Skip to main content
Fachgebiete
Automobil + Motoren Bauwesen + Immobilien Business IT + Informatik Elektrotechnik + Elektronik Energie + Nachhaltigkeit Finance + Banking Management + Führung Marketing + Vertrieb Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe Versicherung + Risiko
DE
EN
Themenseiten
Organisationspsychologie Projektmanagement Marketing Smart Manufacturing
Bücher
Zeitschriften
Weitere Formate
Podcasts Webinare Technik Webinare Wirtschaft Kongresse Veranstaltungskalender Awards
Jetzt Einzelzugang starten
Zugang für Unternehmen
Referenzkunden
MTZ-Fachkongress

Antriebe und Energiesysteme von morgen


Austausch von Automobil- und Energiewirtschaft

Am 14./15. Mai geht es in Chemnitz um die Mobilitätswende durch Elektro- und Wasserstofffahrzeuge.
Erweiterte Suche
Anmelden
nach oben
Erschienen in:
Ethiopia and Its Legal System: The Context Kapitel lesen Erstes Kapitel lesen

2021 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

3. Arbitrability

verfasst von : Seyoum Yohannes Tesfay

Erschienen in: International Commercial Arbitration

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Einloggen

Aktivieren Sie unsere intelligente Suche, um passende Fachinhalte oder Patente zu finden.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

This chapter appraises the state of Ethiopian law on arbitrability. It deals with whether the law proscribes submitting to arbitration specific subject matters. It finds neither the law nor the courts have directly addressed this issue.
Yet, bankruptcy, competition and consumer protection laws are likely to raise the issue of arbitrability. Regarding bankruptcy, it suggests that courts make individualised assessment of whether the continuation of arbitration is compatible with the core objectives of bankruptcy law and allow it to continue where it is compatible. Coming to competition and consumer protection laws, the fact that the law establishes a dispute settlement mechanism does not create irreconcilable incompatibility between the mechanism and arbitration. Arbitrators can decide on the rights inter se while other sanctions such as fines due for breach of the law and imprisonment can be applied by the dispute settlement mechanism that the law establishes.
Regarding the involvement of certain parties in arbitration, entities that are directly or indirectly affiliated with the state routinely object to arbitration on the ground that the contract is administrative and hence they cannot submit to arbitration. Ethiopian courts, by and large, find such contract inarbitrable thought that is not warranted in many cases.

Sie haben noch keine Lizenz? Dann Informieren Sie sich jetzt über unsere Produkte:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

Jetzt informieren
Vorheriges Kapitel Arbitration Agreement: Validity, Lapse and Interpretation
Nächstes Kapitel The Normative Basis for Decision on the Merits and Procedural Conduct of Arbitration: The Extent of Party Autonomy
Fußnoten
1
Greenberg et al. (2011), p. 182.
 
2
Di Pietro (2009), p. 91.
 
3
Shore (2009), p. 70.
 
4
Id.
 
5
Id.
 
6
Id., at 7.
 
7
Reisman et al. (1997), p. 304.
 
8
Lehmann (2004), pp. 756 and 761.
 
9
Youssef (2009), p. 48.
 
10
Id.
 
11
Id.
 
12
Reisman et al. (1997), p. 304.
 
13
Youssef (2009), p. 48.
 
14
Di Pietro (2009), pp. 91–92.
 
15
United Nations Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958), Article The New York Convention of 1958, V(2)a.
 
16
Mistelis (2009), p. 11.
 
17
Lehmann (2004), p. 775.
 
18
Id. 770–771.
 
19
Id., 764 and 770.
 
20
Id., 771.
 
21
Id.
 
22
Id., 773.
 
23
Id.
 
24
Mistelis (2009), p. 4.
 
25
Id. at 3–4.
 
26
Di Pietro (2009), p. 91.
 
27
Youssef (2009), p. 50.
 
28
Brekoulakis (2009), pp. 21–22.
 
29
Id., at 23–30.
 
30
Id., at 23.
 
31
Id., at 24–25.
 
32
Id., at 26.
 
33
Id.
 
34
Id., at 26–27.
 
35
Id., at 30.
 
36
Id.
 
37
Courtney (2009), p. 585.
 
38
Brekoulakis (2009), pp. 32–33.
 
39
Mistelis (2009), p. 7.
 
40
Mantakou (2009), p. 296.
 
41
Mistelis (2009), p. 11.
 
42
The Revised Family Code Proclamation No. 2013/2000, Federal Negarit Gazeta, 6th Year, Extraordinary Issue No. 1, Articles 83(3), 115 and 117. Similarly, ‘only a court is competent to decide whether an irregular union has been established between a man and a woman” according to Article 116 of the same Family Code.
 
