Statute of the Court of Arbitration at the BCCI - 2024
| STATUS | JURISDICTION | STRUCTURE |
| PRESIDENCY | PRESIDENT | ARBITRATORS |
| INCOMPATIBILITY | ARBITRAL COLLEGE | SECRETARIAT |
| FINANCES | STATUTE, RULES AND TARIFFS |
| Art. 1. | (1) | A Court of Arbitration shall be established at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
| (2) | The seat of the Court of Arbitration shall be the city of Sofia. | |
| (3) | The Court of Arbitration shall be a jurisdiction institution, independent of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
| Art. 2. | (1) | The Court of Arbitration shall resolve property disputes as well as disputes for interpretation or filling gaps in contracts or their adaptation to newly arisen circumstances between the parties to the contract , provided the said disputes are submitted to this Court of Arbitration by virtue of an arbitration agreement. |
| (2) | The arbitration proceedings shall be effected in accordance with the Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the R ules and regulations of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. | |
| (3) | The Court of Arbitration shall organize optional conciliation proceedings, shall render assistance to "ad hoc" arbitration and offer mediation in resolving civil legal disputes in accordance with the respective rules adopted. |
| Art. 3. | (1) | The Court of Arbitration shall consist of a Presidency, arbitrators and a Secretariat. |
| (2) | (2) The Court of Arbitration shall have an Arbitral College which will consist of all arbitrators. |
| Art. 4. | (1) | The Presidency of the Court of Arbitration shall consist of: a President, up to three Vice-Presidents and up to four Members. They shall be elected for a five-year term of office by the Management Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Management Board shall have the power of effecting replacements in the Presidency during the said term of office. |
| (2) |
The Presidency shall have the following functions:
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| (3) | A delegated member of the Executive Council of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry shall have the right of taking part with a deliberative vote in the sessions of the Presidency. | |
| (4) | Minutes shall be drawn during the sessions of the Presidency, containing the adopted decisions, which shall be signed by the President of the Court and by the Secretary. When necessary the decisions shall be communicated to the arbitrators and to the Executive Council of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
| Art. 5. | (1) | The President of the Court of Arbitration shall represent the Court in this country and abroad. |
| (2) | The President shall convene the sessions of the Presidency of the Court and the arbitral college, he shall report on the activity of the Court to the arbitral college and to the Executive Council of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and shall execute the decisions of the Presidency as well as perform the functions provided for in the Rules of the Court of Arbitration. | |
| (3) | The Vice-Presidents shall perform the functions of the President in the case when he is prevented to do so or when delegated by him. | |
| (4) | The Management Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce shall have the right to elect an Honorary President of the Court of Arbitration. |
| Art. 6. | (1) | /Amended, effective as of 01.10.2024/. The List of Arbitrators shall be drawn up in the beginning and during the mid-term of the five-year term of service of the Presidium. During the whole term of service, the Presidium may enlist new Arbitrators. In both cases voting shall be secret. |
| (2) |
/Amended and supplemented, effective as of 01.12.2019/. Arbitrators shall be struck off in case of death, reaching the age of 75 years and in case of lasting inability to perform their duties. An arbitrator may be struck off also in case of gross violation of the Statute, the Rules and the Ethical Rules of Conduct for Arbitrators. In the events under Sentence 2 of this paragraph the Presidency of the AC at the BCCI shall inform and hear the arbitrator prior to making decision for her/his striking off. |
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| (3) |
/Amended, effective as of 01.10.2024/. For disputes under Art. 2, Paragraph 1, a common List for domestic and international arbitration cases shall be drawn up, including only Bulgarian citizens. For the Bulgarian companies / citizens, the common List of Arbitrators on domestic and international arbitration cases – Bulgarian citizens is obligatory, while with regard to foreign companies / citizens, including for companies with prevailing foreign participation, the List is recommendable. For disputes, a party to which is a foreign company / citizen or company with prevailing foreign participation, the List is recommendable. |
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| (4) | /Supplemented, effective as of 01.10.2024/. A Regional List of Arbitrators shall be drawn up. At the proposal of the respective regional chamber within the unified system of the Bulgarian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, up to three lawyers from the district who have declared their willingness in writing shall be enrolled on the List. The candidates shall satisfy the general requirements for arbitrators. When an Arbitrator from the Regional List of Arbitrators applies to be included in the common List on domestic and international arbitration cases under Art. 6, Paragraph 3, participation in precluded arbitration proceedings with place of hearing on the arbitration case in the seat of the Regional Chamber is an advantage. | |
| (5) |
/Former paragraph 4, supplemented and effective as of 01.12.2019/. Capable citizens of age, who have not been convicted for intentional crimes of general character, graduates in law with at least ten years of legal experience, who are versed in domestic and international property economic relations and in the law which governs such relations, shall be eligible for enrolment into the lists of arbitrators. The activity of the candidates for arbitrators should be in the field of obligation and commercial law. |
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| (6) | /Former Paragraph 5, effective as of 01.12.2019/. Arbitrators shall be independent and impartial in the execution of their functions. They shall not act as representatives of any of the parties. Arbitrators shall be obliged to keep secret the data concerning the deliberations of the court as well as any data accessible to them during the execution of their duties. | |
