Arbitration has become a very common alternative dispute resolution method with the developments and improvements of international trade in recent years. The arbitration is a dispute resolution method, especially in disputes arising out of international commercial agreements in the globalized world. Today, almost all of the international commercial contracts prefer “arbitration” as a dispute resolution way instead of referring to a state’s jurisdiction. Arbitration is preferred because of its advantages such as speed and confidentiality. In addition, the fact that different nations do not trust the impartiality of the judicial system of different states plays an important role in this preference.
The parties can freely determine the arbitrator and procedure to settle the dispute between them (Ad.Hoc Arbitration), or they can prefer the institutions that have their own statutes and rules (Institutional Arbitration) serving on arbitration.
When the arbitration became widespread all over the world, many institutional arbitration centers have been found. The most significant one of these and the one that settles the most number of arbitral cases is the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Arbitration Court in Paris. Except that, there are several institutional arbitration institutions in USA, Vienna, Zurich, Stockholm, and in many other places of the world. The Istanbul Arbitration Center (ISTAC) is an arbitration institution in Turkey.
International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), whose structure is slightly different from the above mentioned ones, has been found by an international treaty to settle international investment disputes in the World Bank. Turkey is a party to ICSID and recognizes its jurisdiction.
Due to its international features, arbitration and the enforcement of arbitral awards have also been the subject of bilateral and multilateral international treaties. The most important of these international treaties is the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, a UN treaty dated 1958. It is known as New York Treaty. Almost all of the 193 UN member states are parties to this treaty. Another most widely adhered international treaty is the “European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration” (Also known as the Geneva Convention) Turkey also became a party to the New York and Geneva Conventions in 1991.
Laws on arbitration in Turkey are; Civil Procedural Law (HMK), which regulates domestic arbitration, and the International Arbitration Law No. 4686, which entered into force in 2001.
Ankara Law House provides legal support to its clients in all kinds of national and international commercial arbitrations. It drafts the arbitration agreement or clause between the parties and follows the arbitration proceedings in English.
