Arbitration Agreement under Swiss Law and the Forthcoming Reforms of the Switzerland’s Federal Code on Private International Law (CPIL) in the Light of One Arbitral Award
Starting to consider any case, arbitrators determine whether the arbitration agreement was concluded and decide whether they are competent to resolve the case. Compliance with legal requirements towards the form and the contents of the arbitration agreement is a key issue to ensure the enforceability of the award abroad. In the case analyzed in this article arbitration agreement was subject to the Swiss law and the respondent refused to acknowledge this agreement referring to violation of requirements towards its form and to the lack of mutual consent of the parties as to its conclusion. Analyzing the Swiss arbitral award, authors consider the provisions of the laws of Switzerland and those of the Switzerland’s Federal Code on Private International Law (CPIL) on the requirements as to the form of arbitration agreement and the preliminary draft of amendments thereto, as well as the case law of the Swiss Federal Tribunal on issues of recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Authors come to the conclusion that, should the arbitrators apply the amended version of the CPIL, this would not have affected the conclusions of the arbitral tribunal.