Important Reform of the Ukrainian Arbitration Act

A significant expansion of arbitrability is changing the international arbitration landscape in Ukraine.

Earlier this year, Ukraine adopted an important reform of its international arbitration framework. It substantially expanded the range of disputes that may be referred to international arbitration, including through a broader internationality test, and expressly brought investor–State disputes within the scope of international commercial arbitration.

The reform also decentralised certain arbitration assistance functions in institutional arbitration. At the same time, further changes remain necessary, including corresponding amendments to procedural legislation and broader alignment with the 2006 amendments to the UNCITRAL Model Law.

‍Maria Hauser-Morel and I discuss these developments in our article “Important Reform of the Ukrainian Arbitration Act”, published in the inaugural issue of International Arbitration Perspectives, a new monthly journal on international arbitration from LexisNexis.

I am delighted that our article is part of the journal’s very first issue, alongside contributions from such distinguished colleagues in the international arbitration community.

Congratulations to General Editors Yas Banifatemi and Lilian Larribère and the LexisNexis editorial team on the launch.