International Arbitration Centre launches a new service for investors

The Arb-Med service was launched with a demonstration of a arb-med resolution of a financial dispute lead by an arbitration panel consisting of the IAC Chairman, Barbara Dohmann QC, and two IAC Arbitrators, Dr. Stephan Grigolli and Thomas Kruemmel.  Sir Robin Jacob, an IAC Arbitrator and Mediator Panel member and a Justice at the AIFC Court, was the mediator.  Four leading lawyers from the Kazakhstan legal community presented legal arguments to the arbitrators and mediator. 

The IAC’s Arb-Med service and demonstration is the first of its kind at an international arbitration centre in Eurasia. Unlike arb-med services at other arbitration centres, at the IAC the mediator who is appointed to mediate the dispute has not been an arbitrator in that dispute.  The mediator is independent from the arbitrators and is a neutral facilitator.  It is expected that Arb-Med at the IAC will further enhance its capacity to resolve commercial disputes as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

The IAC has so far trained 36 Kazakh nationals with an international accredited mediator qualification in cooperation with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution in London which is a leading provider of mediator training.  The latest of these trainings happened in Nur-Sultan and Almaty in June 2019.

Mr. Christopher Campbell-Holt, Registrar and Chief Executive of the AIFC Court and IAC, commented:

“The IAC is committed to becoming the number one choice for alternative dispute resolution in Eurasia.  Arb-Med is our latest initiative and we are proud to launch this new service today. We are also developing a mediator community in Kazakhstan that will be qualified to provide the very best international standards of mediation to assist parties to resolve their commercial disputes quickly and cost effectively at the IAC.”

Reference:

AIFC. The AIFC was established on the initiative of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev. In December 2015 President Nazarbayev approved the Constitutional Statute “On the Astana International Financial Centre” (AIFC). The aim of the AIFC is to establish a leading international centre for financial services. The objectives of the AIFC are to attract investment into the economy through the establishment of an attractive environment for investment in financial services, develop local capital markets, ensuring their integration with the international capital markets. www.aifc.kz

The AIFC Court. The AIFC Court is an independent legal entity. It has its own procedural rules modelled on English common law procedures and leading international practice. The AIFC Court is separate and independent from the courts of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It consists of two tiers: a Court of First Instance, which includes a specialist division known as the Small Claims Court; and a Court of Appeal. It has exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of the activities and operations of the AIFC and jurisdiction in the case of other disputes in which all parties agree in writing to give the AIFC Court jurisdiction. It does not have jurisdiction in relation to any disputes that are of a criminal or administrative nature. It applies the most up to date and efficient case management practices. 

The International Arbitration Centre (IAC).The International Arbitration Centre (IAC) is an independent legal entity. It has its own procedural rules modelled on best international practice. It has its own panel of leading international arbitrators and mediators having many years of arbitration and mediation experience in commercial law, including oil and gas, trade, construction, energy, financial services, banking, Islamic finance, insurance, and intellectual property. IAC arbitration awards are recognised and enforceable in Kazakhstan and internationally.