FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Marja Norrena, Maija Ahtiainen and Valmari Keskimäki, Lieke Attorneys Ltd
In addition, the Finnish Bar Association offers rules for out-of-court mediation conducted by attorneys- at-law. Another notable ADR institution is the Finnish Forum for Mediation, which promotes mediation by bringing together expertise in the field through com- munication, education and collaboration with other mediation stakeholders.
• if the arbitration award is so obscure or incomplete that it does not indicate how the dispute has been decided; or • if the arbitration award has not been made in writ - ing or signed by the arbitrators. Secondly, an arbitration award may be set aside by the court upon the request of a party if: • the arbitrators have exceeded their authority; • an arbitrator has not been properly appointed; • an arbitrator could have been challenged due to disqualification, but a properly made challenge by a party was not accepted before the arbitration award was issued, or a party became aware of the grounds for a challenge so late that they were unable to challenge the arbitrator before the arbi- tration award was issued; or • the arbitrators had not given a party sufficient opportunity to present their case. An action to set aside the award must be brought within three months of the party receiving a copy of the award. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration In order to enforce an arbitral award, a party must sub- mit an enforcement application to the District Court, including either the original arbitration agreement and award, or certified copies thereof. If these documents are not in Finnish or Swedish, a certified translation is required, unless the court waives this requirement. The party against whom enforcement is sought must be given an opportunity to be heard, unless there is a special reason to the contrary. The court will approve the enforcement application unless one of the excep- tional circumstances outlined in the Arbitration Act applies. The grounds for declining the enforcement of foreign arbitration awards are similar to those set out in the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards.
13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration
In Finland, arbitration proceedings and the enforce- ment of arbitral awards are governed by the Arbitra- tion Act. The integral parts of the Arbitration Act align with the UNCITRAL Model Law. Finland has ratified the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards without any reservations. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration Under the Arbitration Act, any dispute relating to a defined legal relationship in a civil or commercial mat- ter that the parties are legally permitted to settle by mutual agreement may be submitted to arbitration. Exceptions to arbitrability are limited and include pub- lic law matters, such as criminal proceedings, and a narrow category of civil law matters in which the par- ties are not legally permitted to reach a binding set- tlement without court or public authority involvement (certain family law issues, for example). 13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award There are two distinct legal avenues for challenging an arbitral award. Firstly, an award may be declared null and void, in which case it can be challenged without time limit. According to the Arbitration Act, an award is considered null and void: • to the extent that the arbitrators have decided in the award an issue that is incapable of resolution by arbitration; • to the extent that the recognition of the award would be contrary to the public policy of Finland;
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