NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Trond Hatland, Per Ole Svor, Henrik Fabian Torgrimsby and Anders Eide Røyneberg, Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS
also be noted that it is explicitly stated in some of the provisions in Chapter 6 that these may not be (fully or partly) exempted by agreement. The arbitration agree - ment between the parties may state that arbitration proceedings are to be filed at a specific institution, in which case, the rules of the institution will govern the procedure of the arbitration and supplement the provisions of the Arbitration Act, and possibly overrule exemption from certain provisions. Section 22 provides for the regulation of the place (legal venue) for arbitration, which is decided by the tribunal if not agreed by the parties. Normally, the legal venue and choice of law are agreed upon in the arbi - tration clause under the contract subject to dispute. Unless otherwise agreed, the arbitration commences when a written request for arbitration is received by the respondent; see Section 23. The Arbitration Act does not set any explicit requirements for the content of the notice; a letter clearly notifying that arbitration is requested for a specific dispute is sufficient. Regarding the language for the arbitration (commu - nication from the tribunal, pleadings, hearing and judgment), Section 24 states that this is decided by the tribunal, unless otherwise agreed by the parties. Section 24 further states that the tribunal can require written evidence to be translated into the agreed lan - guage for the arbitration. Section 25 sets the requirements for the filing of a statement of claim from the claimant and for the respondent for filing the reply. Pursuant to the last paragraph of Section 25, the parties have wide rights to bring new claims, to expand the contention in respect of existing claims, and to submit new grounds for the contention and new evidence, unless they have agreed otherwise. Section 27 provides for the regulation of the conse - quences of the claimant’s failure to submit a statement of claim and the respondent’s failure to file a reply according to Section 25, absence from the hearing, etc. Unless otherwise agreed, the tribunal will have specific powers under Section 27 to pass decisions depending on the non-fulfilment of requirements. Spe - cifically, if the claimant fails to provide a statement of
claim, the arbitral tribunal will dismiss the case. If the respondent fails to file a reply, the case will continue and the failure will not be construed as an acceptance of the claims. If a party is absent from the hearings without reasonable grounds, the tribunal can continue the case and hand down its verdict based on the facts that have been presented. Section 26 of the Arbitration Act relates to the ques - tion of whether hearings will be conducted. Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the tribunal will decide whether an oral hearing will be conducted; however, a party may always request an oral hearing. 7.2 Procedural Steps See 7.1 Governing Rules regarding the procedural steps. As stated, most of the provisions set out in Chapter 6 of the Arbitration Act are non-mandatory, but the principle of equal treatment must be complied with. It is also worth noting that Section 30 contains a provision allowing assistance from other courts to obtain witness statements, take evidence, etc. If the parties have not agreed to authorise the tribunal to pass legally binding decisions on document requests, there is no basis under the Arbitration Act to force a party to disclose documents, in which case, there might be a need to seek assistance from the ordinary courts to resolve this. 7.3 Powers and Duties of Arbitrators Pursuant to Section 20 of the Arbitration Act, the arbi - tral tribunal will treat each party equally at all stages of the arbitration proceedings, and each party will be given full opportunity to present its case. The principle of equal treatment has general bearing and applies for all steps under the proceedings; there is no exemption from this. Furthermore, pursuant to Section 21 of the Arbitration Act, the tribunal is given discretionary power to deter - mine how the arbitration proceedings will be conduct - ed. The exercise of this discretion will be subject to the limitations set out in the agreement between the parties and under the Arbitration Act. 7.4 Legal Representatives There are no statutory provisions in the Arbitration Act outlining particular qualifications or other require -
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