NEW RULES FOR FAST TRACK ARBITRATION IN FINLAND

by Patrik Lindfors*

Nordic Journal of Commercial Law

issue 2004 #2



Nordic Journal of Commercial Law issue 2004 #2

2

In a new effort to boost the steadily growing popularity of arbitration as a dispute resolution
mechanism in Finland, the Arbitration Institute of the Central Chamber of Commerce of Finland
has published rules for fast track arbitration in Finland. The Rules for Expedited Arbitration were
adopted in April 2004 and they came into force on 1 June 2004. 

The approaches adopted in the new rules correspond largely to the more established fast track
arbitration rules in Europe. From a practitioner’s viewpoint the new institutional fast track rules
are a welcomed development and are likely to further increase the attractiveness of arbitration as
an alternative to litigation in Finland. 

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The fast track rules will be used only if expressly agreed upon by the parties and may be applied to
both national and international commercial arbitrations. Unlike some other international rules,
the Finnish fast track rules do not include any limits on the value or complexity of the cases or any
automatic mechanism submitting small cases referred to the Arbitration Institute automatically to
expedited arbitration. Unless otherwise agreed upon by the parties, the Arbitration Institute of
Central Chamber of Commerce appoints the sole arbitrator of the case.

The rules set out in detail the procedure of the arbitration. The parties are entitled to submit at
most one written pleading besides the claim and the counterclaim, although the arbitrator has
discretion to decide otherwise. All written pleadings must be brief and their time limit is fixed to
fourteen days. An oral hearing will be held only if a party so requests and the arbitrator considers
it necessary. The award does not have to state reasons unless a party so requests.

The normal arbitration rules of the Arbitration Institute require that the award shall be rendered
within one year after the Arbitration Institute has sent the file in the case to the arbitral tribunal.
According to the statistics released for 2003, the median duration of the proceedings was roughly
nine months. In the rules for fast track arbitration this time limit has been fixed to three months,
which the Arbitration Institute may extend by another three months at the most. 

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Since the approaches adopted in the new Finnish rules correspond largely to those of the other
European fast track rules, the problems that are likely to arise are also similar. Fast track
arbitration is naturally not always suitable for cases involving complex issues or large amounts of
conflicting evidence. When these types of cases are referred to fast track arbitration, the situation
is difficult both to the arbitrator and to the parties. Therefore, parties should consider carefully
before including fast track arbitration clauses in complex commercial agreements since in practice
it is usually difficult for the parties to agree upon procedural issues once a dispute between them
has already actualised.   

Although, it is a widely accepted principle in the Finnish law that the parties are free to agree
upon the procedural rules and waive any procedural rights, it remains to be seen whether fast



Nordic Journal of Commercial Law issue 2004 #2

3

* Partner, Hannes Snellman Attorneys at Law Ltd

track arbitration will give rise to arguments that the strict time limits or other restrictions to the
parties’ possibility to present their cases are in conflict with the fundamental due process
requirements.

As the new rules have only been in force since 1 June 2004, it is somewhat premature to evaluate
how widespread the use of the new rules will be. As of December 2004, no applications regarding
expedited arbitration have been submitted to the Arbitration Institute. In Sweden similar fast
track rules have been adopted enthusiastically. According to the statistics of the Arbitration
Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce for 2003, the fast track rules were used in
more than 30 % of the cases. Therefore, it seems likely that fast track arbitration will in due time
also gain popularity in Finland.

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Model arbitration clauses, information about the Arbitration Institute and the Rules for
Expedited Arbitration are available at the Arbitration Institute’s web site, www.arbitration.fi.1

(Endnotes)