JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Hiroki Wakabayashi, Kenichi Sadaka and Kei Akagawa, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
13.3 Circumstances to Challenge an Arbitral Award If the arbitration was seated in Japan, the parties may file a petition with a Japanese court to set aside the arbitral award. The petition must be filed within three months from the date on which notice was given through the sending of a copy of the written arbitral award. The grounds for setting aside an arbitral award (Article 44 of the Arbitration Act) are identical in substance to those set forth in Article 34 of the UNCITRAL Model Law. 13.4 Procedure for Enforcing Domestic and Foreign Arbitration Article 46 of the Arbitration Act provides the same mechanism to enforce domestic and foreign arbitral awards. To enforce an arbitral award, the enforcing party must file a petition with a court for an execu- tion order (meaning an order allowing civil execution based on an arbitral award). The court is required to make an execution order unless it finds grounds to refuse enforcement as set forth in Article 45 (2) of the Arbitration Act, which are identical in substance to those set forth in Article 36 of the UNCITRAL Model Law. In addition, under the amendments to the Arbi- tration Act which were made in 2023 in line with the amendment to the UNCITRAL Model Law in 2006 and took effect on 1 April 2024, it has become possible for the court to issue, upon a petition from a party granted an order for interim measures in an arbitration, an enforcement approval order, such as one permit- ting civil enforcement based on the order for interim measures (new Article 47 (1)(6)), unless the court finds grounds to refuse enforcement as set forth in the new Article 47 (7)(8). 14. Outlook 14.1 Proposals for Dispute Resolution Reform Since June 2020, the Legislative Council has been deliberating over a reform of civil procedure utilis- ing information technology. It aims to amend various laws concerning civil procedures to enable e-filing (ie, online court filing), e-case management (ie, online access to the court record) and e-courts (ie, web hear-
international settlement agreements reached through such mediations. 12.3 ADR Institutions As mentioned in 12.1 Views of ADR Within the Coun- try , certain forms of ADR are offered and promoted by industrial associations and those associations are well organised. For international arbitrations, the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association provides standard international arbitration institution services. In November 2018, the Japan International Media- tion Center in Kyoto (JIMC-Kyoto) was established to provide world-class mediation services for various kinds of cross-border disputes between foreign and Japanese parties. The Arbitration Act (Act No 138 of 2003), which was enacted based on the UNCITRAL Model Law (1985), governs how arbitrations are conducted, and the rec- ognition or enforcement of arbitral awards. 13.2 Subject Matters Not Referred to Arbitration An arbitration agreement is enforceable only when the subject thereof is a civil dispute (excluding those related to divorce or dissolution of adoptive relation- ships) that can be settled between the parties (Article 13 (1) of the Arbitration Act). In addition, until other- wise enacted, an arbitration agreement concluded on or after 1 March 2004, the subject of which constitutes individual labour-related disputes that may arise in the future, will be null and void (Article 4 of the supple- mental provisions to the Arbitration Act). Further, an arbitration agreement concluded on or after 1 March 2004, the subject of which constitutes consumer dis- putes that may arise in the future, is effective, but can be cancelled by the consumer and is subject to other regulations (Article 3 of the supplemental provisions to the Arbitration Act). 13. Arbitration 13.1 Laws Regarding the Conduct of Arbitration
535 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook