International Arbitration Reform in Russia

Abstract The paper is focused on the arbitration reform in Russia which took place in 2015. Major reasons of the reform are pocket arbitration institutions and lack of independence and impartiality of arbitrators. Those reasons created a situation of distrust to arbitration which is an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. The distrust evolved into refusals to recognise and enforce of arbitration awards including refusals on the ground of public policy. The aim of the work is to research the circumstances which caused the need to reform the legislation and its influence of the international arbitration in Russia. The transitional period of the reform has finished in 2017 and analyses of the first results are awaited. The goals of the work include historical analysis of arbitration in Russia, reasons which preceded the reform and evaluation of the new legislation. Those points determine the structure of the paper. The work also includes case law and theoretical questions of arbitration such as independence and impartiality of arbitrators which are relevant of the to the research.