Coronavirus: The impact on international arbitration

In the context of the international public health emergency caused by the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many countries have introduced measures to contain the disease and these measures have impacted the movement of people and goods. They have also led to closures of public and private services. These measures have affected arbitral proceedings that are pending or just starting.

International arbitrations with connections to more than one country are facing problems that must be mitigated. To this end, the countries, arbitration institutions, arbitral tribunals, and lawyers have created a range of mechanisms.

First, procedural time limits have been suspended during the state of emergency and procedural acts have been postponed. Second, we have the use of electronic means to do procedural acts and, in this respect, various arbitration institutions have played an important role in supporting the parties and the arbitral tribunals.