Highly efficient: New Arbitration Rules to apply as of March 1, 2018

The new Arbitration Rules of the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS) will come into effect on March 1, 2018. Future proceedings will benefit from multiple innovations.

The new Arbitration Rules of the German Institution for Arbitration (2018 DIS Rules) will replace the 1998 Arbitration Rules and apply to all arbitration proceedings initiated with DIS as of March 1, 2018.

The new rules will entail a number of innovations, including rules for multi-party proceedings, joinder and consolidation. Further, proceedings will be more streamlined in the interest of time and cost efficiency.

In addition, the new rules provide that parties exchange one first round of written submissions prior to the constitution of the arbitral tribunal. The role of the institution will be strengthened by introducing a “Council of Experts on Procedural Issues.” Such Council of Experts will decide in particular on:

• the appointment of a sole arbitrator, in deviation from the party agreement
• challenges of arbitrators, and
• adjustment of fees for the arbitral tribunal.

All this serves to ensure the transparency of arbitration proceedings, from which the parties will benefit.

The 2018 DIS Rules encourage the arbitral tribunal to promote amicable settlement of disputes or of individual disputed issues, as this was already the case with its previous rules, provided that none of the parties object. The focus will therefore continue to be on efficient dispute resolution.

The Reform Commission of the 2018 DIS Rules consisted of 263 DIS members and users of arbitration, including the law firm’s partners Dr. Wolfgang Kühn and Ulrike Gantenberg. The 2018 DIS Rules were adopted after 579 days, 28 meetings, the consultation of 12 interest groups, and more than 500 pages of reform proposals.

The 2018 DIS Rules ensure more streamlined and cost-efficient proceedings and will thus strengthen arbitration in Germany

The new rules apply to all nationally and internationally operating parties that have agreed or are agreeing with their contracting parties to arbitrate in accordance with the DIS Rules instead of the jurisdiction of state courts. The highly efficient and pragmatic new rules, which guarantee cost-efficient and time-efficient proceedings, are not only of benefit to the disputing parties. The 2018 DIS Rules will also strengthen Germany's position as a place of arbitration in the long term through international standardization. In comparison to foreign legal systems, German law and place of arbitration is regarded by practitioners as arbitration friendly: According to a study, Germany is the 5th-ranked country in terms preference for arbitration. Certainly, the 2018 DIS Rules will make Germany even more attractive for arbitration proceedings.

Your contact persons are the experts from the Litigation/Arbitration Practice Group. Dr. Wolfgang Kühn, Ulrike Gantenberg, Dr. Elke Umbeck, and their teams specialize – as arbitrators and as party representatives – in litigation before state courts, but above all before arbitral tribunals and as arbitrators, adjudication boards, and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms.