I - SCOPE OF APPLICATION
1. These rules apply to the arbitration of
disputes when the parties refer explicitly thereto.
2. Subject to statutory provisions from which
the parties may not dero-gate, the arbitration agreement between
the parties is completed by provisions contained in these
rules.
II - DEFINITIONS AND GENERAL
PROVISIONS
3. In these rules:
"Centre": means the Canadian Commercial
Arbitration Centre incorporated under Part III of the Québec
Companies Act (R.S.Q., ch. C-38) or any person or committee to whom
the by-laws of the Centre entrust the management of arbitral
matters;
"Arbitration agreement": means a written
agreement under which the parties decide to submit to arbitration
an existing or eventual dispute arising out of a defined legal
relationship, whether contractual or not, as well as a statutory
provision having the same effect;
"Arbitral tribunal": means a sole arbitrator
or a panel of arbitrators confirmed or appointed by the Centre in
order to settle a dispute in ac-cordance with the present
rules;
4. When the context allows, the arbitral
tribunal interprets the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure,
Book VII (R.S.Q., ch. C-25) and the pro-visions of these rules by
taking into account:
a) the Model Law on International Commercial
Arbitration as adopted by the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law on June 21, 1985;
b) the Report of the United Nations
Commission on International Trade Law on the work of its eighteenth
session held in Vienna from the third to the twenty-first day of
June 1985;
c) the Analytical Commentary on the draft
text of a model law on international commercial arbitration
contained in the report of the Secretary-General presented to the
eighteenth session of the United Nations Commission on
International Trade Law.
5. An arbitration agreement is in writing if
it is contained in a document signed by the parties or in an
exchange of letters, telex, telegrams or other means of
telecommunication which provide a record of the agreement, or in an
exchange of statements of claim and defence in which the existence
of an agreement is alleged by one party and not denied by
another.
The reference in a contract to a document
containing an arbitration clause constitutes an arbitration
agreement provided that the contract is in writing and the
reference is such as to make that clause part of the
contract.
6. The general purpose of the Centre is to
ensure the enforcement of these rules and it enjoys all necessary
powers to do so.
7. When, under these rules, the Centre is
required to perform some act, it must do so with utmost speed by
taking into consideration the par-ties' interest in seeing an
equitable, rapid and cost-effective settlement of the dispute. Its
decisions are final and without appeal.
8. The Centre may ex officio or if required
by the arbitral tribunal or the parties, extend any time limit
provided under these rules.
9. No action may lie against the Centre for
any act performed in good faith within the exercise of its
functions granted under these rules.
10. In all circumstances the parties shall be
treated equally and each party shall be given a full opportunity of
presenting his or her case.
III - NOTICES AND TIME PERIODS
11. A notice by virtue of these rules must be
transmitted by whatever rapid means allowing evidence of its
reception. It must be sent to a party, his or her mandatary or
authorized representative.
12. A notice is deemed to have been received
if it has been delivered to the addressee personally, to his or her
elected domicile, at his or her ordinary residence, or sent to his
or her last known address.
13. A delay begins to run from the date of
reception of the no-tice. If the last day of a delay falls on a
holiday or non-working day, the delay is extended to the next
following working day. Holidays and non-working days that occur
during the delay are counted.
IV NOTICE OF ARBITRATION
14. The party intending to submit a dispute
to arbitration must notify the Centre in writing. In particular,
the notice contains:
a) the names, capacities and addresses of the
parties or their man-dataries or authorized representatives, if
need be;
b) a summary of the substance of the dispute
and, when relevant, the amount of the claim issuing
therefrom;
c) a proposal as to the number and
qualifications of the arbitrators.
The arbitration agreement, as well as
documents and information of such nature as to establish the facts
clearly, must also be joined to the notice.
The Centre is seized of such arbitration upon
the date when the notice is received.
15. If the Centre deems the notice to be
admissible in its form, it notifies the defendant thereof, who
shall then have fifteen (15) days following its reception to answer
in writing. In the opposite case, it notifies the
plaintiff.