43
Liebscher (2009), p. 165.
 
44
Kirgis, Arbitration, Bankruptcy, and Public Policy: A Contractarian Analysis at p. 3. Available at: http://​pon.​harvard.​edu/​wp-content/​uploads/​images/​posts/​kirgis-wip-article-pdf.​pdf, Accessed on 20 March 2015.
 
45
Id.
 
46
Commercial Code of the Empire of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 166/1960, Negarit Gazeta, 19th Year, No. 3, Articles 995(1), 1018 and 1023.
 
47
Id., Article 1043.
 
48
Id., Article 1025(1) and 1026. The claims of all creditors who have no special privilege such as pledge and mortgage fall within what the law calls universality of creditors that is vested by the law with legal personality and represented by the trustee.
 
49
Id., Article 990.
 
50
Id., Article 974.
 
51
Id. Article 974(2) (Com Code).
 
52
Liebscher (2009), p. 166.
 
53
Salzberg and Zinkgraf, When Two Worlds Collide: The Enforceability of Arbitration Agreements in Bankruptcy, at 2, available at http://​www.​foley.​com/​files/​publication/​1020c6f0-d08d-4aee-82c7-b282fe0c221a/​presentation/​publicationattac​hment/​a4edde0a-8a1f-4ea5-bc57-b9a0ccdf4958/​salzberg-zinkgraf.​pdf, accessed on March 20, 2015.
 
54
Kirgis, Arbitration, Bankruptcy, and Public Policy: A Contractarian Analysis, p. 3. Available at: http://​pon.​harvard.​edu/​wp-content/​uploads/​images/​posts/​kirgis-wip-article-pdf.​pdf, Accessed on 20 March 2015.
 
55
Commercial Code of Ethiopia, Proclamation No. 166/1960, Articles 977, 978, 1029, 1030, 1031, 1032, 1033 and 1034.
 
56
Kirgis, supra note 54, p. 14.
 
57
Id., p. 15.
 
58
Id., p. 13.
 
59
Liebscher (2009), p. 169.
 
60
Salzberg and Zinkgraf, supra note 53, p. 2.
 
61
Id.
 
62
Id.
 
63
Id.
 
64
Id.
 
65
Id.
 
66
Kirgis supra note 54, p. 16.
 
67
Id.
 
68
Salzberg and Zinkgraf supra note 53, p. 2.
 
69
Id.
 
70
Id., p. 4.
 
71
Id.
 
72
Id. (Salzberg and Zinkgraf at p. 4).
 
73
Kirgis, supra note 54, p. 20.
 
74
Id.
 
75
Tadesse (2008), p. 58.
 
76
Liebscher (2009), p. 167.
 
77
Id.
 
78
Id.
 
79
Id., p. 168.
 
80
Id., p. 169.
 
81
Id.
 
82
Id., p. 173.
 
83
Id.
 
84
Id., pp. 173–174.
 
85
Id., p. 175.
 
86
Id.
 
87
Id.
 
88
Id.
 
89
Id.
 
90
Tadesse (2008), pp. 57–59. He speculates multiple factors kept bankruptcy out of the limelight in Ethiopia. According to him, these include: the freeing of the Commercial Code of Ethiopia during the Socialist era (1974–1991), the lack of familiarity of lawyers and even judges with that area of law hence absence of people invoking bankruptcy law and foreclosure laws of the country that allowed banks to directly sell property given as security.
 
91
Trade Competition and Consumers Protection Proclamation No. 813/2013, FEDERAL NEGARIT GAZETA, 20th Year, No. 28.
 
92
Id., Article 3(1). Under sub article 2 of Article 3 the law spells out its goals with respect to consumer protection as ensuring the goods and services that consumers get are not only safe and suitable to their health but also fair in terms of prices.
 
93
Id., Article 4(1).
 
94
Id., Article 5(2)a to d.
 
95
Id., Article 5(2) g and h.
 
96
Id., Article 7(1)b.
 
97
Id., Article 7(2) and (3).
 
98
Id., Article 9(1).
 
99
Id., Article 9(2), 10 and 11.
 
100
Id., Article 8(1). Under Article 8(2) the law lists some manifestations of unfair competition prohibited by the law. The prohibited acts include possession, disclosure or use of information as regards other person in a manner contrary to honest commercial practice, dissemination of false or equivocal information to consumers and obtaining or attempting to obtain business secrets of competitors through current or former employees of the competitor.
 
