Trade Arbitrator: An Effective Solution to Disputes

In order to help enterprises more understand solutions to trade disputes as well as study process and measures to deal with disputes by arbitrator, the Vietnam International Arbitration Centre(VIAC)  has recently coordinated with the International Court of Arbitration under the Internaltional  Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Vietnam Lawyers' Association to hold a seminar on the matter.

According to experts, selecting arbitrators to deal with disputes embraces some advantages, including parties having more rights to choose arbitrators suitable for particular sectors, procedural rules and laws; ensuring keeping information secret; and transparency in judgement. However, Lawyer Tran Huu Huynh, head of the Legislation Department under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) cum vice chairman of VIAC said that many Vietnamese enterprises still have no habit of choosing suitable solutions.

According to VIAC's statistics, among disputes with interference of VIAC, 80 per cent of the cases are related to foreign issues, over 80 per cent of dispute content concern trading contracts, and disputes are averagely valued at US$218,808 per case, with the lowest of US$5,000 and the highest of over US$3 million.

Mr Huynh noted that when signing agreements, arbitrators need to clarify types of arbitration,  and name of arbitration organisation for permanent cases; law of the country where the agreement is implemented including whether the law is perfect or not, the law supports or protests arbitration; clarifying which laws to be applied in judgement, including laws to be applied for procedural proceedings and laws to be applied for dispute content; defining arbitration language and number of arbitrators. He also emphasized avoiding as much as possible clauses irrational to arbitration such as "dispute will be solved by arbitration"; mentioning wrongly name of the arbitration organisation; confusing arbitration with court, choosing an arbitration organisation but judgement in accordance with a different rule.

Regardless of illegal modes, enterprises still have multiple choices when disputes happen, including non-court solutions like bargaining, intermediary, mediation, and jurisdiction modes like arbitration and court. However, most people say in case parties fail to "see each other faces", arbitration is the best solution.