16. The defendant's written answer must be
addressed to the Centre and contain particularly:
a) his or her own summary version of the
facts;
b) his or her opinion as to the plaintiff's
allegations;
c) if such be the case, any
cross-demand;
d) an answer as to the proposal concerning
the number and qualifications of the arbitrators.
Any relevant documents and information must
be joined to this answer.
17. The Centre gives notice of the
defendant's answer to the plaintiff and grants him or her, in the
event that the answer contains a cross-demand, a fifteen- day delay
to answer thereto.
18. The failure of one party to answer a
notice of arbitration within the delay, has no effect of preventing
the arbitration. In such a case, the Centre proceeds as stipulated
under theses rules.
V - NUMBER AND APPOINTMENT OF
ARBITRATORS
19. The parties may agree to submit their
dispute to one or three arbitra-tors.
20. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties as
to the number of arbitrators:
a) a sole arbitrator is designated for a
dispute involving an amount less than $ 500,000, except if a party
requests that a dispute in-volving an amount of $ 100,000 or more
be submitted to three (3) arbitrators;
b) three arbitrators are designated for any
dispute involving an amount of $ 500,000 or more.
21. When the dispute does not involve a
specific sum of money, the Centre decides on the num-ber of
arbitrators according to the nature of the dispute unless otherwise
agreed by the parties.
22. Upon expiry of the delay for answering
the notice of arbitration and cross-demand, the Centre requests the
parties to submit for approval, within the fifteen (15) days
following notice of the Centre's request, the name of the sole
arbitrator or arbitrators they have chosen by mutual agreement from
among arbitrators, whether recognized or not by the
Centre.
23. If at the expiry of the delay, the
parties have not agreed upon the constitution of the arbitral
tribunal, the Centre completes the tribunal or, if necessary, it
appoints all its members from among those recognized by
it.
24. When the Centre confirms or appoints an
arbitrator, it takes into account such person's availability,
qualifications, as well as any other consideration needed to
guarantee the constitution of an independent, impartial and
compe-tent arbitral tribunal.
25. The arbitrators enjoy the same immunity
as do judges.
26. The Centre gives notice to parties and
arbitrators of the constitution of the arbitral tribunal after
having verified with the designated persons their acceptance of the
assignment. The arbitrators inform the Centre within five (5) days
following this date of the name of the person among them who will
act as president. In the absence of such selection, the Centre
appoints a president ex officio.
VI - RECUSATION AND REVOCATION OF
ARBITRATORS
27. An arbitrator must immediately inform the
parties and the Centre of any valid causes such that may raise
doubts as to his or her impartiality, independence or
qualifications.
28. An arbitrator may be recused only if
circumstances exist that give rise to justifiable doubts as to his
or her impartiality, independence or qualifications for settling a
dispute.
Parties may recuse an arbitrator appointed by
them or in whose ap-pointment they have participated, only for
reasons of which they becomes aware after the appointment has been
made.
29. The party who intends on recusing an
arbitrator must refer this question to the Centre and send it a
written statement of his or her reasons. The Centre must make its
decision known following consultation with the arbitral tri-bunal
and parties.
30. An application to recuse suspends delays
provided for other arbitral procedures until the Centre gives
notice of its decision to the arbitral tribunal and to the
parties.
31. If an arbitrator becomes unable to
perform his or her functions or for other rea-sons does not perform
them in a reasonable manner, the arbitrator's mandate terminates by
his or her resignation or by his or her revocation agreed upon by
the parties. In the event of disagreement between parties, any one
of them may request that the Centre make the appropriate
decision.
32. The appointment of a substitute
arbitrator, following a vacancy in the arbitral tribunal, is
carried out in accordance with sections 22 to 25.
33. Once a vacancy has been filled, the
arbitral tribunal de-cides if it is appropriate to recommence any
or all of the proceedings.
VII - JURISDICTION OF THE ARBITRAL
TRIBUNAL
34. Arbitration is carried out by the
arbitral tribunal which pronounces decisions in its own
name.
35. The arbitral tribunal may rule on its own
jurisdiction, including any question relating to the existence or
validity of the arbitration agreement. Any ruling by the arbitral
tribunal as to contingent invalidity of the contract, shall not
invalidate ipso jure the arbitration agreement.
