SLOVENIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Vesna Cukrov and Veronika Cukrov, Law Firm Cukrov (Odvetniška družba Cukrov o.p., d.o.o.)
edy falls within the scope of the parties’ arbitration agreement and the tribunal’s jurisdiction. The arbitral tribunal may grant the types of relief that the parties could otherwise obtain through court proceedings, including: • monetary compensation; • declaratory relief; • specific performance; and • where appropriate, interim or injunctive measures. However, arbitral tribunals are limited by mandatory rules of Slovenian law and public policy. An arbitral award may not grant relief that would be contrary to mandatory legal provisions, fundamental principles of the Slovenian legal order or rights that are not capable of being freely disposed of by the parties. Punitive damages are generally not available under Slovenian law, as damages are primarily compensatory in nature. An arbitral tribunal seated in Slovenia would there - fore generally not be able to award punitive damages unless such an award were compatible with the appli - cable substantive law and public policy. 10.3 Recovering Interest and Legal Costs Under Slovenian law, parties may generally recover interest and legal costs in arbitral proceedings. The arbitral tribunal has the authority to decide on the allo - cation of costs, including arbitration fees, expenses of the tribunal and reasonable legal costs incurred by the parties, unless the parties have agreed otherwise. As regards interest, an arbitral tribunal may award statutory default interest or contractual interest where such entitlement exists under the applicable substan - tive law. The tribunal may also determine the period for which interest is payable, provided that the award is consistent with the applicable law and the parties’ claims. With respect to costs, Slovenian arbitration practice generally follows the principle that costs follow the event, meaning that the unsuccessful party is usu - ally ordered to reimburse the successful party for its reasonable costs. However, the arbitral tribunal has discretion to allocate costs differently where the cir - cumstances of the case justify such an approach, for example where both parties have been partially suc -
cessful or where the parties’ conduct during the pro - ceedings warrants a different allocation. Although the prevailing party is generally entitled to reimbursement of legal costs, the costs of arbitration are frequently significantly higher than those of litiga - tion. Costs before the LAC depend primarily on the value of the dispute, the number of arbitrators and the type of proceedings; an indicative calculator on the LAC website shows, for a three-member tribunal with EUR10 million in dispute, an indicative cost of EUR163,750 plus VAT, while costs above EUR50 mil - lion are determined by the Presidency on a case-by- case basis. A similar “costs follow the event” logic applies where Republic of Slovenia is the respondent in investment treaty arbitration, although costs are allocated pur - suant to the applicable institutional rules rather than Slovenian law or LAC fee scales. In Ascent Resources Plc and Ascent Slovenia Ltd v Republic of Slovenia , the tribunal unanimously dismissed the EUR598.7 million claim for alleged indirect expropriation and related treaty breaches, and ordered the claimants to reimburse Republic of Slovenia approximately EUR3 million in legal representation costs, while the costs of the arbitration proceedings themselves were shared equally between the parties. Under Slovenian law, parties generally do not have a right to appeal an arbitral award on the merits. An arbitral award is final and binding on the parties, and the Slovenian Arbitration Act does not provide for a regular appeal procedure against arbitral awards. The available remedy is an action for setting aside the arbitral award before the competent court. Such an action may only be brought on limited grounds speci - fied in the Arbitration Act, which largely correspond to the grounds provided under the UNCITRAL Model Law. 11. Review of an Award 11.1 Grounds for Appeal The court’s review is limited and does not extend to a reconsideration of the merits of the dispute or the
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