Meeting of Commissions of Association of Lawyers of Russia for International Cooperation and Arbitration

A round table meeting organized by two commissions (on international cooperation and on arbitration) of Association of Lawyers of Russia was held on October 16 at the Moscow State Law University named after O.E. Kutafin. Managing partner of the firm, Alexander Grebelsky, made a report at the meeting.

The meeting was attended by Denis Novak, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Council for the Improvement of Arbitration, Lyudmila Novoselova, Chairman of the Intellectual Property Rights Court, Head of the Department of Intellectual Property Rights, Moscow State Law University, Alexey Galoganov, Vice President of The Russian Federal Bar Association, Olga Paramonova, First Deputy Executive Director – Head of the Office of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, Alexander Orlov, Director of the Bar Institute of the Moscow State Law University, Tatyana Andreeva, member of the Council for the Improvement of Arbitration at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Savransky, Deputy Chairman of the Arbitration Center at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, as well as other members of the commissions of the Russian Bar Association for International Cooperation and Arbitration, and invited guests.

“Today is a special and unique meeting of the two commissions of the ALR. The importance of this event is proved by the highest level of gathered lawyers with academic knowledge on an important topic for Russia — International Commercial Arbitration,” said Evgeny Budyakov, Chairman of the ALR’s Commission for International Cooperation, opening the meeting.

In a welcoming speech, Denis Novak, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Council for the Improvement of Arbitration, spoke about the activities of the Council for the Improvement of Arbitration. In addition, he noted that the Association of Lawyers of Russia and the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation concluded an agreement on cooperation and interaction, within the framework of which common tasks are successfully solved, and the results of the activities of the Association of Lawyers of Russia in the field of arbitration may be sent to the Council as recommendations.

Alexander Grebelsky spoke about the interpretation of arbitration agreements in International Commercial Arbitration. “The reform of arbitration proceedings carried out in Russia, despite the ambiguity of the assessments it receives, established several very significant rules, which, if applied correctly, will undoubtedly assist in the formation of a pro-arbitration approach in the practice of Russian courts,” said Alexander.

He also noted that one of the novelties enshrined in article 7 of the RF Statute “On International Commercial Arbitration” concerns the interpretation of arbitration agreements and proclaims the presumption of their validity in Russian law. In particular, paragraph 7 of Article 7 establishes a rule according to which, when interpreting an arbitration agreement, any doubts should be interpreted in favor of its validity and enforceability.

However, case law turns extremely slowly in this direction, because of the established traditions of applying other rules of interpretation. According to Alexander, the problem of non-recognizing the validity and enforceability of arbitration agreements is currently more acute in Russia than the problem of non-enforcing of arbitral awards.

The All-Russian Non-Governmental Organization “Association of Lawyers of Russia” is a membership-based, voluntary, self-regulated, non-governmental association established at the initiative of citizens, who are united by a common interest to pursue common goals, and is the largest non‑governmental association uniting legal practitioners, scientists, statesmen and public figures.