EAP
LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Whatsapp
Telegram
Copy link

The emergency arbitrator procedure (EAP) is a mechanism in the field of international commercial arbitration available to parties seeking interim relief. To fill the gap between the outset of the arbitration and the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, interim relief from an EAP can elevate parties’ procedural capacity without bothering state court proceedings.

Several major international arbitration institutions have incorporated EAPs into their arbitration rules since the first one came into practice at the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) in 2006.

Although the EAP has existed for more than a decade, the enforceability of emergency arbitrator (EA) orders has no universal assurance so far. Two embedded thresholds in the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention), which is made for recognizing and enforcing arbitral awards, were to be crossed before it could play a role: (1) whether an EA constitutes an “arbitrator” within the meaning of the New York Convention; and (2) whether an EA’s order (in the form of a decision, order or award) constitutes an “arbitral award” within the meaning of the New York Convention.

Due to the different approaches to these two tests, especially considering the implied test of the “finality” of an arbitral award, the uncertainties promise no universal assurance unless lawmakers take an aggressive approach to interpreting the New York Convention in contracting states.

The attitude to enforceability varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Except for a few jurisdictions such as Singapore and Hong Kong, which explicitly gave legislative teeth to EA orders, the answer is far from straightforward.

However, the significance of EAPs has been widely recognized by the users and institutions among the international arbitration community.

You must be a subscribersubscribersubscribersubscriber to read this content, please subscribesubscribesubscribesubscribe today.

For group subscribers, please click here to access.
Interested in group subscription? Please contact us.

你需要登录去解锁本文内容。欢迎注册账号。如果想阅读月刊所有文章,欢迎成为我们的订阅会员成为我们的订阅会员

已有集团订阅,可点击此处继续浏览。
如对集团订阅感兴趣,请联络我们

Jolie Guo is a case manager at Beijing Arbitration Commission/Beijing International Arbitration CenterBAC/BIAC

JOIN OUR FORUM

China Business Law Journal welcomes your responses to articles that appear in the Dispute Digest section. In line with our desire to make this section a regular forum of ideas, cases and observations, we also invite you to contribute. Articles should ideally be about 900 English words and 1,500 Chinese characters in length. Please send them to editor@cblj.com. We will publish the best and most topical articles each month.

LinkedIn
Facebook
Twitter
Whatsapp
Telegram
Copy link