Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry ("AC at the BCCI")

Sofia, Bulgaria

Note: There are a number of other arbitration courts with general or special competence active in the country. However, the Court of Arbitration at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Sofia (BCCI) is having a long history more than 110 years (since 1897) and a very well developed practice in commercial disputes and predominantly preferred by the business.

The Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, but the AC is jurisdiction institution, independent from the Chamber.

There is a Presidium of the Arbitration Court which consists of: a Chairman of the Arbitration Court, three Deputy-Chairmen and three Members. The Presidium is elected for a five-year term.

There are two lists of arbitrators kept separately with respect to domestic and international cases. For Bulgarian companies, the lists of arbitrators on domestic and international cases is mandatory, while for foreign companies and companies with a prevailing foreign participation, the lists of arbitrators are of recommendable character.

Default place of arbitration of the Court is in Sofia. When necessary the Arbitral Tribunal may, on a request of the parties or on its own initiative, hold the hearings at another venue as well.

Not applicable.

appr. USD 14,070

appr. USD 110,082

appr. USD 1,010,069

The deposit for expenses is determined by the Chairman of the Arbitration Court and prepaid by the claimant. The Secretary of the AC does not deliver the written claim before the deposit for expenses has been paid.

Yes, Rules of the Court of Arbitration at the BCCI; Rules on the expedient procedure in arbitration cases. In addition to the above two main sets of Rules, there are also Rules concerning Ad Hoc Arbitration assisted by the Court of Arbitration at the BCCI.

The documents (written submissions of the parties), except the written evidence (which are presented in their original language), are submitted in the language in which the contract was concluded or in the language which the parties used in their correspondence between each other or in Bulgarian language. The translation of such papers is done on the order of the Secretary for the account of the party submitting the papers.

The Secretary Department of the AC.

The hearing of the case is generally conducted in the Bulgarian language but if one of the parties has seat or domicile abroad, the parties may agree on the use of another language. The agreement on the language has to be reached before the composition of the Arbitral Tribunal.

An arbitrator who does not accept his/her appointment or is prevented to do his/her duty for over 60 days has to notify the Secretariat so that the latter can inform the respective party immediately requiring the appointment of a new arbitrator.

Participation (voluntary or invoked by a party) of a third party to the proceedings may be admitted only with the consent of the parties and in the case of being invoked by a party - with the consent of the third party. The same applies to submission of counterclaims against a third party. The participation of a third party is admissible until the expiry of the deadline for reply to the statement of claim. The consent of the said third party to participate has to be made in writing.

By consent of the parties, the case may be heard without summoning them to an oral hearing and resolved only on the basis of documentary evidence and written opinions, submitted by the parties. The Arbitral Tribunal, however, may summon the parties to a hearing, provided the case needs additional clarification.

Most common evidence-taking practices are the hearing of witnesses, the assignment of expert opinions and the collection of written evidence. The Arbitral Tribunal may ask the parties to submit additional evidence; may appoint experts or request from organizations or physical persons to submit certificates or any other documents in their possession when necessary for assessing the case. The Arbitral Tribunal may order the parties to furnish the necessary information to the experts or to provide access for the review of documents, inspection of goods or other objects, when necessary for the presentation of their opinions. The Arbitral Tribunal may, upon a request of any of the parties or on its own initiative, order the experts after the submission of their opinions to attend the hearing in order to give clarifications. If requested by the parties, additional experts may be appointed as well to give their opinions on the expert questions. The interested party is expected to submit and enclose in due order, all evidence used to form expert opinions unless both parties agree otherwise. The Arbitral Tribunal may delegate to one of its members to collect evidence abroad, whereas the party requesting the evidence shall advance the expenses thereof. Witnesses may be interrogated if brought in by the party which has listed them and pointed to the circumstances which these witnesses are expected to prove.

6 months - 1 year

An award is issued within 30 days following the expiry of the deadline set by the Arbitral Tribunal for submission of the written pleadings. The time frame for a rendering of an award on cases with high complexity from the factual and legal standpoint is two months. The use of the extended term is decided by the Arbitral Tribunal which notifies the parties thereof at the end of the hearing.

Yes.

Interim measures (including also preliminary interim measures) are available to the parties in the arbitration proceedings, but they are requested and imposed by the civil courts under the terms and conditions of the Civil Proceedings Code.

Not applicable.

Yes, there are Rules on the expedient procedure in arbitration cases. In such procedures, the Arbitral Tribunal shall render an award to the case within 10 days after the expiry of the deadlines for the delivery of opinions and replicas.

The Arbitral Tribunal, upon request of any of the parties or on its own initiative, may correct the award regarding calculations, spelling or any other obvious errors. Each of the parties may ask the Arbitral Tribunal for an interpretation of the award. No interpretation may be requested once the award has. The corrections and the interpretation shall become integral parts of the award. A party may request an additional award if the Arbitral Tribunal has not ruled on its entire claim. An application to this effect may be filed with a copy for the opposing party within 30 days from the receipt of the award. When the request is grounded, the Arbitral Tribunal shall render an additional award.

Each party is entitled to recovery of the expenses (including legal fees) incurred in relation to the proceedings in proportion to the awarded/rejected part of the claim.

Yes. The reasons for annulment correspond to the reasons for the denial of enforcement according to the New York Convention as follows: - a party to the arbitration agreement was under some incapacitythe or the said agreement has not been concluded or is not valid under the applicable law, - the party making the application was not given proper notice of the appointment of an arbitrator or of the arbitral proceedings or was otherwise unable to present his case due to reasons for which the party cannot be held liable; or - the award deals with a dispute not contemplated by or not falling within the terms of the submission to arbitration, or contains decisions on matters beyond the scope of the submission to arbitration - the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the arbitral procedure was not in accordance with the agreement of the parties, unless such agreement was in conflict with a provision of the law from which the parties cannot derogate, or, failing such agreement, was not in accordance with the law; or - the court finds that the subject-matter of the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under the Bulgarian law. The arbitration award may be appealed based on the above grounds before the Supreme Court of Cassation.

https://www.bcci.bg/rulescort-en.html

https://www.bcci.bg/clause-en.html