Rules of Conciliation Procedure

RULES OF CONCILIATION PROCEDURE

of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

approved with the decision of the Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 16.11.2017

 

ARTICLE I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

  1. The Rules of Conciliation Procedure (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Rules’) of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (hereinafter referred to as the “ECCI”) shall be applicable for the conciliation procedure carried out by the ECCI. Activities carried out by the ECCI shall be conducted by the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI and the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI.
  2. The Rules allow a Party choosing or the ECCI to appoint a neutral third person (hereinafter the “Conciliator”) who would help the Parties to settle a dispute between them. If the Parties are unable or do not wish to elect the Conciliator, the ECCI shall appoint a Conciliator for the Parties.
  3. Conciliation under these Rules shall be applicable when the Parties have so agreed before or after electing or appointing the Conciliator.
     

ARTICLE II

INITIATING THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE

  1. If the Parties have agreed to settle disputes between them according to the Rules, a Party or the Parties that wish to initiate the conciliation procedure shall send the respective written notice on initiating the conciliation procedure (hereinafter referred to as the “notice”) to the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI containing the following information:
     a) Names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and other contact data of the Parties to the dispute and if necessary, of the persons representing them;
     b) Description of the dispute, including, if possible its value expressed as a number;
     c) Agreement between the Parties or a proposal of the Parties regarding the time limits of conciliation;
     d) Agreement of the Parties or a proposal of the Parties regarding the language of conciliation;
     e) Agreement of the Parties regarding the location of conciliation, or if not applicable, proposal regarding the location of conciliation;
     f) Name of the conciliator elected jointly by the Parties, or agreement between the Parties regarding electing the conciliator or agreement on the requirements for the conciliator based on which they request that the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI would appoint the conciliator, or in case of absence of any such agreement, proposals regarding the requirements for the conciliator;
     g) Document verifying payment of the registration tax.
    2. Should there be no agreement between the Parties regarding the implementation of the Rules, the Party that requests settlement of dispute based on the Rules, may submit the respective proposal to the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI by sending in writing the information listed in Article 2 (1) a), b), f) and g).
    3. Upon receiving the respective proposal, the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall inform the other Party or other Parties of the respective proposal and shall give the other Party a reasonable term for responding if the Party agrees to participate in the reconciliation procedure. Upon agreeing with the conciliation procedure, the Party may make a proposal regarding electing a conciliator, or if not applicable, regarding the requirements for the conciliator based on which they request appointing of the conciliator by the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI.
    4. The time of initiating the conciliation procedure shall be the date of receipt at the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI of the notice on initiating the conciliation procedure or proposal to initiate the conciliation procedure.
    5. In the event of refusal to agree with the conciliation procedure or failure to respond in due time, it shall be considered that the proposal for the conciliation procedure has been rejected and the conciliation procedure has not been initiated and the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall immediately inform the Party who requested settlement of the dispute based on the Rules.
     

ARTICLE III

ELECTING A CONCILIATOR

  1. The Parties may together elect a Conciliator who will be approved by the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI.
  2. If the Parties have not elected a Conciliator, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall grant the Parties a term for electing a Conciliator. If the Parties fail to elect a Conciliator by the established deadline, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall appoint the Conciliator.
  3. The Conciliator may be elected or appointed only with the consent of the Conciliator. The Conciliator candidate must confirm their consent and impartiality by submitting the Conciliator’s impartiality declaration to the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI by the established date. If the Conciliator candidate fails to submit the Conciliator’s impartiality declaration by due date, the Council of the Court of Arbitration shall have the right to refuse to confirm the Conciliator and appoint a new Conciliator.
  4. The Conciliator shall disclose in the Conciliator’s impartiality declaration any and all circumstances that may place in doubt the Conciliator’s impartiality and independence. If the Conciliator candidate presents any such circumstances, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall send the respective information to the Parties and grant a term for the Parties for responding.
  5. Upon confirmation or appointing of the Conciliator, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall consider the personal characteristics of the potential Conciliator, including but not limited to language skills, qualifications and experience as well as the timing opportunities of the potential Conciliator and their readiness to carry out the conciliation procedure according to the Rules.
  6. The Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall do their utmost in order to appoint a Conciliator according to the requirements agreed by the Parties. If a Party submits an objection to the Parties and the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI with regards to the person of the Conciliator appointed by the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI, then the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall appoint a new Conciliator within a reasonable time from the submission of the objection. If a Party submits an objection to the Parties and Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI, against the new Conciliator appointed by the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI, then the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall appoint a new Conciliator within a reasonable time from the submission of the objection and such decision shall be final.
  7. Before the electing or appointing, the Conciliator candidate shall sign a confirmation on the acceptance of the conciliation procedure, suitability of time schedule, impartiality and independence, and confirm that they have time to deal with the conciliation procedure.
  8. Upon an agreement between the Parties, the Parties may elect more than one Conciliator or request that the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI appoint more than one Conciliator according to the Rules.
  9. The Parties may elect a Conciliator from the list of arbitrators of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI. A Conciliator cannot be an arbitrator who has been an arbitrator in a dispute where are least one party was a Party to the conciliation procedure.
     

