On the 27th of November, the Board of Trustees of the Arbitration and Mediation Center of Armenia (AMCA) adopted its first Rules of Arbitration.
AMCA Arbitration rules have undergone a long process of development and scrutiny. The Arbitration Council of AMCA has played a vital role in providing invaluable input through the development of the AMCA Rules. The members of the Arbitration Council, international and national legal experts in the field of arbitration who generously provided their professional input, are:
- Grant Hannesian – Chair of the Council and an independent arbitrator in New York
- Rafik Grigoryan – Deputy Chair of the Council and Managing Partner of Sigma Law Group
- Andrea Carlevaris – President of AIA, partner at BonelliErede
- Ara Khzmalyan – Partner at ADWISE Business and Legal Consulting
- Aida Avanesyan – member of the Arbitrators Association of Armenia, Lecturer
- Artyom Geghamyan – Managing Partner at TABIA Legal Solutions
- Galina Zukova, Partner at ZUKOVA Legal
- Hayk Kupeliants – Qualified solicitor in England & Wales
- Hayk Hovhannisyan – Managing Partner of HAP Law Firm
- Tomas Snider – Partner and Head of International Arbitration, Charles Russell Speechlys LLP
Under the AMCA Rules, the Arbitration Council will function much like the “courts” of other arbitration institutions.
The AMCA Arbitration Rules have been created to provide parties with a clear, concise, and efficient dispute resolution mechanism for both domestic and international disputes. Specifically, the Arbitration Rules ensure the realization of the principle of party autonomy, provide for flexibility, and fast-track procedures, primacy of electronic communications and submissions, as well as the possibility of applying provisional measures and urgent measures through emergency arbitration.
In line with the approach adopted by many of the world’s leading arbitral institutions, AMCA Arbitration Rules provide a structured, institutional framework to ensure transparency, efficiency, and fairness in the process. Arbitration under AMCA Arbitration Rules leads to a binding decision from a neutral arbitral tribunal, enforceable both domestically and internationally. Armenia’s Law on Commercial Arbitration is based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, which makes Armenia a favorable seat of arbitration.