101
Id., Article 14(1).
 
102
Id., Article 16, 19 and 22.
 
103
Id., Article 27 and 30.
 
104
Id., Article 36(1)a and b. Breach of some provisions of the proclamation could attract rigorous imprisonment of upto seven years according to Article 43(2). Criminal action is instituted by the prosecutor’s of the Authority before an ordinary court. The judicial bench in the authority and the appellate Administrative Tribunal established under the Proclamation have has no jurisdiction as regards criminal liability of offenders according to Article 37(1)b.
 
105
Id., Article 28.
 
106
Id., Article 32. The administrative measures it can take include the suspension and even revocation of business license of the offender according to Article 32(2) c. The fines that can be imposed can be as high as 10% of the annual turnover of the offender according to Article 42.
 
107
Id., Article 39(2).
 
108
Brozolo (2010), p. 31. Arbitration and Competition Law: The Position of the Courts and of Arbitrators, OECD HEARINGS: Arbitration and Competition, DAF/COMP (2010)40, available at: http://​www.​oecd.​org/​competition/​abuse/​49294392.​pdf, accessed on 27 March 2015.
 
109
Id.
 
110
UN Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (1958), Article V(1)a. Note that the Convention talks in terms of ‘competent authority’ but this could be a court in some countries recognition or/and enforcement is sought.
 
111
Brozolo (2010), p. 31.
 
112
Interview conducted with Aman Assefa, practicing lawyer specializing in competition law who was involved in the drafting of Proclamation 685/2010, the predecessor of the current Proclamation. Interview was conducted on 2 April 2015 at his office.
 
113
Lew (2009), p. 248.
 
114
Id., pp. 248–249.
 
115
Id., p. 294.
 
116
Id., pp. 249–250.
 
117
Civil Code of Ethiopia lays down the basic principle as regards the extent of compensation under Article 2091. The said provision reads: ‘[t]he damages due by the person legally declared to be liable shall be equal to the damage caused to the victim by the act giving rise to the liability.’
 
118
Trade Competition and Consumers Protection Proclamation No. 813/2013, Article 32(1)b.
 
119
Lew (2009), p. 251.
 
120
Reisman (1997), pp. 313–334.
 
121
Id., 313.
 
122
Id.
 
123
Id.
 
124
Id., at 314.
 
125
Id.
 
126
Id., p. 321.
 
127
Id., p. 324.
 
128
Id.
 
129
Id., pp. 324–325.
 
130
Id., p. 325.
 
131
Id., p. 326.
 
132
The Treaty of Rome of 25 March 1957 Creating European Economic Community, the preamble of the Treaty. Article 3(f) of The Treaty of Rome further underscores that one of its aims is the ‘institution of a system ensuring that competition in the Common Market is not distorted.’
 
133
The Treaty of Lisbon Amending the Treaty of European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Community, 3 December 2007. According to Article 2(3) of the Treaty, its aim is the establishment of a highly competitive internal market within the European Union that will lead to a balanced economic growth and price stability, among other things.
 
134
Lew (2009), p. 246.
 
135
Dolmans and Grierson (2003), pp. 39–40.
 
136
Id., at 39.
 
137
Id.
 
138
Lew (2009), p. 249.
 
139
Id. One needs to note here that European countries may have their own national competition laws. The competition law that applies throughout the Union only provides the minimum requirements agreed upon. So, under national laws compensation may be due to a person who is aggrieved by anticompetitive behavior.
 
140
Id.
 
141
Müller (2004), p. 726.
 
142
Id., at 729.
 
143
Zekos (2006), p. 42.
 
144
Lew (2009), p. 253. It seems the Mitsubishi decision of the US Supreme Court that arbitrators are capable of applying competition law had impact on actors and institutions that applied the EU Competition Law.
 
145
Id.
 
146
Id.
 
147
Id., p. 254.
 
148
Id.
 
149
Dolmans and Grierson (2003), p. 43.
 
150
Id. In the Netherlands where the issue came to the attention of national courts national competition law is not deemed to be a manifestation of fundamental public policy of the state that warrant annulment of an arbitral award or refusal to recognize and enforce the same. That is why the Dutch Supreme Court requested interpretation of the EC competition law pursuant to Article 234 of the EC Treaty to know whether the position is the same under the EC competition law.
 
