ARBITRATION COURT AT BCCI - STATUTE OF THE COURT OF ARBITRATION

STATUTE OF THE COURT OF ARBITRATION AT
THE BULGARIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY

STATUS

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.

JURISDICTION

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.

STRUCTURE

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.

PRESIDENCY

Art. 4.	(1)	The Presidency of the Court of Arbitration shall consist of a President, two Vice-Presidents and 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: to elect and strike off arbitrators; to provide for execution of the awards of the A rbitral C ollege; to take decisions related to the activity of the Arbitration Court; to specify the matters which shall be resolved by the Arbitral College in view of harmonizing the practice of the Court of Arbitration; to take decisions on awarding diplomas for merits to the Court of Arbitration at the BCCI.
	(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.

PRESIDENT

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.

ARBITRATORS

Art. 6.	(1)	Arbitrators shall be enrolled and struck off the list of arbitrators by ballot. The lists of arbitrators shall be drawn for a term of two and a half years at the start and at the middle of the five-year term of office of the Presidency. During the whole term of office the Presidency may enroll new arbitrators, whose term of office shall expire together with the expiry of the term of office of the rest of arbitrators from the respective list.
	(2)	The enrolled arbitrators can be struck off from the list: in case of death; reaching the age limit as defined by the Presidency; in case of lasting inability to perform their duties; in case of gross violation of the Statute and the Rules and regulations of the Court of Arbitration; as well as if during a two-year period they have not been appointed as arbitrators by parties to arbitration cases.
	(3)	A separate list of arbitrators shall be drawn for disputes between parties with domiciles or seats in the Republic of Bulgaria (domestic cases) from that for disputes in which at least one of the parties has a domicile or seat abroad (international cases). On domestic cases when a party to the dispute is an compa n y with a prevailing foreign participation, persons who are not citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria may also be arbitrators. For the Bulgarian companies the lists of arbitrators on domestic and international cases shall be mandatory, while for foreign companies, including those referred to in the above sentence, the lists of arbitrators shall be recommendable.
	(4)	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 list shall indicate: the name of the arbitrator, the year of birth, his/her occupation or profession, academic degree and specialisation , specialty field and domicile.
	(5)	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.
	(6)	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.
	(7)	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.

INCOMPATIBILITY

Art. 7.	(1)	Arbitrators shall not provide verbal or written opinions or consultations as well as be attorneys in disputes under the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Arbitrators, taking parts in law firms, shall not accept to be elected or appointed for arbitrators on cases which any party to the case has entrusted to the firm in which they are partners
	(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.

ARBITRATION COLLEGE

Art. 8.	(1)	Arbitrators shall form an Arbitral College which shall: take decisions on organizational matters related to the Court; discuss the report of the President of the Court on the previous year and take decisions thereof; discuss the practice of the Court concerning the application of the normative acts which are common for the domestic and the international arbitration cases in view of adopting a harmonized practice.
	(2)	The decisions of the Arbitral College under para 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.

SECRETARIAT

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.

FINANCES

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.

STATUTE, RULES AND TARIFFS

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.

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 1.04.1993, amended and supplemented by the Management Board at its session, held on 22.06.1994, amended and supplemented at its sessions on 27.11.1998 and on 11.03.1999, amended and supplemented by a decision of the Management Board of BCCI under No. 47/3-2002 of 29.01.2002, becoming effective as from 01.02.2002, supplemented by a decision of the Management Board of BCCI under No. 1/27 of 16.11.2004, amended and supplemented by a decision of the Management Board of BCCI under No. 115/21 of 9.12.2008 becoming effective as from 1.01.2009.

STATUS	JURISDICTION	STRUCTURE
PRESIDENCY	PRESIDENT	ARBITRATORS
INCOMPATIBILITY	ARBITRAL COLLEGE	SECRETARIAT
FINANCES	STATUTE, RULES AND TARIFFS

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.