Madrid, Seat for International Arbitration
Legal Advantages
The Arbitration Law of 2003, based on the UNICITRAL Model Law, allows it to be applied to disputes that arise within the legal framework of both the Anglo-Saxon and Continental European legal culture.
“The new Spanish regulation benefits
and facilitates international arbitration.”
The law was born with the objective of promoting and facilitating modern international arbitration through the inclusion of the following attributes:
- Based on the voluntary will of all parties.
- Offers greater efficiency and flexibility.
- Favours both national and international arbitration.
- Reinforces the guarantees of the arbitration process.
- Based on the voluntary will of all parties:
- It allows the parties involved to establish important aspects of the process according to their needs, including the arbitration agreement, the number of arbitrators, the arbitration institution, procedure, location and the language to be employed, etc.
- Eliminates the requirement that arbitrators be practicing lawyers, which simplifies the designation of arbitrators.
- Offers greater efficiency and flexibility:
- It eliminates practically all the formal requirements for an arbitration clause, the principal aim of which is to clearly state the voluntary will of all parties to submit to arbitration.
- When an alternative has not been agreed, one arbitrator is designated. This reduces time and costs compared to other legislations which opt for three arbitrators.
- It establishes a maximum period of 6 months in which to provide an arbitral award, thereby contributing to the reduction of costs.
- It eliminates the need to formalise the arbitral award with a notary public, thereby eliminating the need for an arbitrator resident abroad to travel to Spain for this process.
- Favours both national and international arbitration:
- It applies the monist system, using the same preceptors for both national and international arbitration, which facilitates the development of both.
- Reinforces the guarantees of the arbitration process:
- It requests that arbitrators communicate any circumstances which may cause doubt regarding their independence and impartiality.
- It introduces the possibility of adopting precautionary measures.
- It extends the deadline for the correction, clarification of and any additions to the arbitral award in international arbitrations.
- It provides a clear description of reasons to begin annulment actions and extends the period for the intervention to 2 months.
- Despite this, the arbitral award is enforceable even when the annulment action has been executed.
- Facilitates and speeds up the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards (exequatur):
- It expressly states that the exequatur of foreign awards be governed by the New York Convention of the 10 June 1958, without prejudice to what is stated in other international conventions that may be more favourable to the award.
- Furthermore, it allows the exequatur to be transferred to the courts of first instance for the enforcement of the award. This speeds up the process, given that these competences were previously attributed to the Supreme Court, undoubtedly slower in resolution matters.