Latest Amendments To The Law On Arbitration And The Civil Procedure Code

On February 27, 2017, Law No. 49-VI on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Relation to Issues of Improvement of the Civil Law, Banking Law and Improvement of Conditions of Business Activity was adopted (the Amendment Law). The Amendment Law was published on 1 March 2017 and became effective ten calendar days thereafter, save for specific provisions with different effective dates.

Among a number of changes to the various pieces of legislation, the Amendment Law repealed the infamous provision of Law No. 488-V on Arbitration dated April 8, 2016 (the Law on Arbitration) which expressly allowed the parties to withdraw unilaterally from an arbitration agreement in accordance with Article 404 of the Civil Procedure Code based on a simple notice.