"Private court", private court of pale and gray hair men - those were just a few popular names of international arbitration in the past. However, this method of dispute resolution has only been gaining popularity in recent decades. The reason is the growing number of international transactions which have led to an increase in commercial disputes across national borders. Despite the relatively high cost and duration of the procedure, international arbitration for resolving commercial disputes is gaining popularity in the business environment.
At the same time, a logical question always arises - which jurisdiction to choose so that the effectiveness of dispute resolution is in balance with cost-effectiveness. Our blog post today describes the pros and cons of choosing Canada for international arbitration.
Criteria for choosing a jurisdiction for commercial arbitration
If the question is about the choice of jurisdiction for arbitration, then it should be treated with special responsibility. In this case, a frivolous attitude to this issue can cost you too much. When choosing a jurisdiction, you should understand what goals you set for yourself.
If you know in which jurisdiction the dispute is being considered, you can roughly predict the likelihood of further cancellation of decisions and somehow forecast their outcome.
Legal landscape for international arbitration in Canada
If you are planning to settle an international commercial dispute through arbitration in Canada, please note that its legal system is not homogeneous. It is a federation with 10 provinces and 3 territories. The legal system in Canada is based on the Anglo-Saxon system
law, with the exception of the Province of Quebec, which complies with continental legal system. The Supreme Court is the ultimate instance when considering claims in civil cases and
investigation of criminal cases. It consists of a head judge and 8 judges, and at least one third of them must represent Quebec.
Provincial and territorial law provides for the possibility of applying to local courts, for example, on application for the suspension of the arbitration in Canada or for the annulment of arbitral awards.
Arbitration institutions
To resolve a dispute through ADR in Canada, you can contact the established institutions such as ADR Canada Institute, the Canadian Commercial Arbitration Center and a range of other reputable institutions. The parties can also choose foreign arbitration institutions to resolve a dispute through arbitration in Canada.
Selecting an arbitrator
In Canadian commercial arbitration, arbitrators are limited to specialists from a specific field. Before making a choice, the parties are advised to find out more information about the arbitrator as a professional and as a personality. Make a selection of his publications on controversial issues, and find out the level of his/her knowledge in the area in which the dispute arose. That is, the arbitrator must understand how your business works.This approach makes it impossible to hide behind some kind of legal casuistry.
We recommend: When appointing an arbitrator, it is advised to conduct a pre-nomination interview. It is necessary to describe the current situation to the arbitrator in some abstract images and expressions and to understand whether he sympathizes in your particular dispute or not, in other words, on which side he is. If the arbitrator from the moment of his appointment is sure that you are wrong, it is not likely that he will share your point of view during the proceedings.
For more information on the rules of selecting a jurisdiction for international arbitration, you can consult our experienced specialists. Do not hesitate to sign up for a consultation on the settlement of commercial disputes through ADR in Canada from the IQ Decision UK professionals.
