Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
The decision of the arbitral supervisory commission of proxies, or provisions on testimony of wit-
is final. nesses and expert evidence;
e) The advance to be paid by the parties, the
Art. 17 Removal of an Arbitrator deadline for payment, and the consequences of
If an arbitrator does not fulfil his duties despite hav- non-compliance.
ing been called to them by the other arbitrators or
the Zurich Chamber of Commerce, the arbitral su- Art. 21 Chairman
pervisory commission may remove him by majority The chairman leads the arbitration.
decision (Art. 16 subs. 2).
He may call in deposits, call meetings and set and
The arbitrator must be heard. The decision of the extend deadlines.
arbitral supervisory commission is final.
He represents the Arbitral Tribunal vis-à-vis the
courts, the authorities and the Zurich Chamber of
Art. 18 Replacement of an Arbitrator
Commerce.
If an arbitrator dies or if, through no fault of his, he
is no longer able to fulfil his duties, and if the arbi- Art. 22 Language
trator had been nominated by a party, the President
The Arbitral Tribunal determines the language or
of the Zurich Chamber of Commerce sets that par-
languages that must be used in written communi-
ty a deadline to nominate a new arbitrator.
cations and in hearings. It provides for the neces-
If the party fails to nominate a new arbitrator, and in sary translations and, where required, interpreters
all other cases, in particular if an arbitrator was and decides on the distribution of the costs and the
successfully challenged or removed, the President risk of erroneous translation.
of the Chamber of Commerce appoints the new
As a rule, the procedure with the parties is con-
arbitrator.
ducted in the language of the arbitration agree-
The arbitration continues with the new arbitrator ment, and the parties may arrange at their own ex-
where his predecessor left it. pense and at their own risk for their own translators
and interpreters.
Procedure Before the Arbitral Art. 23 Transcript
Tribunal The Arbitral Tribunal determine to what extent the
hearings shall be recorded in a written transcript, or
Art. 19 Good Faith audio-taped.
All participants in the arbitration must act in good Art. 24 Representation of the Parties
faith.
The parties may be represented or counselled be-
Art. 20 Constitution fore the Arbitral Tribunal by practising lawyers and
other natural persons.
As a rule after having heard the parties, they are
notified by an order of the sole arbitrator or, by a If the notification is particularly difficult or time-
decision of the Arbitral Tribunal, the names, ad- consuming, the Arbitral Tribunal may order a party
dresses, telephone, telex and telefax numbers of to appoint an authorized representative for notifica-
the arbitrators, the parties and their representa- tions at a suitable place. If the party fails to comply,
tives. Further, the decree for directions provides the notification is omitted.
the following:
Art. 25 Plea of Lack of Jurisdiction
a) Form and number of the briefs and documents
to be submitted by the parties; A plea of lack of jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal
must be raised, at the latest, with the answer on
b) One or more languages for the procedure as the merits by the respondent.
provided in Art. 22;
The Arbitral Tribunal decides on its own jurisdiction
c) If there is, as yet, no detailed complaint: a dead- after having heard the other party, as a rule by an
line for the claimant to submit one including at- interim award.
tachments; If there is already a detailed com-
plaint: a deadline for the respondent to submit a
Art. 26 Counterclaim
written answer including attachments;
A counterclaim must be raised with the answer.
d) Further provisions for the procedure as deemed
With the agreement of the claimant it may also be
necessary by the sole arbitrator or the Arbitral
raised at a later date.
Tribunal, such as provisions for the submission
of an extract from the Register of Commerce, or
Art. 27 Set-off
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
The Arbitral Tribunal also has jurisdiction over a other party to be undisputed or may investigate the
set-off defense it the claim that is set off does not matter on its own.
fall under the arbitration clause, and even if there
exists another arbitration clause or jurisdiction Art. 33 Continuation and Conclusion of the Main Proceed-
clause for that claim. ings
To continue the main proceedings, the chairman
Art. 28 Provisional and Conservatory Measures sets a deadline for reply and rejoinder briefs, and
If the parties have not expressly excluded this, the for reply and rejoinder on the counterclaim, if any;
Arbitral Tribunal may order, on motion of a party, or calls a hearing with the parties. For special rea-
provisional or conservatory measures in accord- sons, further exchanges of briefs or hearings may
ance with Art. 183 of the Private International Law be ordered.
