14 Domestic Arbitration: (Articles 65 to 72)

Subject(s):

Arbitral tribunals — Appointment of arbitrator — Counsel — Deliberation and drafting — Place of arbitration — Review of arbitral awards — Jurisdiction — Relationship between international and domestic law

This chapter focuses on Chapter V of the current CIETAC Arbitration Rules, which sets forth several special provisions that are applicable to domestic arbitration only. These include provisions in regard to acceptance of case filing by the Claimant; formation of arbitral tribunal; pleadings (such as defence, counterclaim, and defence to counterclaim); notice of oral hearing; record of oral hearing; and time period for rendering arbitral award. Notably, the time periods in a domestic arbitration—such as those in regard to submission of pleadings, notice of oral hearing(s), and rendering of arbitral award(s)—are shorter than the corresponding time periods in a foreign-related arbitration, which is in line with the nature of domestic proceedings, as reflected in the convenience in communications and travel arrangements, the short time periods for service of process, as well as the fact that most domestic cases are conducted in the Chinese language only. Since the special provisions only apply to domestic arbitration cases, there is a need to distinguish between domestic cases and foreign-related cases. Foreign-related cases are cases involving ‘foreign-element(s)’.