensing system creates the risk that the government can pressure arbitral institutes to appoint arbitrators that will decide disputes in line with government policy where an arbitration touches on government interests.

This thesis further analyses the framework for the enforcement of arbitral awards under the New York Convention. It investigates whether a court would be able to refuse enforcement of an arbitral award where it suspects that the Russian government has exerted pressure on the arbitral institute that administered the arbitration.

This thesis concludes that the regime under the New York Convention does not allow a court to refuse enforcement of an arbitral award in such circumstances. This thesis suggests a means of mitigating the risk of enforcing an award that has been issued in an arbitration administered by a Russian licensed arbitral institute in circumstances where the Russian government is suspected to have exerted pressure on the arbitral institute. The suggested means of doing this is to invoke the principles of reciprocity under the New York Convention to refuse enforcement of arbitral awards resolving those disputes that the Russian arbitration reform’s rules on arbitrability shepherd into Russian-seated arbitration within a licensed institute.

Authors: Lewis, A

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: international commercial Law; international arbitration; Russian law; comparative law
• Subjects: Law