Statute. With the receipt of the last brief, or with the last oral
pleading the main procedure is concluded.
Art. 29 Beginning of Main Proceedings
For the complaint and the answer, and for the Art. 34 New Motions and Allegations
counterclaim and the answer to the counterclaim, if After the pleadings are closed, new or modified
any, the procedure is in writing. motions, allegations of fact, defenses and denials
In the complaint, the prayers for relief and the value are no longer admissible.
in litigation should be specified, and the factual and At a later date the Arbitral Tribunal may, by excep-
legal grounds should be given in detail; in the an- tion, admit new or amended claims if the legal posi-
swer, the respondent must respond in detail to the tion of the other party is not appreciably worsened
claims made by the claimant. In these briefs, the and the procedure is not unnecessarily lengthened.
proofs must be indicated with precision; witnesses
The following new motions, allegations of fact, de-
must be identified by name; and the available doc-
fenses and denials are exempted: :
uments must be submitted in the required number
of copies, together with a schedule of documents. a) Motions that have been prompted by the further
proceedings.
After the above briefs have been submitted, as a
rule a hearing is held with the parties in which the b) Allegations of fact, defenses and denials that
Arbitral Tribunal discusses the further proceedings can be proved forthworth by documents already
with the parties. on record or newly submitted.
c) Facts that could not reasonably have been pre-
Art. 30 Deadlines sented within the deadline.
The Arbitral Tribunal sets deadlines by indication d) Facts and legal arguments that the Arbitral Tri-
the date of expiry. bunal must take into account ex officio.
A deadline is deemed to have been complied with if e) Allegations of fact and denial in response to
the submission has been posted before the dead- questions by the arbitrators.
line with the official mails in Switzerland or abroad,
or was transmitted by telex or telefax. An advance Art. 35 Proof Procedure
is deemed to have been made timely if the instruc- The Arbitral Tribunal makes its findings of fact in
tions were given to the bank within the deadline, adversarial proceedings.
provided that the payment is credited within one
month. As a rule, it administers proof after the main pro-
ceedings are concluded, it may, however, start
administering proof earlier.
Art. 31 Extension of Deadlines
Requests for extensions of deadlines must be Art. 36 Witnesses
submitted before the deadline has expired. The
extension requested should be specified. The Arbitral Tribunal sets the rules for the testimo-
ny of witnesses. The Arbitral Tribunal may order
the oral testimony of a witness. The witness is in-
Art. 32 Consequences of Failure to Submit a Brief or to
vited by the party that nominated it, at its own ex-
Appear at a Hearing
pense.
If a party fails to submit a brief within the deadline
or fails to appear at a hearing without adequate Art. 37 Capacity to Testify
excuse, the Arbitral Tribunal may restore the dead-
line, set a new deadline or call a new hearing and Everybody, including parties and their officers, may
specify the consequences of failure to comply. be a witness. For the assessment of testimony, Art.
44 applies.
If the party fails to comply once more, the Arbitral
Tribunal may deem the factual allegations of the Art. 38 Right to Refuse Testimony
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
ment, or in a later written agreement excluded all If a party fails to pay the advance ordered, the oth-
challenge of the arbitral awards. (Art. 192 PIL) er party may choose to advance the arbitration
Otherwise, the award may be challenged only on costs or renounce the arbitration. If it renounces,
the grounds enumerated in Art. 190 subs. 2 and 3 the parties are no longer bound to the arbitration
of the Private International Law Statute. agreement with respect to the particular dispute.
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
3.2
If an arbitrator bears certain cost himself or is
charged with them (as, for instance, in a law firm)
he may be compensated by the following lump
sums: Meeting rooms Sfr. 500.- per day, secretari-
at Sfr. 1000.- per day, photostat copies, including
personnel cost share, Sfr. 1.- per copy, automobile
kilometre Sfr. 1.-.
4.
For the fees and expenses of the arbitral supervi-
sory commission the above provisions apply by
analogy.
5.
This Schedule of Arbitration Costs may be changed
at any time with immediate effect by a decision of
the Zurich Chamber of Commerce.
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich
ties and the right of both parities to be heard in ad- Article 189
versarial proceedings. 3. Arbitral award
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Zürcher Handelskammer International Arbitration Rules
Zurich Chamber of Commerce of Zurich Chamber of Commerce
Chambre de Commerce de Zurich