BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Nathalie Colin, Maria-Clara Van den Bossche, Kevin Xhebexhia and Florence Frühling, Freshfields
the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods). If no law is specified, it is the arbitral tribunal – not the national courts – that will select the most appropriate rules of law (Article 1710, Section 2 BJC). Belgian Courts’ Approach as Regards Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements Belgian courts generally adopt a pro-arbitration approach, enforcing arbitration agreements where the parties’ intent to arbitrate is clear. They will refuse to enforce an arbitration agreement only on limited grounds, such as where: • the agreement is invalid or has been terminated; • one or both parties lacked the legal capacity to contract; • the dispute falls outside the legally permissible scope of arbitration (“non-arbitrability”); or • enforcement would contravene public policy (Arti - cles 1682, 1717 and 1721 BJC). Enforcement may also be denied if the arbitration agreement is irreparably pathological or grants one party undue influence over the constitution of the arbi - Article 1690, Section 1 BJC enshrines the principle of separability, according to which the arbitration clause is independent from the main contract. This separa - tion ensures that any defects in the main contract do not affect the arbitration agreement. Consequently, the nullity of the main contract does not automatically invalidate the arbitration agreement. tral tribunal. 3.4 Validity
Although the BJC does not impose specific ethical or disciplinary rules, arbitrators must adhere to the ethical standards of their profession (focusing on independence, impartiality, competence, availability, diligence and confidentiality). In line with this autonomy, the parties can agree on restrictions regarding the arbitrator’s qualifications or nationality (eg, parties to an international contract may require that the sole arbitrator or chair of the arbitral tribunal be of a different nationality than the parties). 4.2 Default Procedures Default Procedure When the Parties’ Chosen Method for Selecting Arbitrators Fails If the procedure agreed upon by the parties fails, any party may request the President of the Court of First Instance to appoint or replace an arbitrator (Article 1685, Section 4 BJC). If the parties have simply not agreed on any procedure for selecting arbitrators, the default rule is that each party will appoint one arbitrator, and the two appoint - ed arbitrators will appoint a third one or the President of the Court of First Instance will appoint the arbitral tribunal, depending on the number of arbitrators to be appointed (Article 1685, Section 3 BJC). The Specific Case of Multiparty Arbitrations The BJC does not provide any specific default proce - dure in the case of multiparty arbitrations. CEPANI and the ICC – ie, the arbitration institutions most commonly relied upon in Belgium – have adopt - ed default rules to ensure party equality in multiparty arbitrations. Where parties on one side cannot jointly nominate an arbitrator, the institution will appoint the entire arbitral tribunal (Article 15, Section 5 CEPANI Arbitration Rules (2026) (the “CEPANI Rules”); Article 13, Section 9 ICC Arbitration Rules (2026) (the “ICC Rules”)). 4.3 Court Intervention Belgian courts may only intervene on a subsidiary basis in the selection of arbitrators if the parties’ agreed procedure fails or no procedure has been set. In such cases, the President of the Court of First Instance may, upon unilateral request, take the nec -
4. The Arbitral Tribunal 4.1 Limits on Selection
Parties are free to determine the procedure for select - ing arbitrators provided that both are treated equally with respect to this selection (Article 1685, Section 2 and Article 1699 BJC). They are also not bound by specific selection criteria as long as the arbitrators are independent, impartial and legally capable of perform - ing legal acts.
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