Written by: Carolina Posada and Maria Alejandra Arboleda, on 12 October 2012
The new Colombian law on domestic and international arbitration – Law 1563/2012 (the ‘Arbitration Statute’ or the ‘Statute’) – entered into force.
This Arbitration Statute is very timely, as previously Colombian statutory provisions regarding arbitration were spread among different legal instruments that only dealt with international arbitration tangentially. In fact, the only law in effect specifically governing international arbitration was Law 315/96, which addressed but three elements of this unique procedure:
• The criteria to determine when an arbitration is international;
• The determination of the law applicable in international arbitrations; and
• The concept of a foreign award.
The need for a comprehensive legal regime governing international arbitration, based on the UNCITRAL model Law (the ‘Model Law’), was pressing.