| (7) | /Former Paragraph 6, effective as of 01.12.2019/. When a person is nominated for an arbitrator or a presiding arbitrator of an arbitral tribunal, he/she shall have to indicate in a written statement to the Secretariat all circumstances which could give rise to reasonable doubts concerning his/her impartiality or independence. An arbitrator shall have the same obligation after his/her appointment as well. Copies of this statement shall be sent to the parties. | |
| (8) |
/Former Paragraph 7, effective as of 01.12.2019/. The lists of arbitrators shall be made available to all those interested. The list of arbitrators for international disputes shall be sent also to the Bulgarian diplomatic, consular and commercial representative offices abroad. |
| Art. 7. | (1) | /Amended, effective as of 01.12.2019/. Arbitrators enrolled on the lists of the AC at the BCCI shall not be legal counsels and attorneys on cases heard by the AC at the BCCI as well as shall not give opinions on such cases. Arbitrators, taking parts in law firms, shall not accept to be elected or appointed for arbitrators on cases which a party to the case has entrusted to the firm in which they participate. |
| (2) | Arbitrators, enrolled in the lists of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shall not take part as arbitrators in other institutional arbitration courts, having their seats in the Republic of Bulgaria. | |
| (3) | If during his/her term of office an arbitrator has accepted to be put on the list of another institutional arbitration court of general jurisdiction, the said arbitrator shall notify in writing the President of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry within 15 days from his being put on the other list and shall not have the right of accepting participation in new cases initiated before the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Presidency of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry shall strike such an arbitrator off the list following the expiry of the above term, however, the arbitrator shall have the right of finishing the pending cases for which he/she has been appointed or elected. | |
| (4) | Arbitrators shall not be: members of Parliament, ministers, deputy ministers, heads of state agencies, members of the Constitutional Court or persons, barred to be arbitrators by any normative act of law. |
| Art. 8. | (1) |
Arbitrators shall form an Arbitration College which shall:
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| (2) | (Supplemented, effective as of 01.01.2017). The decisions of the Arbitration College under Paragraph 1, Item 3 shall be obligatory for the arbitrators provided that they have been voted for by more than half of the arbitrators, included in the list of arbitrators on domestic cases unless if such decisions might be contradictory to acts of the Supreme Court of Cassation under Article 47 of LICA. |
| Art. 9. | (1) | The Office of the Court of Arbitration shall consist of secretaries and other officers, appointed by the President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry with the consent of the President of the Court of Arbitration. |
| (2) | The secretaries of the Court of Arbitration shall be university graduates in law. The secretaries for the international cases shall have a fair written and spoken command at least in English and possibly in another of the most popular European languages. | |
| (3) | The secretaries of the Court of Arbitration shall organize and run the case files, keep up the correspondence of the Court and perform those functions as assigned by the Rules and the Ordinance concerning the Operation of the Secretariat and of the Files Record Office, issued by the President of the Court of Arbitration and by the President of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. | |
| (4) | The personnel of the office of the Court of Arbitration shall be included in the list of the personnel of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
| Art. 10. | (1) | All amounts of money due for disputes submitted to the Court of Arbitration shall be deposited with the bank account of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
| (2) | The maintenance expenses of the Court of Arbitration shall be borne by the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce.and Industry. |
| Art. 11. | The Statute of the Court of Arbitration, the rules for resolution of the disputes, the tariffs for arbitration charges and for fees of the arbitrators shall be adopted and amended by the Management Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. |
(New – MINUTES No. 2/9-2024 of a Meeting of the Executive Council of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry of 17.09.2024)
§ 1. Within one-month term after the amendments of Art. 6, Paragraph 1 pf the Statute of the AC at the BCCI come into force, the Presidium shall vote the composition of the Lists of the AC at the BCCI.
§ 2. All Arbitrators from the List on domestic arbitration cases as of 01.10.2024 shall be included in the common List on domestic and international arbitration cases under Art. 6, Paragraph 3, Sentence 1. All Arbitrators who are not Bulgarian citizens from the List for International Arbitration Cases as of 01.10.2024 shall be included in the recommendable List under Art. 6, Paragraph 3, Sentence 3.
This Statute was adopted by the Management Board of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in its session, held on 27.03.1990 and became effective as from 01.04.1990, amended and supplemented by the Management Board in its session, held on 31.03.1993, and the amendments became effective as from 01.04.1993, amended and supplemented by the Management Board at its session, held on 22.06.1994, amended and supplemented at its sessions held on 27.11.1998 and on 11.03.1999, amended and supplemented by a decision of the Executive Council of the BCCI under No. 47/3-2002 of 29.01.2002, becoming effective as from 01.02.2002, supplemented by a decision of the Executive Council of the BCCI under No. 1/27 of 16.11.2004, amended and supplemented by a decision of the Executive Council of the BCCI under No. 115/21 of 09.12.2008 becoming effective as from 01.01.2009, amended by decision of the Executive Council of the BCCI No. 16/30-2014 of 28.11.2014.
(New, effective as of 01.01.2017) Only the respective texts adopted by resolution of the Executive Council of the BCCI No. 72/27 – 2016 of 29.11.2016 are indicated as ”amended, supplemented” and “new” and they became effective as of 01.01.2017.
This Statute was amended and supplemented by Decisions 2 under Item 1.3 of Minutes No. 9/20-2019 of 22.10.2019 of the Executive Council of the BCCI effective as of 01.12.2019, amended and supplemented by virtue of Resolution 1 under Item 1.2 of Minutes No. 2/9-2024 of 17.09.2024 of the Executive Council of the BCCI, effective as of 01.10.2024.