Arbitration: Arbitral Institutions

Arbitral institutions are organisations managing arbitral procedures. Their role is to facilitate the dispute resolution for the parties, by offering a set of procedural rules to guide the arbitration process. The procedural rules set out by the arbitral institutions guide, among other things,

• the commencement of an arbitration;
• the elements to be contained in a request for arbitration or in a statement of claim;
• the elements to be contained in an answer to a request for arbitration, in a statement of defence, or in a counterclaim;
• the manner in which the arbitral tribunal will be constituted;
• time limits for the award to be rendered.

The functions undertaken by arbitral institutions are limited to the procedural aspects of the arbitration. An arbitral institution will not decide on the merits of a dispute – this will be the role of the arbitrators. Furthermore, the arbitral institution has the duty to oversee the proper conduct of the arbitration proceedings.

BODENHEIMER have been entrusted with institutional arbitration cases from a number of arbitral institutions. Our partners are often nominated or appointed as arbitrators, and our team routinely performs the roles of administrative secretaries. We also frequently act as parties’ counsel in arbitrations managed by several institutions.