Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), formerly known as Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), is Malaysia’s leading provider of the best institutional support in matters of domestic and international arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution litigations. The recent change in identity was undertaken in order to reflect the organization’s commitment to the global Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) biosphere and the willingness to provide the most innovative and ideal services in the industry.
Despite the change in identity, the trust that AIAC has built over the course of the past 40 years is still retained. This trust coupled with a fresh new identity has created the perfect combination of modern innovation and classic heritage. The new AIAC is still headquartered in the historic Bangunan Sulaiman and is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. It has been afforded certain freedoms and special immunities in order to be able to carry out its arbitration in the most efficient and effective manner.
The AIAC allows for disputes to be worked out in a civil manner. The organization specializes in two types of arbitration, adjudication, mediation, and domain name dispute resolution.
Arbitration-
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that does not involve judiciary courts. The dispute is settled by one or more people. The two most common types of arbitrations are,
- Seat of arbitration.
- Ad Hoc arbitration.
Seat of Arbitration.
Seat of arbitration refers to a form of conflict resolution which involves the selection of a neutral location by the conflicting parties. This location determines the legislature followed.
Seat of Arbitration vs. Place of Hearing-
A seat of arbitration is not the same as the place of hearing. A place of hearing is the physical location where the conflicting parties meet and hold hearings. A seat of arbitration determines the legislature adopted. While the parties generally do have free-reign in terms of deciding their seat of arbitration, there are certain organizations that geographically limit the parties from choosing a particular nation for their seat. In the unlikely event of the parties not being able to agree on a neutral location, the arbitration tribunal steps in and decides the seat of arbitration for them.
Significance of Seat of Arbitration-
A factor that needs to be properly considered in the matter of deciding the seat of arbitration is the laws of the seat. Some countries have laws that clearly state the country’s courts can only intervene for the purposes of assisting the arbitral process while others have laws that allow the country’s courts to hinder the arbitral process.
Ad Hoc Arbitration-
Ad hoc arbitration is a form of arbitration in which the conflicting parties do not choose a modus operandi, the law of an institution, for the arbitration. While this form of arbitration does offer more flexibility to the parties in question, it does not offer much when it comes to external support. Ad hoc arbitration is more time efficient than institutional arbitration but it can run into hindrances if the conflicting parties run into difficulties with the appointment or conduct of the arbitration tribunal. An ad hoc arbitration allows for edits in the proceedings governing laws in the case of a dispute arising. In some rare cases the proceedings governing laws are changed if the need arises.
While it is a widely held belief that an ad hoc arbitration might be less expensive than an institutional arbitration, that is not always the case. Ad hoc arbitrations are carried out by people who are not lawyers and this may lead to misinformed decisions in cases of international commercial arbitrations. Sometimes lack of cooperation from the partiers or continued delays from the governing tribunal could lead to the parties seeking traditional courts intervention. This intervention is not cheap and in the case of ad hoc arbitrations, harder to come by because this form of arbitration ;limits intervention from outside forces. Another factor that adds to the costs of ad hoc arbitrations is the need to hire a secretary to deal with the complex paperwork involved. The fees of this secretary needs to be taken into consideration when considering the costs of an ad hoc arbitration.
