PKPP is open for arbitration

Arbitration is becoming a popular means of resolving disputes in Poland. Companies, tired of prolonged trials in the state courts, are increasingly choosing private methods to resolve business quarrels.

This autumn, the government met the market halfway when it changed arbitration law to widen the scope of arbitration courts' competencies. The changes now mean arbitration has become a real option for companies in resolving disagreements.

Prior to the changes, firms could only seek court of arbitration verdicts on a narrow range of subjects.

The arbitration market in Poland, even if still catching up with Western Europe, is already starting to look crowded. However, of the more than 30 arbitration courts in Poland only a few of them are international, while the rest are described as 'local by means and characteristics'. This is why the Polish Confederation of Private Employers (PKPP) Lewiatan's court of arbitration was established at the beginning of the year. Its official opening was held two weeks ago.

Some speculate that Lewiatan will have a tough time surviving, as the biggest arbitration courts, such as that of the National Chamber of Commerce (KIG), deal with more than 500 main cases and several thousand clauses annually, while Lewiatan's court is yet to receive any.

The court's officials see it otherwise: "First of all, this court was created with the inspiration of our so-called main rival, which is KIG's arbitration court," general secretary of PKPP Lewiatan's Court of Arbitration, Maciej Cegłowski, points out.

"Secondly, we believe there is still a lot of space in Poland as there are few big, international arbitration facilities. We will be one of them since we are going to meet the confederation's members' needs. There are already 120 people on the list of arbiters [judges] and another several dozen are on the waiting list to be accepted or rejected. Some of them are important and well-known lawyers from countries such as the US, China, India or Austria. I cannot mention any names before the decisions are made, but I can reveal that some of them were chosen by a famous Austrian professor of law, Michael Martinek," adds Cegłowski.