Maritime Arbitration Commission at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation

The Maritime Arbitration Commission (IAC) was created at the All-Union Chamber of Commerce of the USSR in 1930 as a specialized arbitration court for the consideration of disputes from merchant shipping . Immediately after its creation, the IAC began to resolve many well-known maritime matters.

IAC was originally created to consider only those disputes that arose in connection with the rescue of ships and cargo at sea. Today, along with traditional disputes from contracts for the carriage of goods , chartering of ships , marine insurance , rescue, collisions between ships, fishing operations, the Commission may be subject to disputes arising from brokerage and agency agreements, ship repair, ship management, fishing and many other relations that arise in the field of merchant shipping .

In Soviet times, the organizations that most often acted as parties to the affairs of the IAC were shipping companies (especially the Baltic, Black Sea, Soviet-Danube, Azov, Far Eastern and others), V / O Sovfraht , emergency services and other organizations of the Ministry Navy fleet, foreign trade associations (including Exportles, Raznoexport, Soyuzplodoimport , Stroymaterialialtorg, Soyuzkhimexport, Prommashexport), fishing enterprises, Ingosstrakh JSC .

From 1974 to 2011 The chairman of the IAC was Lebedev Sergey Nikolaevich. Currently, the post of chairman is occupied by Kostin Alexey Alexandrovich.

According to the "Regulation on the Maritime Arbitration Commission at the RF CCI" ^[2] , the IAC resolves disputes arising from contractual and other civil law relations arising from merchant shipping (transportation, insurance, rescue, etc.), regardless of the parties to such relations are subjects of Russian and foreign or only Russian or only foreign law. In particular, the IAC resolves disputes arising from relations:

1. on chartering of ships, sea transportation of goods, as well as transportation of goods in mixed navigation (river - sea);
2. on marine towing of ships and other floating objects;
3. on marine insurance and reinsurance;
4. related to the sale , pledge and repair of ships and other floating objects;
5. on pilotage and ice piloting, agency and other services for sea vessels, as well as inland vessels, since the relevant operations are related to the navigation of such vessels on sea routes;
6. associated with the use of ships for research , mining , hydraulic and other works;
7. on the rescue of sea vessels or a sea vessel of an inland navigation vessel, as well as on the rescue in sea waters by an inland navigation vessel of another inland navigation vessel;
8. related to the raising of ships and other property sunken in the sea;
9. related to the collision of sea vessels, a sea vessel and an inland navigation vessel, inland navigation vessels in sea waters, as well as damage caused by a vessel to port facilities , navigational aids and other objects;
10. related to damage to fishing nets and other implements of extraction (catch) of aquatic biological resources, as well as to other damage caused during industrial fishing.

IAC also resolves disputes arising in connection with the navigation of sea vessels and inland vessels on international rivers in the cases specified in this article, as well as disputes related to the implementation of vessels of inland navigation overseas transportation.

The IAC is an independent permanent arbitration institution ( arbitration court ) and operates in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation “On International Commercial Arbitration”. This law was adopted in 1993 on the basis of a model law developed by the UN Commission on International Trade Law and taking into account international experience in resolving cross-border trade disputes.

Like any arbitration court, the IAC accepts disputes for consideration only if there is an arbitration agreement between the parties to transfer them to its resolution. Such an agreement may be concluded both before a dispute arises and subsequently. The specified agreement is in writing. It is considered to be concluded in writing if it is contained in a document signed by the parties or concluded by exchanging letters, messages by teletype , telegraph or using other means of telecommunication, ensuring the fixation of such an agreement, or by exchanging a statement of claim with the IAC and recalling the lawsuit, in which one of the parties claims to have an agreement, and the other does not object to this. Without this agreement, the IAC is not entitled to consider disputes.

IAC acts on the basis of the Regulations approved by the RF CCI. Since 1999, the IAC has been a member of the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFAS). In 2017, the new IAC Regulation ^[3] was approved, which entered into force on January 27, 2017. The former Rules ^[4] , as a general rule, apply to arbitral proceedings initiated before that date. A new list of IAC referees has also been approved. Arbitrators include prominent scholars, practicing lawyers, and sea ​​captains .

Dispute resolution in the IAC is carried out by arbitrators (arbitrators), elected by the parties to the dispute in each case from among those who have the necessary knowledge in the field of dispute resolution, referred to the competence of the IAC. Arbitrators are not representatives of the parties. They must be independent and impartial in the performance of their functions. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation approves for 6 years a list of IAC members, which indicates the name and surname of each of them, place of work, profession and specialty, academic rank, knowledge of foreign languages, which any interested person can familiarize themselves with.

The IAC has a Bureau, Chairman and Executive Secretary. In cases subject to consideration by the IAC, its Chairperson may, at the request of a party, establish the size and form of security for the claim and, in particular, issue an order to seize the ship or cargo of the other party located in the Russian port.

Arbitration proceedings in the IAC is initiated by filing a claim with the IAC. In the statement of claim, the plaintiff indicates his claims, a statement of the circumstances serving as the basis for the claim, and an indication of the evidence confirming them, the name and surname of the arbitrator elected by the plaintiff. Upon receipt of the statement of claim, the IAC executive secretary notifies the defendant about this and sends him a copy of the statement of claim and the documents attached to it (if they were not previously transferred to the defendant by the plaintiff himself). The defendant informs the IAC of the name and surname of the arbitrator he has chosen. In case of non-election of the arbitrator by the defendant, as well as at the request of the defendant himself, the arbitrator for the defendant is appointed by the Chairman of the IAC.

