The new arbitration rules adopted in December by the Arbitration Court at the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro (CEM), represent an adequate and timely response to global reform processes in the field of international commercial arbitration.
This was announced at the meeting organized today as part of the traditional Days of Commercial Law, organized by the CEM and the Association of Lawyers.
The meeting assessed that in this way, Montenegro stands “side by side” with the most modern and important arbitration institutions in Europe.
The CEM stated that this is the sixth annual meeting organized by the two associations, dedicated to topics in the field of commercial law and related legal disciplines of importance to the membership of both organizations and other interested participants.
The focus of the event was on commercial arbitration, which is used to resolve trade disputes, especially those arising from business transactions and contractual relationships between business entities.
The President of the CEM, Nina Drakić, stated that arbitration represents a special way of resolving disputes, pointing out the benefits of this process, such as simplicity, cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and enforceability of decisions.
According to her, this procedure is used as an alternative to traditional judicial proceedings for resolving disagreements.
Drakić also emphasized the advantages of arbitration in independent decision-making on issues such as the selection of arbitrators, the place of arbitration, procedural rules, applicable law, language of the procedure, confidentiality, or publicity of the procedure.
“It is extremely important to promote the Arbitration Court we have at the Chamber of Economy, which will facilitate, both to business entities and the state, to agree on arbitration clauses and resolve disputes,” said Drakić, adding that today’s meeting aims to send a message about the importance of arbitration.
The President of the Association of Lawyers, Branislav Radulović, stated that the February days of commercial law have been successfully held since 2018, thanks to excellent cooperation with the Chamber of Economy.
“This year’s theme is very topical and important, especially since the procedure for amending the current Arbitration Law from 2015 has been initiated, and I believe that we will soon have the opportunity to meet regarding the new laws on companies and the CRPS,” emphasized Radulović.
The President of the Arbitration Court at the CEM, Vesko Božović, presented the state of arbitration in Montenegro, emphasizing that Montenegro has an extremely modern law from 2015, with contemporary arbitration rules.
He stated that when it comes to arbitration rules, parties can agree that the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) apply to the dispute resolution before the Arbitration Court at the CEM.
“The most important aspect of arbitration is the conclusion of an agreement between the parties,” highlighted Božović.
According to him, commercial arbitration mainly concerns legal entities that want to continue their cooperation but have some minor disputes and do not want to escalate the problem they are discussing. He also emphasized that many problems in Montenegro arise from poorly concluded arbitration agreements.
