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ARBITRATION

Arbitration Administered by the HKIAC

Arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules

Opting-Out of Model Law

Domestic Arbitration

Arbitration Administered by the HKIAC:

"Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, including the validity, invalidity, breach or termination thereof, shall be settled by arbitration in Hong Kong under the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre Administered Arbitration Rules in force when the Notice of Arbitration is submitted in accordance with these Rules.

* The number of arbitrators shall be ... (one or three). The arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in .... (insert language)."

Note:
*Optional

Arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules:

"Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to this contract, or the breach, termination or invalidity thereof, shall be settled by arbitration in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules as at present in force and as may be amended by the rest of this clause.

The appointing authority shall be Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.

The place of arbitration shall be in Hong Kong at Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC).

* There shall be only one arbitrator."

Notes:
*This sentence must be amended if a panel of three arbitrators is required.

If the language to be used in arbitration proceedings is likely to be in question, it may also be useful to include in contracts:

"The language(s) to be used in the arbitral proceedings shall be......"

Opting-Out of Model Law

As Hong Kong has adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law for international arbitrations, parties not wishing to arbitrate under that law can opt out of it and into the domestic regime which is set out in Part II of the Arbitration Ordinance (see section 2M of the Arbitration Ordinance). Parties who have done this can, if they wish, also opt out of any judicial review of the award pursuant to the terms of section 23B of the Arbitration Ordinance. Clauses to cover both situations are set out below.

Opting-Out of Model Law Clause:

"The parties to this agreement hereby agree that this agreement is or is to be treated as a domestic arbitration agreement notwithstanding the provisions of the Arbitration Ordinance Chapter 341 of the Laws of Hong Kong. The parties further agree that all or any dispute that may arise under the terms of this agreement are to be arbitrated as a domestic arbitration."

Note:
This clause could be adapted for use by parties to domestic arbitrations for opting-in to the Model Law.

Exclusion Agreement:

"In relation to all matters referred to arbitration by this agreement, the right of appeal under section 23 of the Arbitration Ordinance Chapter 341 of the Laws of Hong Kong and the right to make an application under section 23A thereof are hereby excluded."

Domestic Arbitration:

"Any dispute or difference arising out of or in connection with this contract shall be referred to and determined by arbitration at Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre and in accordance with its Domestic Arbitration Rules."