151
Lew (2009), pp. 256–257.
 
152
OECD Hearings, Arbitration and Competition, DAF/COMP (2010)40, 13 December 2011, at 11, available at http://​www.​oecd.​org/​competition/​abuse/​49294392.​pdf, accessed on 20/08/2016.
 
153
Id., p. 12.
 
154
Id., p. 13.
 
155
Id., p. 11.
 
156
Id.
 
157
Trade Competition and Consumers Protection No. 813/2013 Articles 37(2), 42 and 43.
 
158
Id., Article 20(2).
 
159
Id., 20(3). Other provisions of the Proclamation in, Articles 14 to 26 require access to information, labelling of goods, prohibition against hording and the like in order to protect consumers.
 
160
Id., Article 21.
 
161
Youssef (2009), pp. 51–52.
 
162
Id.
 
163
Brekoulakis (2009), pp. 23–31.
 
164
Youssef (2009), pp. 51–52.
 
165
Id.
 
166
Id., p. 57.
 
167
Id.
 
168
Greenberg et al. (2011), p. 187. In Sri Lanka, for example, only criminal proceedings are excluded from reference to arbitration. In the Philippines, labor disputes, civil status of persons, validity of marriage and its dissolution, jurisdiction of courts, inheritance expectations, criminal liability and matters that the law precludes from compromises are excluded from the domain of arbitration. The Chinese law too follows a prescriptive approach rather than leaving the matter to courts and arbitrators. It lists down matters that are excluded from settlement by arbitration as those concerning, “marriage, adoption, guardianship, support and succession as well as administrative disputes that must be handled by administrative organs as prescribed by law.”
 
169
Youssef (2009), p. 61.
 
170
Id., pp. 51–52.
 
171
Id., p. 56.
 
172
Id.
 
173
Id.
 
174
Id.
 
175
Id.
 
176
Id., p. 60.
 
177
Id. The Swiss Federal Tribunal envisaged the possibility of a private tribunal applying even public international law rules. It, in a case involving the UN Embargo on Iraq which was effective in Switzerland, declined to consider the UN Embargo on commercial activities with Iraq as a bar to arbitrability of a dispute arising under a contract for the sale of military equipment to the country under sanctions.
 
178
Id., pp. 60–61.
 
179
Id. p. 61.
 
180
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Arbitration Regulations, Royal Decree M/46, Article 3 dated 12-7-1403(25 April 1983, Excerpted in BORN, supra note 470, at 162. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan introduced a similar amendment to its maritime law. It provided: “(r)egardless of whatever is contained in any other law, any agreement, or stipulation which bars the Jordanian Courts from maintaining disputes relating to bills of lading or carriage of goods is null end void.” Amendment Law to the Merchandise Maritime Law, Jordanian Law no. 35 of 1983, Excerpted in BORN supra note 470, at 103.
 
181
Youssef (2009), p. 62.
 
182
Mistelis (2009), p. 6.
 
183
Id.
 
184
Id.
 
185
Id.
 
186
For example, Zekarias (1994) read generally. Similarly, in an article dealing with arbitration of disputes involving government construction contracts, Tecle Hagos Bahta frames the issue as that of arbitrability rather than capacity of government departments to submit to arbitration. He also cites number of cases in which the courts without any reservation frame this matter as issues of arbitrability. See on this, Tecle (2009), pp. 1–32.
 
187
Civil Procedure Code Decree No. 52/1965, Article 315(2).
 
188
Civil Code of Ethiopia Proclamation 165/1960, Article 1678.
 
189
Tecle (2009), p. 6.
 
190
Id., p. 7.
 
191
Id.
 
192
Id.
 
193
Civil Code of Ethiopia Proclamation No. 165/1960, Articles 3216(1). The law also provides for exceptions to this rule specifying the kind of contractual terms that may not be unilaterally modified by administrative authority under 3218–3219 of the Civil Code.
 
194
Id.
 
195
Id.
 
196
Id.
 
197
Id.
 
198
Id., Articles 3207–3243.
 
199
Woira Wood and Metal Works Cooperative Society v. Addis Ababa City Administration Trade and Industry Bureau, Federal Supreme Court, Cassation Bench, File No. 80464 (2012) (Tahsas 16, 2005 E.C).
 
200
The Addis Ababa City Government Revised Charter Proclamation 361/2003, Federal Negarit Gazeta, 9th Year, No. 86, Article 41(1) confers on City Courts jurisdiction as regards ‘suits brought in connections with administrative contracts concluded by executive bodies of the City Government.’
 