After that, the arbitral tribunal proceeds to the consideration of the case and, based on the results of the oral hearing, makes a written arbitral award. If during the proceedings two arbitrators do not come to a consensus on how the dispute should be resolved, they will elect a third arbitrator within 10 days - the chairman of the arbitral tribunal.

During the proceedings, the Russian language is usually used, but by agreement of the parties it can also be conducted in a foreign language.

The arbitrators, depending on the situation, apply not only Russian law, but also foreign (in practice, the IAC applied English law , the law of Ukraine , Norway , the Republic of Latvia , Morocco , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ). Arbitrators also apply relevant international treaties (in particular, the International Convention on the Unification of Certain Rules on the Bill of Lading , the Convention to combine certain rules regarding assistance and rescue at sea).

On average, cases at the IAC are considered for about six months, given the importance of properly forming the composition of the arbitration and the need for careful consideration by them of all the circumstances of the dispute.

Maritime shipping plays a key role in the life of the global economy , occupying a central place in the transportation system. The regulation of merchant shipping is one of the effective instruments of the foreign economic policy of states, including Russia. Ensuring proper resolution of disputes arising in it is an extremely important aspect of such a policy. State courts are competent to resolve such disputes, but arbitration (arbitration) courts play an even greater role in their consideration in world practice.

Over the past 20 years of the work of the IAC, the geography of the countries represented in the affairs of the IAC has been very extensive. Persons from more than 70 countries participated in such cases. Of the neighboring countries, Ukraine was most often represented. From non-CIS countries, disputes involving legal entities from Germany , Cyprus , Greece , Great Britain , and the USA were most of all considered. More often parties to disputes were people from countries of far abroad.

The IAC receives a wide variety of disputes, each of which has its own very difficult legal problems. Over the years of the IAC's work, significant experience and practice has been accumulated and formed in the field of dispute resolution of companies engaged in the marine business: in the past 20 years alone, the IAC has examined about 4,500 cases with claims worth more than $ 200 million.

Among the interesting cases examined by the IAC in recent years, one can name disputes involving Volgotanker OJSC structures (cases on the implementation of IAC decisions were then considered in Denmark ), or insurance indemnity case involving foreign companies Essar Steel Limited and “ Asia Motorworks Limited ”, which, during the process of canceling the decisions of the IAC, reached the appeal to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (however, the decisions of the IAC remained valid).

IAC decisions are executed by the parties voluntarily. The Commission’s decision, not voluntarily executed by the party, is enforced by the state arbitration court in accordance with the RF Arbitration Procedure Code .

• Cases in the IAC are examined by specialists (selected, which is important, by the parties themselves, and those specialists who may not be lawyers, but, for example, captains , appraisers , etc.), and they are considered very carefully and carefully. If a judge in a state arbitration court , because of his load, may be forced to devote no more than an hour or two to a case, then the IAC may consider the case, delving into all its details, at least for several days if the volume of the case requires it. In this regard, it is not surprising that the decisions they make can be several times larger in volume compared with decisions of state arbitration courts.
• Unlike state arbitration courts, proceedings in the IAC and decisions of the IAC are confidential (unless the parties agree to the other).
• Unlike state arbitration courts, the decisions of the IAC are not subject to appeal on appeal and cassation , as well as supervisory review . However, any of the parties to the dispute that does not agree with the decision of the IAC is entitled to request the Moscow Arbitration Court to annul such a decision. However, reversing such a decision by the IAC is not so simple: the APC of the Russian Federation establishes limited conditions for such a cancellation, based on the need to support arbitration of disputes and canceling arbitration decisions only in special cases.
• It is much more convenient for Russian entities to appeal to a domestic arbitration court in Moscow than to a foreign court.
• IAC decisions are much easier to enforce in foreign countries than decisions of state arbitration courts: the widely recognized New York Convention of 1958 on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, which establishes favorable rules for such decisions, extends to the order of enforcement of the IAC decision.
• Consideration of cases at the IAC is much cheaper and more effective from the point of view of the “time / price / quality” criterion than the consideration of similar disputes, for example, in London , known for its high cost.

• To resolve minor or extremely simple disputes, especially when both parties to the dispute are Russian, recourse to the state arbitration court may be more effective.
• The arbitration fee when filing a claim with the IAC may be higher than the amount of the state fee when applying to the state arbitration court: it cannot be otherwise, given the need for a thorough review of the case in the IAC.

The Presidium of the Maritime Arbitration Commission includes:

Председатель МАК и его заместители избраны на заседании Президиума МАК 29.12.2011 г.

• Международный коммерческий арбитраж: опыт отечественного регулирования. 80 лет МАК при ТПП СССР/ТПП РФ. 1930-2010 гг.: сб. избр. doc и аналит. материалов / Торгов.-пром. палата Российской Федерации, Морская арбитраж. комис. при ТПП РФ, МГИМО (У) МИД РФ, Каф. international част. и гражд. права; comp. и науч. ed. A.I. Муранов. – М.: Инфотропик Медиа, 2011. – 816 с. – ISBN 978-5-9998-0045-9 .
• Из практики Морской арбитражной комиссии при Торгово-промышленной палате Российской Федерации. 1987–2005 годы / Под ред. С.Н. Лебедева, А.И. Лободы, Д.Б. Филимонова. – М.: Статут. 2009 – 520 с.

• tpprf-arb.ru/ru/mac — сайт Морской арбитражной комиссии при Торгово-Промышленной палате Российской Федерации (неопр.) . Дата обращения 13 ноября 2012. Архивировано 8 января 2013 года.