BAC makes amendments to arbitration rules

Scientific, systemic and well-defined arbitration rules function as a strong guarantee for arbitration institutions and tribunals to provide equitable, impartial, efficient and quality arbitration service to the parties to an arbitration. The Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC) always insists on respect for party autonomy and international conventions, and pays attention to the tight connection of arbitration rules and the needs of the arbitration market, as well as the integration of updated international ideas into its development of arbitration rules.

BAC’s existing arbitration rules took effect from 1 April 2008. In order to adapt to new developments in the international commercial arbitration market and meet the needs of the institution’s own arbitration practice, BAC has launched a new round of full-scale amendments to its arbitration rules. The amendments are still being revised, and it is anticipated they will be announced in full later this year.

In March 2013, at a seminar entitled “Latest updates and prospects of international arbitration rules”, jointly sponsored by BAC and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), BAC officials talked for the first time about this new round of amendments. BAC has insisted on adherence to the international standards of arbitration rules and sought to develop rules more in keeping with the concept of the flexibility of international commercial arbitration, through clear definitions of the procedural powers of the arbitral tribunal.

The author, Wang Ruihua, is a case manager at the Beijing Arbitration Commission