Author: A. F. M. Maniruzzaman*
Published: January 2004
| Jurisdiction: Bangladesh |
Topics: Commercial Disputes Arbitral Process Agreement to Arbitrate ADR Mediation Enforcement of Arbitral Awards Interim Measures of Protection |
Description: Bangladesh has recently enacted a new arbitration law, known as “The Arbitration Act, 2001 (the “Act”).” The Act came into force on April 10, 2001. The Act has repealed The Arbitration (Protocol and Convention) Act, 1937 and The Arbitration Act, 1940. With this new enactment Bangladesh has kept pace with the recent trends in the field of international commercial arbitration in the rest of the world. Such a legislative step was urgent in the face of increasing foreign investment in various sectors, especially in the natural gas and power sectors in Bangladesh, and her ever-growing export trade with the rest of the world. The new Act, principally based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (1985), consolidates the law relating both to domestic and international commercial arbitration. The new Act thus creates a single and unified legal regime for arbitration in Bangladesh which has also been the trend in recent years elsewhere. However, in the context of international commercial arbitration, the Act has specific prescriptions which are not applicable to domestic arbitration. In certain respects it has drawn on the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996. This is obviously in tune with the reality of the region as a growing popular destination for foreign investment.
*LLB. (Honors) (Dhaka) (first in First Class); M. Int’l Law (Australian Nat’l University) (Distinction); PhD (Cambridge); FRSA, London; Professor of International and Business Law (elect), University of Portsmouth, U.K.; Senior Lecturer in Law, Kent Law School, University of Kent, U.K.; Advocate, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Dhaka; Associate Member, International Chamber of Commerce Institute of World Business Law, Paris; Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London; Member, International Committee on International Commercial Arbitration, International Law Association, London; Member, Swiss Arbitration Association, Switzerland; International Legal Consultant; Sometime Visiting Scholar, St. John’s College, University of Oxford and Centre of International Studies, University of Cambridge; Sometime Visiting Fellow, Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, Cambridge.