Under the International Commercial Arbitration Act in force in Bulgaria, the parties to a contract may agree that, in the event of a dispute, they will resolve their relations by referring the matter to an arbitral tribunal.<\/p>\n
For a dispute to be determined by an arbitral tribunal, the parties must have entered into an arbitration agreement, or another contract governing their civil-law relations must contain an arbitration clause. The International Commercial Arbitration Act expressly provides that the arbitration agreement or clause must be made in writing. The Code of Civil Procedure establishes exceptions to the principle of freedom of contract in relation to the resolution of disputes between the parties. Article 19 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that the parties to a pecuniary dispute may agree that it will be determined by an arbitral tribunal, unless the subject matter of the dispute concerns rights in rem or possession of immovable property, maintenance (including maintenance of a child, former spouse or parent), or rights arising from an employment relationship. All other matters that may be brought before a state court may also be submitted to an arbitral tribunal for examination and determination. The tribunal may be institutional, that is, a permanently operating body, such as the best-known arbitral tribunal in Bulgaria, the Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, or it may be an ad hoc tribunal, that is, a tribunal established to determine a specific case, usually one involving interstate matters of exceptionally high public interest and importance.<\/p>\n
It is important to know that the arbitration agreement must contain sufficient information to identify the arbitration. The arbitration agreement must also refer to a specific contract that already exists, rather than applying to all possible disputes and all possible contracts that the parties might enter into in the future.<\/p>\n
The existence of an arbitration agreement does not prevent a claim from being brought before a court. However, if a claim is brought both before a state court and before an arbitral tribunal and the defendant does not object, the case will be considered in both proceedings. The particular feature here is that, when one of the proceedings is completed first, the other must be terminated under the rule that a dispute may not be adjudicated twice: there cannot be two judicial decisions between the same parties concerning the same dispute.<\/p>\n
Proceedings before an arbitral tribunal are not public, unlike proceedings before a state court, which means that persons who are not involved in the case may not attend.<\/p>\n
If you need an arbitration agreement to be prepared, or require analysis and an opinion when preparing a contract containing an arbitration clause, you should consult a qualified specialist in this field. If arbitration proceedings have already been brought against you or by you, it is advisable to instruct an experienced attorney to represent you before the arbitral tribunal. If an arbitral tribunal has issued a decision and you were not notified of the proceedings in due time, you may apply to the Supreme Court of Cassation for the decision to be set aside.<\/strong>
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