36. An exception raising lack of jurisdiction
of the arbitral tribunal shall be urged not later than the
submission of the statement of defence. A party is not precluded
from raising such an exception by the fact that he or she has
ap-pointed, or participated in the appointment of an arbitrator. An
exception to the effect that the arbitral tribunal is exceeding the
scope of its authority is raised as soon as the alleged matter
occurs. The arbitral tribunal may, in either case, allow a later
exception if it considers the delay justified.
As a general rule, the arbitral tribunal may
rule on a jurisdictional exception at the time it is raised. It
may, however, continue arbitral proceedings and rule on this
exception in the final award.
37. Any party who knows that a provision of
the present rules from which the parties may derogate or any
condition stated in the arbitration agreement has not been
respected, and who nonetheless pursues the ar-bitration without
formulating an objection promptly or within the delay provided, if
such be the case, is deemed to have waived his or her right to
raise an objection.
38. The arbitral tribunal may not order any
provisional or conservatory remedies. Such remedy may be sought
from a competent judicial authority.
A petition for provisional or conservatory
remedies to a judicial authority does not interrupt arbitral
proceedings and does not in any way constitute a waiver of the
right to avail oneself of this agreement.
VIII - CONDUCT OF ARBITRAL
PROCEEDINGS
39. The Centre shall refer a dispute to the
arbitral tribunal following pay-ment to the Centre of the amount
reserved for administrative fees as assessed by the Centre and
stipulated in the appended fee schedule.
This amount includes participation in
arbitral expenses and arbitrators' fees. The arbitral tribunal
shall only rule on claims for which a reserve for expenses has been
paid to the Centre.
40. If a cross-demand is formulated, the
Centre may assess separate re-serves for the main claim and the
cross-demand.
41. In the course of arbitration, the Centre
may assess parties for an addi-tional amount as a reserve for
expenses.
42. Each party shall pay half of the reserve
for expenses within fifteen (15) days following the notice that is
given to him or her. One party may, however, substitute for another
in the case where a defaulting party does not pay his or her share
of the reserve, in order to allow the tribunal to
proceed.
43. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties,
the arbitral tribunal determines the procedure governing the
conduct of the arbitration. It possesses all requisite powers for
exercising its jurisdiction, including the preroga-tive for
appointing an expert.
44. Any decision by an arbitral tribunal in
the course of arbitration is made by a majority and in the presence
of all the arbitrators. However, procedural issues may be settled
by the president if he or she is authorized to do so by all of the
arbitrators.
45. A written ruling by the arbitral tribunal
must be signed by all of the ar-bitrators. If one of the
arbitrators refuses to sign or cannot sign, the others must record
that fact and the decision has the same effect as if it had were
signed by all of them.
46. The arbitral tribunal to whom a dispute
is referred must convene all parties to a pre-hearing that shall be
held within thirty (30) days after such referral in order to decide
especially upon:
a) the applicable rules of law and evidence
and if they grant ar-bitrators the power of amiables
compositeurs;
b) the rules of procedure to be
followed;
c) whether or not it be necessary to visit
the premises or to inspect property;
d) the number of witnesses and experts who
will be heard;
e) the means for transmitting notices and
documents which must be the most rapid available;
f) the schedule for arbitral tribunal working
sessions;
g) the means for citing witnesses and
receiving their depositions.
The arbitral tribunal remains competent for
settling any issue that would not have been raised or would not
have been the object of an agreement between the
parties.
The parties may also, at the time of the
prehearing, complete the pre-sentation of their allegations, and
furnish, if the arbitral tribunal con-sents thereto, any amendment
or revision of the arbitration notice, the answer to this notice,
the cross-demand and the answer to this claim.
A copy of the minutes of the pre-hearing
shall be transmitted immediately to the Centre.
47. The arbitral tribunal proceeds with the
arbitration if a party defaults in presenting his or her
allegations, in appearing at a hearing or in submitting evi-dence
in support of his or her allegations. The arbitral tribunal
terminates the arbitration if the party who has submitted the
dispute to arbitration de-faults in presenting his allegations,
unless the other party objects thereto.
48. Any arbitration meeting shall take place
in the offices of the Centre or in any other place chosen by the
latter, unless the arbitral tri-bunal decides otherwise.
