NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Trond Hatland, Per Ole Svor, Henrik Fabian Torgrimsby and Anders Eide Røyneberg, Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS
Those international arbitrations that use an arbitration institution typically do so through the OCC Institute. An alternative to the OCC Institute is the NOMA, which was established in 2017 and has seen a recent surge in the resolution of disputes. Although the majority of disputes are typically resolved through ad hoc arbitration, there is a growing trend to utilise the templates and rules provided by arbitration institutes as the foundation for the arbitration pro - cess. The rules of NOMA, in particular, are frequently employed. As a result, the distinction between ad hoc and institutional arbitration is becoming less signifi - cant. 1.4 National Courts The national courts of Norway have no courts desig - nated to hear disputes related to arbitration, whether international or domestic. Where the Arbitration Act grants competence to the ordinary courts (eg, if the parties are unable to agree on an arbitral tribunal), the courts that would have been competent in the absence of an arbitra - tion agreement will have competence to decide on a specific matter. If no specific Norwegian court would have had competence in the absence of an arbitration agreement, the Oslo District Court will have compe - tence to decide on the matter. The Norwegian Arbitration Act of 14 May 2004 No 25 governs both domestic and international arbitration conducted in Norway. It is structurally and in content based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, but there are some differences, partly due to the fact that the Arbi - tration Act governs both domestic and international arbitration proceedings. Two key areas in which the Arbitration Act differs from the UNCITRAL Model Law relate to the requirements of the arbitration agreement, and the confidentiality of proceedings. 2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law
In regard to the arbitration agreement, it should be noted that the Arbitration Act does not require an arbitration agreement to be in writing. This may raise certain challenges if an award from a Norwegian arbi - tral tribunal based on an oral arbitration agreement is to be enforced in a country that requires arbitration agreements to be in writing. In regard to the confidentiality of the proceedings, the Arbitration Act states that arbitration proceedings and any resulting decisions and awards are not confiden - tial unless the parties agree otherwise for the specific dispute. Consequently, an agreement regarding con - fidentiality must be entered into after the dispute has arisen. 2.2 Changes to National Law There have been no significant changes to the Arbi - tration Act in the past year and there is no pending legislation that may change the arbitration landscape in Norway in the near future. There are no requirements regarding the form of the arbitration agreement pursuant to the Arbitration Act. On the other hand, the courts in Norway have been somewhat restrictive in determining that the parties have entered into an arbitration agreement; see 3.3 National Courts’ Approach . Under Section 10 of the Arbitration Act, the enforce - ability of the arbitration agreement depends upon whether one of the parties is a consumer. An arbitra - tion agreement is not binding for a consumer if it was entered into prior to the dispute. 3.2 Arbitrability It follows from Section 9 of the Arbitration Act that only legal matters that are subject to the parties’ unrestricted right of disposition may be determined by arbitration. In general, the parties’ autonomy and the right of disposition follow the lines of what parties may agree upon in a contract. A matter relating to chil - dren’s rights is a typical example of a matter that can - not be referred to arbitration between private parties. 3. The Arbitration Agreement 3.1 Enforceability
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