During the long period of its existence, the Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry established itself as the most authoritative institution of alternative non-state justice in private law, mainly commercial disputes in the country. As an institutional arbitration with general jurisdiction, it successfully demonstrates the advantages of private, contractual adjudication over that administered by state courts. The arbitration method is characterized by greater speed and less expenditure of funds and efforts for the parties to the cases. These advantages have a positive meaning for the security of the civil turnover and the economic environment in which the business is interested, and whose representatives are the main participants in the arbitration process as disputing parties in the cases.

    The realization of these advantages of the arbitration process is not only determined by its immanent characteristics of contractual, private justice, governed by dispositive procedural rules, but also by the subjective factor - the personnel of the institution that performs its judicial function. These are the arbitrators who make up the Arbitration Board of the Arbitration Court and participate in the arbitration panels, consider and resolve the arbitration cases initiated in the court. The arbitrators included in the lists are distinguished lawyers from the theory and practice who meet the requirements of the Statute of the AC at the BCCI to have the necessary seniority and professional experience in the field of commercial and civil law, who with their competence can ensure quality justice and create an attitude of confidence in the arbitration proceedings. In order to achieve this goal, which in modern conditions is made difficult by the numerous other arbitration courts established in the last two decades, as a result of which the Arbitration Court at the BCCI is no longer the only arbitration institution and operates in a competitive environment, the arbitrators must possess not only professional, but also moral status. This means that their inclusion by the management of the Arbitration Court in the arbitration lists is motivated not only by the competence they possess, but as is also the case with judges in the administration of state justice, and by an assessment of the presence of moral qualities that can ensure their independence and impartiality in deciding cases - mandatory prerequisites for building trust in the administration of justice carried out by them. In this direction are the efforts of the management of the Arbitration Court in selecting the candidates for arbitrators in connection with the need to rejuvenate the composition of the Arbitration College and ensure the generational continuity of this composition. In order to achieve the stated goals, by changing the Statute of the AC at the BCCI, it was foreseen annually at the end of each calendar year, the election of new arbitrators from the Presidium of the AC.

    The good organization of case administration also contributes to the positive image of the AC at the BCCI, for which the main credit goes to the introduced electronic case processing system and, above all, to the employees of its Secretariat.

    It is necessary to note that despite the large number of arbitration courts established after the 1993 change in the Law on the International Commercial Arbitration, the AC at the BCCI has retained its leading role as the arbitral institution preferred by the parties to commercial disputes for their resolution. Its authority is also evidenced by the fact that the 2017 changes to the Law on International Commercial Arbitration, by which disputes with a "consumer" party within the meaning of paragraph 13 item 1 of the Law on Consumer Protection, were excluded from the jurisdiction of the arbitration courts as non-arbitral, did not significantly affect the receipt of cases and the volume of his workload. This is because, due to the stated preference, the AC at the BCCI considers mainly commercial disputes, distinguished by greater complexity as a matter and more significant interest than those that were excluded from the jurisdiction of the arbitration.

   Quality administration of justice must realize the principle of the rule of law with its main characteristics of legal certainty and predictability. This is expressed both in the generalization and unification of the practice of the Arbitration Court through the advisory opinions of its Arbitration College, and in its consideration of the interpretative decisions of the Supreme Court of Cassation in the matter that is the subject of law enforcement in the arbitration process - mainly that of the bond and commercial law. As a result of the unification of law enforcement practice in similar cases, the fundamental principle of equality before the law of legal entities – individuals and legal entities – is realized, which is essential for trust in this institution. Here it is appropriate to note that after a long period during which no annual compilations were published with a representative practice of the AC at the BCCI, the publication of such compilations, which not only popularize its activity, but also serve as an aid with the content contained in them solutions of legal problems for legal practitioners in the matter of private law and outside of arbitration.

       The Arbitration Court at the BCCI is historically the first and, for a long period of time, the only arbitration court, which therefore has a leading role in establishing this alternative way of resolving legal disputes and creating a tradition in this direction. It is not only the first arbitral tribunal, but through its arbitrators and management, it has carried out, on the basis of continuity in terms of good practices in the administration of justice, its adaptation to changed social conditions, especially after the great change associated with the transition to a market economy after 1989. This modernization process refers both to the improvement and betttermen of the normative basis - the rules of the arbitration process, and the introduction of modern technologies - to the digitalization of the administration of arbitration cases. Here it should be noted the contribution of the AC and its management in creating the law - a model for arbitration of UNCITRAL /the UN Commission on International Trade Law/, as well as in the drafting of the Law on International Commercial Arbitration and its amendments, with which the rules of all arbitration courts are unified. With the latest amendments to the Rules of the AC at the BCCI, normative conditions were created for the expansion of its activity, providing for the possibility of creating lists of arbitrators to the regional chambers of the BCCI, in the headquarters of which, in the presence of an arbitration agreement of the disputing parties, could their disputes are heard with the participation of these arbitrators. This amendment aims to ease the access to arbitration proceedings for business entities outside the capital of the country.

        With regard to the implementation of electronic justice, the AC at the BCCI takes a leading position not only in the field of arbitration in the country, but also in Europe. The use of modern technologies facilitates the access of the parties and arbitrators to the cases and their progress, as well as to the information about the evidence and the development of the arbitration process, which can be carried out by them remotely and therefore represents a serious organizational improvement in the work of the court. The development of this process of technological innovation in the arbitration process, accelerated by the period of quarantine and isolation imposed by the Covid epidemic, continued with the possibility provided by the recent amendments to the Rules of the AC of the BCCI, through video conferencing between the parties to the cases, to conduct partially or fully remote arbitration proceedings and the collection of audio evidence in the arbitration process.

       The Arbitration Court at the BCCI also has international recognition, which is expressed both in the significant number of international arbitration cases that it examines as a court chosen by the parties to the dispute in their arbitration agreement, as well as in the participation with its representatives in the work of UNCITRAL and in the European Group on arbitration. The existing high standards of arbitral justice created during the long period of activity of the AC of the BCCI oblige us to continue with the united efforts of the Arbitration College and the Presidium of the AC of the BCCI this positive tradition by preserving and strengthening the authority of the institution by ensuring quality and predictable administration of justice, a condition for creating a favorable economic environment for investment and economic growth.