GEORGIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Lasha Nodia, Giorgi Kekenadze and Ani Akophashvili, Nodia, Urumashvili and Partners
13. Miscellaneous 13.1 Class Action or Group Arbitration The provisions of the Georgian arbitration law do not specifically regulate class action or group arbitration. The Law of Georgia on Arbitration, which follows the UNCITRAL Model Law, primarily deals with individual disputes arising between parties who have concluded an arbitration agreement. 13.2 Ethical Codes In terms of ethical standards applicable to counsel and arbitrators conducting arbitral proceedings in Georgia, there are no statutory provisions in this regard, except for a set of general obligations upon arbitrators to remain independent and impartial. However, as men - tioned in 4.5 Arbitrator Requirements , the Georgian Association of Arbitrators (a non-statutory organisa - tion) has established a Code of Ethics for Arbitrators, which has been adopted by various arbitral institu - tions. Arbitrators who operate in accordance with the arbitration rules of such institutions are bound by the Georgian Association of Arbitrators’ Code of Ethics for Arbitrators, which serves as a guideline for their conduct during arbitration proceedings. 13.3 Third-Party Funding The Law of Georgia on Arbitration does not provide any specific regulations regarding third-party funding in arbitration. As of the time of writing (July 2025), there have been no such court decisions regarding this matter. 13.4 Consolidation The Law of Georgia on Arbitration does not specifi - cally regulate the consolidation of separate arbitral proceedings. Nevertheless, consolidation can take place if the relevant institutional arbitration rules (eg, the GIAC Rules) allow such a consolidation.
Notably, as per the GIAC Rules, upon the request of a party, the GIAC Arbitration Council – following referral from the GIAC Secretariat ‒ may decide to consolidate a new case with a pending arbitral proceeding if: • the parties have agreed on the consolidation of the proceedings; or • all claims sought are made under the same arbitra - tion agreement. 13.5 Binding of Third Parties To date, Georgian courts have not established a clear legal precedent demonstrating that individuals or entities who did not sign the arbitration agreement can be held to its terms. Given the general stipulation that natural persons and administrative bodies must explicitly sign an arbitration agreement, it is improb - able that non-signatory administrative bodies or indi - viduals will be legally bound by arbitration agreements that lack their signatures. However, in a case rendered by the Kutaisi Appellate Court in 2012, the court set aside an arbitral award concerning a third party who did not participate in the arbitral proceedings. Referring to Article 42, Part One, subparagraph a(g) of the Law of Georgia on Arbitra - tion, the court stated that it is authorised to set aside an arbitral award rendered in Georgia only if the party against whom the award was issued files a claim with the court and proves that they were not duly informed of the arbitral proceedings or of the appointment of the arbitrator (or were otherwise unable to participate in the hearing for a valid reason). Moreover, in situa - tions involving legal succession or assignment, the individuals or entities receiving rights or obligations through such processes are indeed bound by the arbi - tration agreement ‒ thereby becoming parties to it.
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