Overview

INTRODUCTION
On 15 August 2010, the new United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules (the "Rules") came into effect. The new Rules replace the 1976 version of the Rules and are designed to modernise them and bring them into line with modern practice in international arbitration. The new Rules follow a four-year review by the UNCITRAL Working Group II.

APPLICATION OF THE NEW RULES
Under Article 1(2), only arbitration agreements or clauses concluded after 15 August 2010 will be presumed to have agreed to apply the new Rules. The 1976 rules will be presumed to continue to apply to those agreements or clauses which were either entered into before 16 August 2010 or which result from an offer that was made before that date. This means, in practice, that the 1976 Rules will continue to apply and be in use for a significant time to come as future disputes arise from contracts and treaties concluded before 16 August 2010.

RESPONSE TO THE NOTICE OF ARBITRATION
Unlike many other arbitral rules, the 1976 Rules did not provide for a Respondent to file a Response to the Claimant's Notice of Arbitration. This led to the unsatisfactory position that a Respondent might take no steps in the arbitration until the service of its defence. Article 4.1 of the new Rules now requires the Respondent to file a Response.