HKIAC

The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre ("HKIAC") is one of the leading arbitral institutions in Asia. It was established in 1985 and is an independent institution that administers arbitrations and other dispute resolution activities, including mediation and adjudication. In 2013 it released 2013 administered arbitration rules (the “2013 HKIAC Rules”) which came into force on 1 November 2013 in respect of arbitrations where a Notice was been submitted on or after that date (although their provisions on emergency arbitrators, consolidation and single arbitrations under multiple contracts will not apply to arbitration agreements concluded before that date unless otherwise agreed).

The 2013 HKIAC Rules were based on, and have some similarities to, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, although they included a number of new provisions to bring them in line with the most modern institutional arbitration rules. The 2013 HKIAC Rules provided arbitral tribunals with greater powers to join parties to an arbitration and allowed additional parties to submit requests to join an arbitration. They also allowed the HKIAC to consolidate two or more arbitrations at a party's request. The 2013 HKIAC Rules had revised provisions for expedited arbitration procedures, which a party may apply for if the amounts in dispute do not exceed HKD 25,000,000 (the equivalent of around USD 3 million) or the parties agree or the case is urgent. The 2013 HKIAC Rules introduced emergency arbitrator provisions allowing parties to apply for emergency relief concurrent to or following the filing of a Notice of Arbitration. In such circumstances, the 2013 HKIAC Rules provide short deadlines for the appointment of an emergency arbitrator and the issuing of a decision on the application for emergency relief.

The HKIAC has recently announced a further revision to its Rules - the 2018 Administered Arbitration Rules (the "2018 HKIAC Rules"). These will come into force on 1 November 2018 in respect of arbitrations where a Notice was submitted on or after that date (although the transitional provisions noted above regarding certain new provisions introduced in the 2013 HKIAC Rules will continue to apply, and the new early determination procedure and certain extensions of the emergency arbitrator rules introduced by the 2018 HKIAC Rules will not, unless otherwise agreed, apply to arbitration agreements entered into before 1 November 2018). Particularly notable inclusions include the aforementioned early determination procedure (which facilitates the early determination of, for example, a point of law or fact that is manifestly without merit or manifestly outside of the tribunal’s jurisdiction) and provisions requiring parties to disclose any third-party funding arrangements.

Unlike other rules, the HKIAC Rules offer the parties a choice, exercised at the outset of the arbitration proceedings, regarding the determination of the tribunal's fees which may be calculated either as a percentage of the amount in dispute, or on the basis of agreed hourly rates. The HKIAC Website has a fees calculator which will provide an indication of the likely fees.

If using the HKIAC Rules, the HKIAC rules give the tribunal a discretion whether to order discovery of documents. Our HKIAC Clauses exclude the tribunal’s power to order general discovery (on the grounds that the saving in time and cost makes up for the few cases where general discovery might have changed the outcome). Consider whether this will be appropriate in your case before including these words.

In the three arbitrator HKIAC clause, wording providing for the presiding arbitrator to be appointed by the two party appointed arbitrators is not included as the HKIAC rules themselves do this.