IX - THE ARBITRAL AWARD
49. The arbitral tribunal must decide in
accordance with the contractual stipulations, and must take into
account applicable practices.
50. The award is final and without appeal;
the submitting of the dispute to this settlement entails waiving of
any recourse to an administrative and judiciary instance which the
parties may lawfully waive.
51. If the parties settle the dispute while
the arbitral tribunal is seized thereof, the latter will record the
agreement in an arbitral award.
52. The arbitral tribunal must make its award
and deposit the original thereof with the Centre within a maximum
period of six months from the date of the pre-hearing, and at the
latest, two months after having decided to end the
hearings.
53. The award must be made in writing by a
majority of voices. It must state the reasons on which it is based
and be signed by all the arbitrators. If one of them refuses to
sign or cannot sign, the others must record that fact and the award
has the same effect as if it were signed by all of them.
54. The award must state its date and the
place of arbitration. It is deemed to have been made at that date
and in that place.
55. The award shall bind the parties from the
moment when the Centre gives them a certified copy
thereof.
The Centre may refuse to transmit the award
to the parties for as long as the aggregate of arbitral expenses
has not been settled.
56. Within fifteen (15) days of the award,
the arbitral tribunal may ex officio correct any clerical,
computational or material error contained therein. The Centre shall
give notice of such corrections to the parties. The correction
shall be deemed to be an integral part of the award.
57. A party may, within fifteen (15) days
following the reception of an award, petition the Centre in order
that the arbitral tribunal:
a) correct any clerical, computational or
material error contained in the award;
b) make an additional award on some part of
the claim omitted in the award;
c) interpret, if the parties have so agreed,
a specific part of the award.
58. Once a claim formulated under section 57
has been referred by the Centre to the arbitral tribunal, it must
make its own ruling within a period of fifteen (15) days. Any
correction, addition or interpretation of the award shall be deemed
to be an integral part thereof.
If upon the expiry of this period, the
tribunal has not made its ruling, a party may petition the Centre
to decide on how to solve the difficulty.
59. By submitting their dispute to these
rules, the parties agree to participate in arbitration in good
faith, pay arbitration expenses and carry out the enforcement of
the award forthwith.
The parties are responsible for the
enforcement of the award.
X - ARBITRATION EXPENSES
60. The Centre shall assess arbitration
expenses. Such expenses only in-clude:
a) fees for members of the arbitral tribunal,
indicated separately for each arbitrator and assessed by the Centre
according to the appended fee schedule;
b) arbitrators' travel and subsistence
allowances;
c) expenses for any expertise or any other
assistance agreed upon at the pre-hearing or requested by the
arbitral tribunal;
d) expenses for travel and other compensation
paid to witnesses, insofar as these expenditures have been approved
by the arbitral tribunal;
e) expenses relating to facilities rental and
other adjacent expenses;
f) administrative fees charged by the Centre
according to the appended fee schedule.
61. Arbitration expenses are divided among
the parties by the Centre through the application of the following
formula:
D2 - E - D1
A = Final amount of the award ($)
B = Proposed settlement ($)
C = Amount of claim ($)
D1 = Expenses assumed by the
defendant
E = Total expenses
D2 = Expenses assumed by the
plaintiff
If the dispute submitted to arbitration does
not involve an amount of money, arbitration expenses are divided
equally among the parties.
62. Notwithstanding the preceding section,
the arbitral tribunal may, if cir-cumstances so justify, amend the
division of arbitration expenses. This is especially the case when
it considers a crossdemand.
63. For purposes of section 61, each party
transmits to the Centre any pro-posed settlement submitted during
or prior to the arbitral proceedings. This proposal shall not be
disclosed to the arbitrators.
64. Unless the arbitral tribunal decides
otherwise, considering each case on its merits, each party assumes
its own expenses for legal representation and expertise.
65. After the making the award, the Centre
shall account to the parties for the use of monies held in deposit;
it shall return to them any unspent balance after having made
compensation for amounts due by each party under section
42.
XI - DISPOSITIONS FINALES
66. These rules shall come into force on
February 9, 1988.