IAC and AIFC Court present their results in 2020

The cases involved parties from 11 countries including from Kazakhstan (including from 11 different cities and regions within Kazakhstan), Russia, China, Uzbekistan, and the UK.  The subject matters of the disputes involved issues of contract, non-payments, debt obligations, other finance, services provision, employment, and property (including land).  The applicable laws included the laws of the AIFC, Kazakhstan, and Russia.

All judgments and arbitration awards were successfully enforced in Kazakhstan to 100% satisfaction using the AIFC Court’s unique step by step procedure for efficient enforcement.

From March 2020, in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic, the AIFC Court and IAC moved all of their work to online status and ensured that there was no disruption to their day-to-day operations and services provision.  All disputes at the AIFC Court and IAC were managed and resolved electronically free of charge to the case parties using the AIFC Court’s and IAC’s world leading digital technology with eJustice for all case management and video technology for pre-trial hearings and trial hearings. 

222 lawyers registered with the AIFC Court for rights of audience.  The lawyers came from 23 countries (25 jurisdictions) including from the US, UK, Europe, Central Asia, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.  The AIFC Court and IAC are now recognised by the international legal community throughout the world.

In addition, the AIFC Court and IAC model dispute resolution clauses were included in more than 4000 business contracts, most notably in contracts involving Chevron and Tengizchevroil LLP.  This was a result of the AIFC Court’s and IAC’s initiative to increase the number of corporations that choose the AIFC Court and IAC as their number one choice for commercial dispute resolution in Central Asia.

The AIFC Court and IAC signed 31 MOUs with local and international dispute resolution centres, lawyer associations, and training partners.  31 webinars were hosted by the AIFC Court and IAC via the AIFC Court and IAC Webinars Programme 2020 and lectures were given by the Chief Justice, IAC Chairman, Registrar and Chief Executive, the AIFC Court judges, and the IAC arbitrators and mediators.  The AIFC Court and IAC held two mock trial competitions in 2020 with participation from law schools from Kazakhstan and the wider CIS region.  More than 2000 Kazakh nationals were trained to international standards on dispute resolution by the AIFC Court and IAC.

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

“2020 has been a remarkable year for the AIFC Court and IAC.  Despite the challenges that were presented by the COVID-19 global pandemic, our dispute resolution facility, particularly our online offering, proved to be attractive to businesses and business people around the world.  We achieved significant case numbers, successful enforcement of judgments and arbitration awards, and wider contributions were made to the Kazakh and Central Asia legal and business communities with new partnerships agreed and extensive training programmes delivered.  We achieved more at this stage of our operations than we expected and compared to similar dispute resolution centres at other international financial centres.  We have ambitious plans for the future and look forward to 2021.”