Supreme Court Considers Arbitration Rules

Although the Supreme Court of Finland has issued only one judgment relating to arbitration since 1999, the court is currently considering two such cases and it is expected that judgments in both cases will be issued in the next few months.

The first case concerns the question of whether a state court or an arbitral tribunal has jurisdiction over a dispute between a company and one of its shareholders.

According to the company's articles of association, all disputes between the company and its shareholders are to be settled by arbitration. This type of clause is generally not subject to difficulties in interpretation.

However, in this case the shareholder claims that the company must be placed in liquidation in accordance with Chapter 13, Section 3 of the Finnish Companies Act (734/1978). According to this provision, a court of law may, when exceptional grounds exist and if a shareholder has abused its influence in the company, order a company to be placed in liquidation once an