CREATION

The Arbitration Court at the BCCI is an institution with a long tradition in the field of resolving legal disputes.

It is the successor of commercial arbitration, established in the BCCI system at the end of the 19th century (1897), which functioned until the Second World War.

RESTORATION

After its official reorganization in 1953, the AC at the BCCI (originally called the "Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission") quickly established itself as one of the most influential judicial institutions in the Republic of Bulgaria, whose legal practice enjoys authority among representatives of economic activity and the legal profession.

The Moscow Convention of 1972 significantly expands the mandatory jurisdiction of the AC at the BCCI, whereby this jurisdiction includes all disputes with an international element between business organizations with headquarters in the member countries of the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA). The arbitration court in the country where the seat of the respondent is located is determined as competent. In addition, the AC at the BCCI acts as a voluntary international arbitration court in relation to disputes between Bulgarian business organizations and companies from countries outside the CMEA system.

DEVELOPMENT

On the initiative of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Arbitration Court under it, and mainly thanks to the personal merit of Prof. Dr. Stalev, in 1988 the Law on International Commercial Arbitration /ZMTA/ was drawn up and adopted, which closely follows the UNCITRAL Model Law for International commercial arbitration. Socio-economic changes in Bulgaria, which began in 1989, led to a series of legislative amendments through which the resolution of disputes by arbitration was in principle allowed as an alternative to the administration of justice by state courts.

EXPANSION OF COMPETENCE

As a result of an adequate and timely response to the new conditions, the AC at the BCCI adopted new Statutes and Rules applicable to both international and domestic disputes. Only disputes regarding real property rights, maintenance or rights arising from an individual employment relationship, as well as non-property and family law disputes, remain non-arbitral. Under the new conditions, the AC at the BCCI strengthened its position as the most important arbitration institution in Bulgaria, enjoying trust thanks to its highly professional activity in the field of resolving legal disputes. The AC at the BCCI resolves between 250 and 300 disputes a year – both international and domestic. 82% of domestic cases are dealt with within 9 months, and 66% of international cases are dealt with within 12 months. At the same time, the Arbitration Court is actively involved in improving the legislation in the field of arbitration. With the active participation of the management of the AC at the BCCI, amendments and additions to the Law on International Commercial Arbitration were developed and adopted, as a result of which it became fully compatible with international standards, and arbitral decisions acquired a high degree of stability - currently they are subject to single-instance review by The Supreme Court of Cassation of the Republic of Bulgaria, similar to the decisions under Swiss law.

From January 1^st, 2005, the Rules for expedient proceedings were adopted and applied. This rule allows for more expeditious and less expensive arbitration cases and is particularly suitable for low-cost dispute resolution.

From the beginning of 2002, a program for electronic processing of cases was introduced, which was subsequently improved. Currently, all information on the cases (claim, response, attached written evidence, statements of the parties during the proceedings, protocols and acts of the decision-making bodies) is uploaded to an electronic medium. This information can be used by the parties to the cases and their representatives, arbitrators and experts online, by means of passwords generated for each individual case. I.e. 80-90% of casework is now done electronically. This creates serious relief for the participants in the arbitration process, eliminates the need for constant use of paper files and the creation of backup files. It is possible to exchange statements, messages and any documents related to cases electronically.

With the 2008 amendment to the Rules of the AC at the BCCI, electronically exchanged correspondence was given the quality of evidence in the proceedings before the AC at the BCCI, which creates an opportunity to establish the truth about procedural relations under the modern conditions of information exchange.

We strive, by preserving traditions and achievements and using world experience, to make the Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry a convenient place for resolving commercial disputes in a fast, cheap and modern way.

As a result of the continuous improvement and modernization of the activity of the AC at the BCCI, in recent years the number of pending cases is high.

The majority of domestic cases (more than 75%) end with a final act within one year, and for international cases (for understandable reasons) this period is a year and a half.

For more information, you can contact us at:

Bulgaria

Sofia 1058, 9 Iskar St.

Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Secretariat of the AC at the BCCI

E-mail: acourt@bcci.bg

phone: + 359 2 8117546; 8117 561,