1.1 Prevalence of Arbitration
Afghanistan is taking its initial steps to validate and promote commercial arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism. Currently, the Afghan government is developing a better understanding of the needs and the role that international arbitration could play in maximising investment, particularly foreign investment, and minimising costly and time-consuming litigation. Recent attempts at international arbitration have found legislative and infrastructure support in Afghanistan. However, litigation is still the primary, widely accepted dispute resolution mechanism in Afghanistan and there are historic obstacles that deter many from using commercial arbitration. A welcome sign of attempts to make arbitration prevalent in Afghanistan is the establishment, for the first time in the country’s history, of two arbitration institutions, namely the Afghanistan Centre for Commercial Dispute Resolution (ACDR) and the Afghanistan International Chamber of Commerce (ICC-Afghanistan). The ACDR was established in 2015, although officially, dispute resolution services through arbitration started in August 2019, while mediation services started earlier than that. At the time of writing, only four arbitration cases have been administered under the auspices of the ACDR and four arbitral awards have been issued, all of which awards are domestic. ICC-Afghanistan, as the national committee of the International Chamber of Commerce in Afghanistan, started to operate in 2017 but is yet to take its first arbitration case. Officials at ICC-Afghanistan recently gave the good news that the institution will be close to the stage of offering actual arbitration services soon. Both the ADCR and ICC-Afghanistan are commissioned to do international arbitration.
Overview of Arbitration in Afghanistan: A Practical Approach
Introduction
Afghanistan has been in the midst of a series of major legal reforms in various areas over the past 5 years, of particular relevance is the developments in the commercial sector. The commercial market has managed to cope with the rapidly growing dispute resolution mechanisms in Afghanistan with which the latter has tried to incorporate in its legal system. Based on the recorded statistics for January 2019, it was reported that 390 laws and regulations have been passed in the past four and a half years in Afghanistan and a large number of them affect the commercial sector. The question which the authors wish to address in this piece is whether the rapid reforms taking place in Afghanistan have had any significant development in the field of arbitration.
In Part I of this paper, the authors will provide an overview of the Arbitration regime in Afghanistan against the historical backdrop. Part II addresses the current arbitration mechanism on a holistic approach. Part III of this paper analyzes the current reforms with a case analysis. In Part IV, the authors offer their conclusion as to what the future of arbitration in Afghanistan holds for the commercial sector.
Overview of Arbitration in Afghanistan
Introduction
Afghanistan has been in the midst of a series of major legal reforms in various areas over the past 5 years, of particular relevance is the developments in the commercial sector. The commercial market has managed to cope with the rapidly growing dispute resolution mechanisms in Afghanistan with which the latter has tried to incorporate in its legal system. Based on the recorded statistics for January 2019, it was reported that 390 laws and regulations have been passed in the past four and a half years in Afghanistan and a large number of them affect the commercial sector. The question which the authors wish to address in this piece is whether the rapid reforms taking place in Afghanistan have had any significant development in the field of arbitration.
The Importance of Investment and its Relations Between Foreign Investment and Dispute Resolution Methods
1. Introduction
This study covers the definition of investment and its importance on economic growth of Afghanistan. However, there would be certain mechanisms and rules to organize all the related activities in its specific order in light of the rules and regulations of I.R of Afghanistan. In one hand, the government motivates and encourages domestic individuals to invest in Afghanistan to raise the domestic products of country and also to compete with other similar products in the region. The major goal would be to change Afghanistan from an importer country to an exporter country with particular quality and benefits which has absolute advantages i.e. handicrafts, fresh and dry fruits, carpet, gemstone.
Advantages of Arbitration in Resolving Commercial Disputes
Introduction:
This paper intends to provide useful information in order to assist in understanding the benefits of arbitration in commercial dispute resolutions in Afghanistan. The aim is whether to resolve commercial disputes through mediation, arbitration or litigation. The advantages of arbitration are discussed providing details on factors such as the procedure, partiality and risk of corruption, expertise of the arbitrators, costs and involvement of the parties on the duration and procedure in the course of proceedings.