Rajah & Tann LCT律师事务所提议修订VIAC规则,以符合国际仲裁标准

执行摘要

Rajah & Tann LCT律师事务所近期就越南国际仲裁中心仲裁规则(以下简称“VIAC规则”)的修订草案提交了建议和意见。该修订草案由越南国际仲裁中心(以下简称“VIAC”)发布,早于2025年4月30日的关于创新立法和执法方式以适应越南新时代发展需求的第66-NQ/TW号决议(以下简称“第66号决议”)。

VIAC的既定目标是确保仲裁庭以专业、公正和独立的方式组成,并反映最佳国际实践。重点在于加强当事人意思自治和程序公正,以此作为有效争议解决的基础。虽然修订草案主要侧重于提高仲裁庭组建阶段的程序透明度,但 Rajah & Tann LCT 律师事务所提交的建议(以下简称“修改建议”)则更进一步,将 VIAC 的程序规则与《纽约公约》和《联合国国际贸易法委员会国际商事仲裁示范法》等国际标准相统一。修改建议支持第 66 号决议“确保根据国际标准和惯例承认和执行仲裁裁决”指令的实施。

修改建议现已正式提交 VIAC 秘书处,作为其正在进行的征求意见程序的一部分。

主要修改建议 

下面我们概述 VIAC 规则的主要修改建议。 

  1. 仲裁员资格及适用法律 

修订草案并未明确规定仲裁员资格应适用哪国——是越南法律、仲裁地法律,还是仲裁员居住地或执业地法律。根据国际标准,仲裁员资格通常被视为程序性事项,受仲裁地法律管辖。修改建议明确建议,除非当事人另有约定,否则将根据VIAC规则适用越南标准。 

  1. 仲裁庭成及程序公正

现行规则并未明确规定决定当事人约定的仲裁庭组成机制是否“不可行”或“不公平”的权力。国际商会(ICC)和新加坡国际仲裁中心(SIAC)遵循的国际规则将此权力赋予仲裁中心。修改建议则将此项权力赋予VIAC主席(在与当事人协商之后)。

  1. 仲裁庭主席的指定

根据VIAC规则,如果被提名人拒绝该指定,则共同委任仲裁员指定仲裁庭主席的15天期限可能会失效。修改建议提出允许VIAC在共同委任仲裁员联合请求下或在规定期限届满之前提前介入。

  1. 仲裁指定的同意机制

现有框架缺乏确定仲裁当事人何时同意仲裁员指定的机制。根据国际惯例,修改建议提出,在仲裁员指定通知发出后10天内保持沉默,视为同意。

  1. 家指定(第19条)

现行规则并未明确可采纳的证据类型或专家作证权。修改建议确认了仲裁庭在可采性、相关性和实质性方面的自由裁量权,并对当事人和仲裁庭指定的专家均予以认可。

  1. 案件管理工具

现行规则并未提及现代案件管理工具。修改建议引入了案件管理会议 (CMC)、程序令 (PO1) 和时间表作为案件管理工具,以与全球惯例保持一致。

  1. 利益冲突与仲裁独立性

修改建议明确了股权或密切关系等导致丧失资格的利益,并规定了根据国际律师协会 (IBA) 指南披露导致丧失资格的利益的义务。这与机构仲裁的最佳实践相一致。

  1. 仲裁

目前尚无机制对履行了部分仲裁员职责后被替换的仲裁员进行补偿。修改意见允许合理补偿,前提是他们善意履行职责,并且其替换是双方当事人共同同意的。

给利益相关者的建议

尽管VIAC规则的修订仍在征求意见,我们建议利益相关者和潜在的仲裁程序当事人审查其标准仲裁条款,使其与VIAC预期的改革保持一致。他们也可以参与公开征求意见,就修订草案提供意见。

目前,组建合规团队并任命内部法律顾问,以便在VIAC规则修订后处理新的证据和程序规则也是明智之举。最后,建议评估仲裁员的个人资料和指定条款,以最大程度地减少在指定仲裁员时可能出现的关于公正性的争议。 

结语

VIAC规则的改革标志着越南仲裁框架与国际最佳实践接轨的重要一步。Rajah & Tann LCT律师事务所提出的修改建议不仅着眼于程序的清晰性和公平性,也体现了第66号决议在法律基础设施现代化方面的精神。随着仲裁在越南的持续发展,利益相关方应将此次改革视为一个战略机遇,以提升其争议解决准备,确保合规性,并为构建更加透明有效的仲裁环境做出贡献。

如果您对以上内容有任何疑问或需要帮助,请联系我们的团队成员。


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