KAZAKHSTAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Sergei Vataev, Ilya Kirichenko and Yelena Dvoretskaya-Yussupova, Legit Advocates‚ Bureau
The exception is the IAC, where arbitration proceed - ings are governed by the IAC Rules of Arbitration and Mediation approved by the Chairman of the IAC on 1 January 2018 (amended in 2022), as well as the AIFC Arbitration Regulations approved by the resolution of the AIFC Management Council dated 5 December 2017. Provisions of the Law on Arbitration may not be applied to arbitration proceedings conducted at the IAC. 7.2 Procedural Steps As a general rule, arbitral proceedings begin with the filing of a claim. Upon receipt, the arbitral tribu - nal (unless the parties’ agreement or arbitration rules specify otherwise) shall, within ten calendar days, issue a ruling on the initiation of proceedings, notify the parties of the location for consideration, and invite the respondent to submit a written response to the statement of claim. By law, the arbitral tribunal must prepare the case for arbitration within 15 calendar days at the latest, a period that may be extended to one month in exceptional circumstances. The arbi - tration itself must be concluded within two months from the completion of the case preparation, unless a different timeframe is set by the rules or the parties’ agreement. A slightly different procedure is established for arbitra - tions conducted under the AIFC legislation, where the process of arbitrating disputes is more closely aligned with international standards. In particular, arbitration before the IAC concerning a specific dispute begins on the day the respondent receives the request for arbitration (unless the parties have agreed otherwise). The obligation to serve the request for arbitration lies with the claimant, who must submit proof of such service to the IAC. The next step is to agree on the appointment of arbitrator or arbitra - tors and to obtain approval of the composition of the arbitration tribunal from the IAC Chairperson. Then, the dispute shall be considered by the arbitration tri - bunal, which shall, at the earliest opportunity, hold a case management conference with the parties in order to establish, organise and plan the procedures that will be most appropriate and effective for the arbitration
concerned, and shall adopt a procedural timetable in accordance with which the dispute proceeds. There is usually a two-stage exchange of written statements between the parties, followed by an oral hearing and award. 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators The primary duty of the arbitral tribunal is to resolve the dispute in accordance with the principles of the par - ties’ autonomy, legality, independence, competition, equality, fairness, confidentiality, and the autonomy of the arbitration agreement. Simultaneously, the arbi - tral tribunal has the right to independently determine whether it possesses the jurisdiction to hear the case, including in instances where a party objects to arbitra - tion due to the invalidity of the arbitration agreement. In the AIFC, IAC arbitrators are granted extensive rights to ensure a fair and impartial resolution of dis - putes without delays or unnecessary costs. Specifi - cally, the arbitral tribunal has the authority to define its own scope of jurisdiction and to take certain interim measures when necessary, which notably distin - guishes the powers of an IAC arbitrator from those of arbitrators in other tribunals in Kazakhstan. Further - more, the IAC arbitral tribunal possesses broad rights to resolve issues concerning the reimbursement of costs incurred by a party. All arbitrations are based on the essential duty of each arbitrator to guarantee fair, impartial and objective As a general rule, legal aid in Kazakhstan’s judicial proceedings may be provided by advocates (who are licensed) and legal consultants (who must be mem - bers of legal consultants’ chambers). In arbitration proceedings, both domestic and international, there are no qualification requirements for the representa - tives. However, it should be noted that when arbitra - tion proceedings require actions in court (such as interim measures, assistance in taking evidence, or enforcement of the award), qualification requirements will apply to the person acting as a party’s representa - tive in court. consideration of every dispute. 7.4 Legal Representatives
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