The Arbitration Development Center was founded within the joint project of the UNDP Country Office in Uzbekistan and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan “Supporting to the development of arbitration courts and other alternative methods of dispute settlement in the Republic of Uzbekistan” (Arbitration project). The project focuses on development of the arbitration courts and other alternative ways of dispute resolution through creation of the Center.

Uzbekistan adopted the Law “On arbitration” in 2006, which was aimed at regulation of creation and operation of arbitration courts in Uzbekistan. The law came into force in February 2007.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan created arbitration courts in all regions of Uzbekistan to develop favourable conditions for development of the system in the country. The courts reviewed over 700 cases in 2007.

The novelty of the system in Uzbekistan creates some difficulties for further development and popularization of the arbitration court in the country. Among the problems are lower number of skilled arbitration judges, inexistence of methodology and rules of documents circulation, low knowledge of businesses and population of the arbitration, etc.

Kyoko Postill said: “Our project with the Chamber responds to these challenges. The Center will work on improvement of the relevant legislation and set procedures to conduct arbitration trial and provide recommendations to improve their activities. The important part of the Center’s work will be to train and eventually certify judges and mediators, so that they can improve their knowledge and skills.”

“Our hope is that this project, by establishing the Center to improve the functioning of the arbitration court and alternative ways of dispute resolution, will ultimately contribute to the improvement of the business climate in Uzbekistan,” she added.

During the opening ceremony, the Center staff presented the main work areas of the newly created institution and its plans for 2008. The participants also shared their views on improvement of legal base and procedures of arbitration system.