The parties have to agree in writing to submit a specific dispute to the Court in order for the submission to be valid. This so-called arbitration agreement can take the form of a clause included in a contract – or in the by-laws of a company – or of an independent agreement.
In order to guarantee valid submission to the Spanish Court of Arbitration, it is recommended that contracts include the following model arbitration clause:
“Any dispute arising from this contract or which relates to it, including any question relating to its existence, validity, interpretation, performance or termination, shall be subject to the decision of [one arbitrator / three arbitrators], with the administration of the arbitration and the appointment of the arbitrators to be referred to the Spanish Court of Arbitration, in accordance with its Bylaws and Rules in force at the date when the request for arbitration is filed. The arbitration shall be in law. The language of the arbitration shall be [specify language]. The place of the arbitration shall be [city]”.
In addition, the following model article is recommended for inclusion in the corporate bylaws:
“All disputes of a corporate nature that affect the company, its shareholders and/or its managers (including by way of example challenges to corporate resolutions, corporate and individual liability actions against management, and disputes relating to meetings of corporate bodies) shall be subject to the decision of [one arbitrator / three arbitrators], with the administration of the arbitration and the appointment of the arbitrators to be referred to the Spanish Court of Arbitration in accordance with its Bylaws and Rules in force at the date when the request for arbitration is filed. The arbitration shall be in law. The language of the arbitration shall be [specify language]. The place of the arbitration shall be [city]”.
