December Edition 2019

8 Furthermore, she adds that “despite fears that Brexit would affect the attractiveness of London as a seat in arbitration, the 2018 statistics show London is still flourishing as a seat for international arbitrations generally. Statistics from LexisNexis showed that only arbitration bodies based in London saw an increase in both new case numbers and appointments of arbitrators.” Darowski explains: “The London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) is the most prominent institution for commercial arbitration disputes, although there are many ICC arbitrations that take place which are seated in London so the ICC is also a high-profile institution in England. The London Maritime Arbitrators Association dominates for shipping disputes.” There are key differences between LICIAand ICC. “In terms of scrutiny, awards by ICC arbitrators are scrutinized by the ICC court for consistency and high standard; there is no such scrutiny in the LCIA system” states Coleman. “This can mean that it can take much longer to get an award in an ICC arbitration. With regards to the selection of an arbitrator, under the LCIA rules, the default is a sole arbitrator, to be selected by the LCIA court (provided the parties have not stipulated otherwise). No such rules are in place regarding the ICC. In reality, arbitration clauses in contracts should provide a method for choosing the arbitrator and only revert to the default position in the event no agreement can be reached.” For those parties arbitrating their commercial disputes in the UK, Israeli companies should know that the main legislation governing arbitrations in the UK is the Arbitration Act 1996. As Darowski says: “The Act provides minimum protections for the conduct of arbitration in England and places the emphasis on party autonomy in the conduct of proceedings.” This applies to both domestic and international arbitrations that have their seat in the UK. “The overarching principles of the legislation are fairness, party autonomy and limited court intervention,” adds Coleman. “Consequently, much of the process is deferred to the parties: they can agree the number of arbitrators, whether there is a chairperson, and the procedure for appointment. The court will only intervene when necessary (usually concerning enforcement of orders, evidence, injunctive relief, and appointment of receivers).” Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the Key Differences between LCIA and ICC