ARTICLE IV

REGISTRATION FEE, CONCILIATION FEE AND COSTS OF THE PARTIES

  1. The Party or Parties who have submitted the notice of initiating the conciliation procedure or the Party who has made the proposal to initiate the conciliation procedure shall pay the registration fee to the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI. The registration fee shall not be refunded.
  2. After receiving the notice on initiating the conciliation procedure, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI, based on the rates set out in the guidelines attached as an annex to the Rules, shall propose to the Parties payment of the conciliation fee in equal parts by the date set out by the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI, unless a Party has expressed their will to pay the entire conciliation fee.
  3. If one of the Parties fails to pay their share of the conciliation fee, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall propose the other Party to pay the entire sum of the conciliation fee. Upon failure to pay the conciliation fee, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall not review the notice on initiating the conciliation procedure and return the notice to the Party or Parties who submitted the notice.
  4. If the conciliation procedure proves to be more expensive than initially estimated, or due to presenting of additional circumstances during the course of the conciliation procedure it us discovered that the conciliation fee has been established based on incomplete data or if a party adds additional legal relations to the conciliation procedure after the conciliation procedure has been initiated by the Conciliator, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI shall make a proposal to the Parties, based on the request from the Conciliator, to pay additional conciliation fee.
  5. The fee of the Conciliator shall be 75% of the conciliation fee and 25% of the conciliation fee shall cover the activity costs of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI. If there is more than one Conciliator, the Conciliator’s fee shall be distributed equally between them, unless the Conciliators agree otherwise. 
  6. The detailed procedure for the payment of the conciliation fee and Conciliator’s fee from it is established in the guidelines that form an annex to the Rules. Other costs of the Parties related to the conciliation procedure shall be covered by the Parties, unless they agree otherwise.
     

ARTICLE V

CARRYING OUT THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURE

  1. The Conciliator and the Parties shall immediately discuss the procedure for carrying out the conciliation procedure and agree on the procedure for carrying out the conciliation procedure. If no agreement is reached, the Conciliator shall apply the generally recognised principles of the conciliation proceeding and shall carry the procedure out in a manner that they deem necessary. Upon carrying out the conciliation procedure, the Conciliator shall be guided by the wishes of the Parties and shall treat them fairly and impartially.
  2. The location and language of the conciliation procedure shall be established by an agreement between the Parties. If no agreement is reached between the Parties, the Conciliator shall establish the location and language of the conciliation procedure.
  3. The Conciliator shall give the other Party a term for submitting their response in which they must present their opinion regarding the claims and potential conciliation proposal contained in the notice on initiating the conciliation procedure or proposal of conciliation procedure.
  4. The Conciliator shall send the response to the Party who has requested initiating the conciliation procedure and shall give them a term for notifying if they agree with the conciliation proposal of the other Party.
  5. Upon a request from a Party, the Conciliator may request an expertise from an expert of the field in order to establish the circumstances of the dispute by asking from the Parties their opinion on requesting the expertise. The costs of the expertise shall be paid before commissioning the expertise to the bank account of the ECCI by the Party who requests commissioning of the expertise.
  6. If the Parties fail to reach an agreement, the Conciliator may organise a conciliation meeting to conciliate the Parties, delivering invitations to the Parties. The conciliation meeting shall be chaired by the Conciliator that hears the claims of the Parties and if necessary, experts of the field.
  7. If the Parties fail to reach an agreement at the conciliation meeting, the Conciliator may submit a conciliation proposal to the Parties, if in his or her opinion, it is reasonable, considering the circumstances of the dispute.
  8. The Parties shall have the right to submit to the Conciliator their opinion that expresses agreement or refusal during the term from the receipt of the conciliation proposal set out by the Conciliator. Failure to submit the opinion shall be considered as refusal to agree with the proposal.
  9. If the Parties agree with the conciliation proposal, the Conciliator shall approve the agreement.
  10. The Parties shall be obliged to act in good faith during the conciliation procedure.
     

