International Construction Law Review
A NEW VENUE FOR INTERNATIONAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION: THE PARIS INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL CHAMBERS AND BESPOKE PROCEDURAL RULES
Anne-Sophie Goapper
Aliénor Avocats, Paris (annesophie.goapper@alienoravocats.com)
On 1 March 2018, the Protocols on Procedural Rules applicable to the International Chamber of the Paris Commercial Court and to the newly created International Chamber of the Court of Appeal of Paris came into force providing notably for the possibility to use the English language to a significant extent during the proceedings and to third parties’ examination in relation to transnational commercial disputes.
Although French procedural rules for the taking of evidence combined in the Protocols might not appear highly innovative from an international perspective, their application before the International Commercial Chambers in Paris may constitute an attractive alternative for international litigants to arbitration, other European Union and foreign international commercial jurisdictions.
FOREWORD
The premises of international dispute resolution before the French Courts dates back to 1995 with the creation of a division specialised in international law within the Paris Commercial Court (merged with the European Union Law Chamber in 2015). The International Chamber of the Paris Commercial Court was later relaunched on 17 January 2011 with the ability of the International Chamber to accept, subject to parties’ agreement, the production of exhibits in a foreign language (notably English, German or Spanish).
Years later and prompted by the decision of the United Kingdom to withdraw from the European Union (“EU”), the French Minister of Justice invited on 7 March 2017 the Haut Comité Juridique de la Place Financière de Paris under the supervision of his president Mr Guy Canivet1 (“HCJP” – Legal High Committee for Financial Markets of Paris) to issue recommendations
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