KAZAKHSTAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Sergei Vataev, Ilya Kirichenko and Yelena Dvoretskaya-Yussupova, Legit Advocates’ Bureau
1.4 National Courts Kazakhstan does not have specialised state courts responsible exclusively for arbitration-related matters. The ordinary civil courts deal with issues concerning arbitration within their jurisdiction under the Civil Pro - cedure Code and the Law on Arbitration. The courts perform a supportive and supervisory role in arbitration. Their powers include granting interim measures, assisting with the taking of evidence where permitted by law, recognising and enforcing arbitral awards, and considering applications to set aside domestic arbitral awards on the limited grounds pre - scribed by law. The courts are not entitled to review the merits of an arbitral award. A different regime applies to arbitrations seated in the AIFC. Under the AIFC legal framework, the AIFC Court exercises the supervisory jurisdiction conferred by the AIFC Arbitration Regulations, including matters relat - ing to the appointment and challenge of arbitrators, jurisdictional rulings, applications to set aside awards, and the recognition and enforcement of IAC awards. 2. Governing Legislation 2.1 Governing Law Two separate legislative regimes govern international arbitration in Kazakhstan. Arbitrations seated outside the AIFC are governed by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Arbitra - tion” dated 8 April 2016. The Law is largely based on the UNCITRAL Model Law. Still, it contains several jurisdiction-specific provisions, particularly regarding arbitrability, the qualification requirements for arbi - trators, and certain categories of disputes involving public-sector entities. Arbitrations seated in the AIFC are governed by the AIFC Arbitration Regulations 2017, adopted pursuant to the Constitutional Law on the Astana International Financial Centre. The AIFC Arbitration Regulations are based on internationally recognised arbitration princi - ples and apply independently of the national Law on Arbitration.
A notable recent trend is the continued growth of Chi - nese investment and commercial activity in Kazakh - stan. As a result, CIETAC is becoming increasingly relevant for transactions involving Chinese parties, while arbitration clauses referring disputes to other international arbitral institutions are becoming more common in projects involving Chinese investors and contractors. 1.3 Arbitration Institutions In Kazakhstan, arbitration institutions can be broad - ly divided into two types: local arbitration tribunals, which are governed by the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan “On Arbitration”, and the International Arbitration Centre (IAC) of the International Financial Centre of Almaty (AIFC) – which has a completely dif - ferent structure, closely mirroring the spirit of interna - tional arbitration. Among the local arbitration institutions, it is worth noting bodies such as the Kazakhstan International Arbitrage, the International Arbitration Court, the Atameken Arbitration Centre and many others, which have a long-standing reputation for the quality of their decisions and primarily deal with domestic commer - cial and corporate disputes. Special mention must be made of the IAC, which con - tinues to strengthen its position as the leading inter - national arbitral institution operating in Kazakhstan. Its modern procedural framework, international panel of arbitrators and the supervisory jurisdiction of the AIFC Court have contributed to its growing use in cross- border commercial disputes. Despite the significant role played by local arbitration institutions in the domestic arbitration market, large international disputes are still more commonly referred to either the IAC or well-established foreign arbitral institutions. For high-value cross-border disputes, parties from Kazakhstan continue to select institutions such as the ICC, the LCIA, SIAC and the SCC. CIETAC has also become increasingly relevant as Chinese invest - ment and commercial activity in Kazakhstan continue to expand.
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