About

The Arbitration Center, within the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, has been established with the intent of improving the business climate in the country, through making arbitration an available out-of-court mechanism for settling disputes of commercial character, arising from business transactions.

Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution method, the access to which is made possible only with the prior existence of an arbitration agreement between the parties, usually in the form of a clause included in the contract. During the proceedings, the arbitration case is reviewed by one or more neutral persons (arbitrators) appointed by the parties. Arbitrators will also issue a final decision. While arbitration is similar to court proceedings, given that arbitrators, similar to court judges, issue binding decisions, arbitration is much quicker than court proceedings. In addition, the procedure is modern, flexible and fits the needs of the parties. The procedure is often less expensive, as well as based on the principle of confidentiality. The arbitral award is a final decision, and save for extremely limited legal procedural grounds, it is not subject to an appeal procedure. In addition, it is never subject to substantive review. The finality of the arbitral award is recognized by local courts.

Based on these principles, the Arbitration Centre offers its services of case administration and management (including commercial mediation as a different method and less formal dispute resolution mechanism) to all interested businesses, domestic or foreign. The center has its procedural framework, namely, the Arbitration Rules and the List of Arbitrators which is composed of local and foreign legal experts and practitioners, as well as experts of other fields.