DESTINATION KAZAKHSTAN
found as the law developed over time
to address everyday problems. There is
an emphasis on legal principles found
in statute and case law which has
precedent. No two cases that are the
same will be determined differently.
English law also has its own system of
written laws, written legal norms and
accepted approaches, and this system
provides flexibility to meet the needs of
the individual case.
English common law plays an integral
part in modern global business having
gained the trust and confidence of
business and investors over many years.
Kazakhstan is the first of the Eurasian
countries to implement this system,
realising how important the common
law is for global companies that want to
protect their investments. Parties often
apply the common law in their contracts
because of their trust and familiarity in
the system as it is known around the
world. We at the AIFC hope that the
implementation of the AIFC's Acting
Law based on the principles, norms,
and precedents of English common
law, backed by a robust Court and the
International Arbitration Centre in the
AIFC, will lead to an increase in foreign
investment into Kazakhstan.
Thus, any company that already
works in Kazakhstan under the
contract containing an arbitration
or court clause can make changes
to the agreement so that in case
of disagreement, the parties apply
to the court or the International
Arbitration Center of the AIFC, is it
correct?
Yes. The parties to any contract are
free to amend the terms of the contract
under the law.
I will give a practical example. Imagine
that the company has a five-year
construction contract and both parties
decide to resolve their disputes in a Court
or the International Arbitration Centre
of the AIFC. The reason for doing this
might be because they understand that
the quality of justice, judges, systems
and services provided in the AIFC Court
and International Arbitration Centre are
equivalent to services provided at other
financial centres including London. At
the AIFC we are confident that disputes
can be determined more efficiently
and cost effectively for parties whom
might otherwise have travelled to
distant financial centres and without the
additional expenses and fees that such
travel would have entailed.
We provide competitive international
standard services at the heart of
Eurasia and we invite companies to
include our Court and International
Arbitration Centre in their contracts to
resolve disputes.
Will arbitration in the AIFC be
the same as in London or more
adapted to Kazakhstan's reality?
With flexibility to create your own
procedures.
The International Arbitration Centre of
the AIFC has its own procedural rules.
The parties are free to choose which
procedural rules will be applied in their
case. This flexibility and ability to choose
for oneself is a significant advantage of
arbitration as an alternative to court
action.
Parties may request arbitrations at
our arbitration centre and agree which
procedural rules to apply in their
case. They can use the rules of the
International Arbitration Centre, the
UNCITRAL Model Rules (UNCITRAL
- United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law), or other
ad hoc rules. We have created this
flexibility and choice for parties to help
them satisfy their individual needs.
The rules of the AIFC International
Arbitration Centre are very similar to the
rules of other international arbitration
centres including from London. We
studied the most successful arbitration
centres around the world and created
our own rules based on this experience
and the advice of arbitration experts
with considerable experience in other
financial centres. We believe that our
supported by EUROBAK
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