DESTINATION KAZAKHSTAN
procedural rules are among the most
cost-competitive and up to date in the
world.
One of the risks that many companies
face is not so much the resolution of
disputes in the Arbitration Centre and
the AIFC Court, but it’s more about
the fate of the Court’s decisions or
arbitration awards. Usually one of
the parties may disagree, and so
what further action should be taken?
Once the arbitral tribunal has been
appointed, typically with its one or
three appointed arbitrators, and it
issues its arbitration award, this award
then has to be enforced. In accordance
with international practice, if one party
or even several parties disagree with
the decision, they cannot take this
decision to any other court or any other
arbitration centre for any review on
the merits of the case. The arbitration
award is final and legally binding.
If the parties are dissatisfied with the
arbitration award, they can apply to
the AIFC Court, but only for very limited
consideration of the arbitration award
on procedural grounds, and not on the
merits of the case. The presence of
highly qualified international common
law judges and international arbitrators
provides the confidence to international
business that the system will operate in
the fairest and most cost effective way.
Kazakhstan acceded to the United
Nations New York Convention on the
Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign
Arbitral Awards, and Kazakhst ani courts
must recognize arbitration awards.
In the AIFC court, we provided that for
the enforcement of arbitral awards
from the International Arbitration
Centre in the AIFC, parties may apply to
the AIFC Court for an execution order
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world monitor
for the enforcement of that award.
The award will then be executed in
accordance with national legislation
through enforcement agencies. including for advice on that case, the
judge will be expected to disclose that
interest. That judge would not then hear
the dispute.
The hearings in the AIFC International
Arbitration Centre and the Court are
of a closed or open nature, for the
media and the public? And what is your role in the Court?
The hearings in the International
Arbitration Centre are always private.
This is one of the attractive features
of arbitration for business. When the
arbitral tribunal makes its decision,
this decision will not be published on
our official website, unless the parties
agree otherwise. Private arbitration
proceedings protect the interests of
the parties without revealing otherwise
confidential commercial information.
In the AIFC Court hearings are open to
the public to attend without reservation.
The meetings can be held in private
at the discretion of the Court upon
application by a party.
Tell us a little bit about the
procedures of the AIFC Court. Is
it really before the beginning of
the Court session that there is a
procedure when the judge is obliged
to declare a list of all the people who
were asking him about this matter
and these names are then recorded.
Thus, this saves the judge from the
influence of the parties.
Yes, the judges have to behave in
accordance with a professional code
of ethics, same for the arbitrators. All
parties to the process must be sure
that they are treated equally, fairly
and independently by the judges and
arbitrators.
If one of the parties to a case has
previously approached the judge,
As the Registrar and Chief Executive
of the AIFC Court and the International
Arbitration Centre, I have limited judicial
powers as delegated by the Chief
Justice, in addition to my administrative
responsibilities. The Registrar assists
with case management and he can if
delegated to him act as an enforcement
judge. The Registry and myself will
absolutely not discuss a specific case
outside of a hearing setting. This does
not prevent lawyers or other non-
Court people from discussing a case
openly, subject to any client or other
professional obligations they might
have.
How will you work with the
Kazakhstan community of corporate
lawyers and leading companies that
already work with large corporate
clients?
We have been fully operational since
1 January 2018. Our Court is open and
accessible, any lawyer with professional
lawyer qualifications obtained in any
country of the world can represent their
client in our Court. English is the official
language of the AIFC, but if the parties
to a dispute need assistance with
translation, we will assist with finding
appropriate translation. One of our
main objectives is to provide maximum
accessibility to our Court and to justice.
We have developed and are now implementing
a comprehensive public relations campaign
for the legal community. We are focused
on explaining what we do and how we
work through providing training for
professionals and potential users of our