ARTICLE VI

TERMINATION OF THE PROCEDURE

  1. The conciliation procedure shall be terminated by the Conciliator with its decision upon earliest occurrence of any of the following circumstances, informing the Parties and the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI thereof:
     a) signing of the agreement of the settlement of the dispute by the Parties and its approval by the Conciliator or;
     b) a Party’s expression of wish to the Conciliator to terminate the conciliation procedure or;
     c) the Parties have not expressed their agreement with the conciliation proposal by the term set out by the Conciliator.
  2. The agreement approved by the Conciliator shall be obligatory for performance for the Parties and it shall be performed within 30 days from its delivery to a Party. In case of failure to perform the agreement, a Party shall have the right to file an application to the court in order to have the agreement concluded through the Conciliator declared as executable according to the law. With declaring the agreement executable, it shall be considered as execution document.
  3. If an agreement is not reached upon the termination of the conciliation procedure, a Party shall have the right to protect their interests by turning to the court or court of arbitration.

 

ARTICLE VII

CONFIDENTIALITY

  1. Unless agreed differently by the Parties, the conciliation procedure shall be confidential, including the fact of conducting the conciliation procedure and the agreement between the Parties on the settlement of the dispute shall be considered confidential. The Parties, the Conciliator and the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI may disclose the circumstances related to the conciliation procedure and the agreement between the Parties only with a written consent of both Parties. A Party shall have the right to disclose the circumstances of the conciliation procedure to the extent in which it is unavoidably necessary for declaring the agreement between the Parties as performable or in execution proceedings.
  2. Unless agreed differently between the Parties, neither of the Parties shall disclose or request disclosing of any of the following in any of the judicial or arbitration proceedings or any other formal procedure:
     a) documents, applications or certificates reflecting dissemination of information that the other Party or Conciliator have submitted in the procedure or for the procedure, except in case if the Party that wishes to submit them in judicial proceedings, arbitration proceedings or any other formal procedure is able to obtain them independently, i.e. beyond the conciliation procedure; or
     b) any other opinions or proposals that the Party or Conciliator have submitted in during the procedure regarding the dispute or its potential solutions; or
     c) any acceptation of the other Party that has taken place during the procedure; or
     d) a circumstance that any of the Parties referred to their readiness to accept the proposed settlement proposal during the course of the procedure.

 

ARTICLE VIII

FINAL PROVISIONS

  1. Unless agreed differently by the Parties, the Conciliator shall be obliged to recuse themselves from the conciliation procedure if the application of a Party reveals that they have participated as a judge, arbitrator, expert, representative of or council to a Party in judicial proceedings, arbitration proceedings or any other formal procedure related to the dispute initiated based on the Rules, or there is any other circumstance that gives reason to doubt in the impartiality of the Conciliator. If the Conciliator refuses to recuse, a Party may submit a request for recusing the Conciliator to the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI. The request to recuse the Conciliator shall be settled by the council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI that shell decide recusing of the Conciliator within reasonable time. 
  2. Unless required differently by the applicable law, or unless the Parties and the Conciliator agree differently in writing, the Conciliator may not be questioned as a witness in any judicial proceedings, arbitration proceedings or any other formal procedure concerning any of the circumstances of the conciliation procedure initiated based on the Rules.
  3. The Conciliator, the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI and its employees and representatives shall not be responsible for any person for any action or inaction that is related to the conciliation procedure, except to the extent in which such limitation to the liability is in contradiction with the applicable law.
  1. In all issues unregulated by the Rules, the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI and the Conciliator shall rely on the applicable laws and the meaning and goal of the Rules.

    Annex to the Rules of the Conciliation Procedure
    Approved with the decision of the Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 16.11.2017

Guidelines For The Payment Of The Conciliation Fee

  1. The fee for the conciliation procedure shall consist of the registration fee and conciliation fee. The amount of the registration fee for the conciliation procedure shall be 250 euros.
  2. The amount of the conciliation fee shall depend on the cost of the dispute (monetary value of the circumstance under dispute / value of the disputed object).
  3. The conciliation fee shall be established based on the following
Cost of the dispute in euros      Amount of the conciliation fee
 0 – 5,000 euros 400.- euros
5,001 – 10,000 euros        600.- euros
10,001 – 15,000 euros 800.- euros
15,001 – 20,000 euros 1000.- euros
20,001 – 30,000 euros 1200.- euros
30,001 – 50,000 euros 1500.- euros
Over 50,001 euro  2000.- euros

 

4. If the monetary value of a dispute cannot be set out, the amount of the conciliation fee shall be 1,000 euros.
5. The conciliation fee shall be assigned by the Council of the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI. The conciliation fee shall not include the value added tax.
6. The conciliation fee shall be paid to the bank account of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
7. If a Party waives the conciliation proceeding after the payment of the conciliation fee, but before the conciliation procedure is carried out by the Conciliator, 90% of the conciliation fee paid shall be refunded to a Party. The registration fee shall not be refunded.
8.If the conciliation procedure has been started by the Conciliator, the conciliation fee paid shall not be refunded upon withdrawal of a Party or termination of the procedure.
9. The fee is paid to the Conciliator within 30 days from the submission of information by the Conciliator to the Court of Arbitration of the ECCI regarding the termination of the procedure.

0