How Minor Defects In Wording Of Arbitration Clause May Result In A Big Problem

A Ukrainian court of first instance has recently set aside a ruling on jurisdiction rendered by the International Commercial Arbitration Court at the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (the "ICAC") in a highly debated case considered twice by the ICAC and Ukrainian courts. The debate arose in connection with a pathological arbitration clause and a highly formalistic anti-arbitration approach taken by the Ukrainian courts towards it. In both "rounds" the ICAC considered that it had jurisdiction, while the state courts were of a different view.

The Clause

The arbitration clause, both the English and Ukrainian versions of which had equal legal force, referred to the chosen arbitral institution in several different ways.