201
Civil Code of Ethiopia Proclamation No. 165/1960, Articles 1444 to 1448 defines state property that form public domain. According to Article 1444(1) property owned by the state is subject to laws applicable to privately owned property. Then the law defines property that forms public domain and hence is treated differently. Article 1445 defines ‘public domain’ as ‘[p]roperty belonging to the State or other administrative bodies … where: (a) it is directly placed or left at the disposal of the public; or (b) it is destined to a public service and is, by its nature or by reason of adjustments, principally or exclusively adapted to the particular purpose of the public service concerned.’
 
202
Tana Water Well Drilling and Industry PLC v. Dire Dawa Administration Water and Sewerage Authority, Cassation File No. 127459, Unpublished (03 October 2017).
 
203
In the context of the construction sector this refers to a form of dispute settlement by a third party that has been appointed by the parties or through a process chosen by the parties. The decision is binding unless and until reversed by a court or an arbitral tribunal, if the contract envisages arbitration after adjudication. Usually this is a much faster process than arbitration. Corbett Haselgrove Spurin, Adjudication and Claim Settlement for the Construction Industry, available at: http://www.nadr.co.uk/articles/published/Adjudication/Adjudication.pdf, last visited on 04 October 2018.
 
204
Youssef (2009), p. 63.
 
205
Id., pp. 63–64.
 
206
Youssef (2009), p. 64.
 
207
Salini Costruttori S.P.A(Italy) vs. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (Ethiopia (ICC, Case No. 10623/AER/ACS). Case will be discussed in detail in relation to issues it raises. Suffice it say now that the Authority did not raise defence of inarbitrability though that would make a perfect defence by the standard of other cases that were found valid in domestic context.
 
208
Youssef (2009), p. 63.
 
209
Id.
 
Literatur
Brekoulakis SL (2009) On arbitrability: persisting misconceptions and new areas of concern. In: Mistelis, Bekoulakis (eds) Arbitrability international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International, Alphen
Courtney T (2009) Binding non-signatories to international arbitration agreements: raising fundamental concerns in the United States and Abroad. RJGLB 8(4):581
Di Pietro D (2009) General remarks on arbitrability under The New York Convention. In: Mistelis, Bekoulakis (eds) Arbitrability: international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International
Dolmans M, Grierson J (2003) Arbitration and the modernization of EC antitrust law: new opportunities and new responsibilities. ICC Int Court Arbitr Bull 14(2)
Greenberg et al (2011) International commercial arbitration: an Asia-Pacific perspective. Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne
Lehmann M (2004) A plea for a transnational approach to arbitrability in arbitral practice. Colum J Transnatl Law 42:753
Lew QCJ (2009) Competition laws: limits to arbitrators’ authority. In: Mistelis, Bekoulakis (eds) Arbitrability international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International, Alphen
Liebscher C (2009) Insolvency and arbitrability. In: Mistelis, Bekoulakis (eds) Arbitrability international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International, Alphen
Mantakou AP (2009) Arbitrability of intellectual property disputes. In: Mistelis, Bekoulakis (eds) Kluwer Law International, Alphen
Mistelis L (2009) Arbitrability: international and comparative perspectives. In: Mistelis, Bekoulakis (eds) Arbitrability international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International, Alphen
Müller F (2004) The New Council Regulation (EC) No. 1/2003 on the implementation of the rules on competition. German Law J 5(6):721CrossRef
Reisman et al (1997) International commercial arbitration: cases, materials and notes on the resolution of international business disputes. The Foundation Press Inc.
Shore L (2009) The United States’ perspective on “Arbitrability”. In: Mistelis LA, Brekoulakis SL (eds) Arbitrability: international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International
Tadesse L (2008) Ethiopian bankruptcy law: a commentary (Part I). J Ethiop Law 22(2)
Tecle HB (2009) Adjudication and arbitrability of government construction disputes. Mizan Law Rev 3(1):1–32
Youssef K (2009) The death of inarbitrability. In: Mistelis, Brekoulakis (eds) Arbitrability international and comparative perspectives. Kluwer Law International, Alphen
Zekarias K (1994) Arbitrability in Ethiopia: posing the problem. J Ethiop Law 17
Zekos G (2006) The European Union’s new competition approach and arbitration. HLJ 4(1):36
Metadaten
Titel
Arbitrability
verfasst von
Seyoum Yohannes Tesfay
Copyright-Jahr
2021
Buch
International Commercial Arbitration

Print ISBN: 978-3-030-66751-1

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-66752-8

Copyright-Jahr: 2021

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66752-8_3

Premium Partner

    Bildnachweise