Arbitration Court

Since 1949, the permanent Arbitration Court belongs to the most significant international arbitration institutions and is positively recognised on the European and world scene for keeping up with modern arbitration trends and delivering transparent and competent arbitration of disputes.

The Arbitration Court and its Rules offer clients control over the speed of arbitration, choice of arbitration venue, appointment of competent arbitrators and reliable protection of their rights. Arbitration proceedings are affordable for both legal and natural persons, Czech and foreign. Arbitral awards are enforceable in over 140 countries under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.

The Arbitration Court was founded in 1949 and was operating attached to the Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce. In 1980, its name was changed to the Arbitration Court attached to the Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry and, finally on 1 January 1995, the court assumed its current name, i.e. the Arbitration Court attached to the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic (“Arbitration Court”). Despite these changes in name, the Arbitration Court has remained a stable institution achieving a distinguished position among the arbitration courts in Europe during its existence. The Arbitration Court decides client disputes from around the world and is a respected institution not only in Europe but beyond.

The Arbitration Court’s reputation is built primarily on the good work of its arbitrators entered in the Court’s List of Arbitrators. The List of Arbitrators contains over 300 Czech and foreign arbitrators who are mainly attorneys-at-law and Professors of Law.

The arbitrators decided over 15 000 disputes before the Arbitration Court over the several decades of its existence. The arbitral awards take effect and become enforceable by the courts of law on the day of delivery to the parties. The enforceability of the arbitral awards in practically every place of the world is guaranteed by the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards signed by over 140 countries including the Czech Republic. The time it takes to arbitrate a dispute and enforce the arbitral award in the Czech Republic is infinitely shorter that the length of average litigation.

The Arbitration Court is the only institution in the world authorized by the European Commission in 2005 to arbitrate .EU domain disputes. The Arbitration Court has decided nearly 1 000 .EU domain disputes since then. The .EU domain disputes can be arbitrated in all European Union languages (except Maltese and Gaelic) thanks to a unique on-line platform.

The Arbitration Court is the fourth institution in the world and second in Europe authorized in 2008 by ICANN to arbitrate generic domain name (.com, .org, .net, etc.) disputes.

Since 6 June 2009, the Arbitration Court is also authorized to arbitrate .co.nl domain name disputes.

The Arbitration Court is the single institution in the Czech Republic authorized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic to arbitrate consumer disputes in the scope of its project of Alternative Consumer Disputes Resolution (the project is currently suspended). In addition, there is a possibility to arbitrate healthcare payments disputes before the Arbitration Court.

The Arbitration Court was a permanent arbitration court with the maximum possible jurisdiction in the Czech Republic. The Arbitration Court is a distinguished institution not only in the Czech Republic but also abroad thanks to its innovative approaches to arbitration, the quality of its arbitral awards and the expertise of its arbitrators.

ARBITRATION PREREQUISITE If you wish to have your disputes decided by the Arbitration Court, it is necessary to make a written agreement (or, most typically, arbitration clause) designating the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court. The arbitration clause is typically entered as a provision in the property contract between the parties. If your agreement was concluded in the past without the arbitration clause, it can be amended by supplementing the arbitration clause designating the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court for disputes arising out of the contract between the parties.

The Arbitration Court usually arbitrates according to its Rules published in the Business Bulletin (“Obchodni vestnik”) unless the parties agree otherwise. The Rules and other information is available to the disputing parties and anyone interested free of charge at the seat of the Arbitration Court, the regional arbitration venues, or at the seats of the Chambers of Commerce and Agricultural Chambers of the Czech Republic in the Czech, English, German, French and Russian language.

The Arbitration Court contractually cooperates with some regional branches of the Chamber of Commerce (e.g. Olomouc, Most et al.) and the regional arbitration venues in Brno, Ostrava, Plzen and Hradec Kralove are most frequented.

Advantages of arbitrating before the Arbitration Court:

  • arbitration is single-instance, speedy and less formal; it takes a few months, or even a few weeks, from filing the lawsuit until the delivery of the arbitral award; the arbitral award takes effect and becomes enforceable by delivery to the parties.
  • arbitral awards are easily enforceable; the New York Convention from 1958 guarantees the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards in over 140 signatory countries.
  • choice of arbitrators; the List of Arbitrators includes a number of experts from all areas of the law and economics from the Czech Republic and from abroad.
  • sensible arbitration costs; arbitration fee for domestic disputes with value up to CZK 50,000,000 is 4% from the value in dispute (the minimum fee being CZK 10,000); domestic disputes include disputes where the parties are permanent establishments of foreign entities registered in the Czech Commercial Register; international disputes’ arbitration before the Arbitration Court attached to the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic is more cost-effective than arbitrating in abroad; please find detailed information about arbitration costs by clicking on the Tariff section of our website.
  • administrative support is provided by a professional secretariat.
  • publishing the Rules in the Business Bulletin enables anyone interested to learn about the principles and conditions of arbitration conducted before the Arbitration Court.

Execution

An arbitral award represents an execution title and can be used as a basis to commence execution proceedings under applicable laws if the obligor disrespects and fails to comply with it.

Arbitration Court Board

President:
prof. JUDr. Marie Karfíková, CSc.

Vice-presidents:
doc. JUDr. Vladimír Balaš, CSc.
Mgr. Radek Pokorný
JUDr. Vojtěch Trapl
Mgr. Lukáš Trojan

Board members:
prof. JUDr. Miroslav Bělina, CSc.
JUDr. František Honsa, Ph.D.
JUDr. Petr Hostaš
doc. JUDr. Jan Kocina, Ph.D.
Ing. Jan Ptáček, CSc.
RNDr. Zdeněk Somr
Mgr. Ing. Bc. Tomáš Sýkora
Mgr. Zdeněk Zajíček

Secretary of the Arbitration Court:
JUDr. Lenka Schäfer, Ph.D.