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    Announcement of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration on Amending the Arbitration Rules

    Announcement of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration on Amending the Arbitration Rules

    In order to efficiently and conveniently advance the arbitration procedure, safe guard the parties’ procedural rights, and improve the parties’ experience of participating in arbitration by virtue of information technology, the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) has made amendments to certain clauses of Arbitration Rules. These amendments were deliberated and approved on August 14, 2020 at the 14th meeting of the Second Council of SCIA, and shall be effective as from October 1, 2020.


    It is hereby notified.

    Annex: Amendments to the SCIA Arbitration Rules


    Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration

    September 25, 2020



    Amendments to the SCIA Arbitration Rules


    (Adopted at the Fourteenth Meeting of the Second Council of Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration on August 14, 2020)

    1. Article 6(5) of the SCIA Arbitration Rules is amended as follows: “Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the SCIA or the arbitral tribunal may permit a party to directly send arbitral documents and evidentiary materials to the other party at the same time as the submission thereof to the SCIA or the arbitral tribunal, or to send them directly to the online arbitration platform of the SCIA, and then submit the record of delivery to the SCIA. The time of delivery will be determined by the SCIA or the arbitral tribunal according to the record of delivery.”

    2. Article 10(2) of the SCIA Arbitration Rules is amended as follows: “An objection to jurisdiction shall be raised in writing before the first oral hearing. Where a case is to be decided on the basis of documents only, such objection shall be raised in writing before the expiry of the time-limit for the submission of the first defence or within ten (10) days from the date of receipt of the notice for a document-based hearing. If a party fails to raise such objection, it shall be deemed to have agreed to the jurisdiction of the SCIA.”

    3. Article 23 of the SCIA Arbitration Rules is amended as follows:“Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the SCIA or the arbitral tribunal may require the parties to submit the Request for Arbitration, the Statement of Defence, the Statement of Counterclaim, the evidentiary documents, and other written documents through electronic means and/or as a hard copy.”

    4. Article 67 of the SCIA Arbitration Rules is amended as follows: “Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the SCIA or the arbitral tribunal may decide to conduct all or part of the arbitral proceedings by virtue of information technology, including but not limited to online registration, service, oral hearing, and examination of evidence.”

    5. In the SCIA Arbitration Rules for Financial Loan Disputes, the following provision will be inserted as a new article after Article 5: “The arbitral tribunal may conduct the arbitration in the manner it considers appropriate. The arbitral tribunal may decide whether to conduct the arbitration solely on the basis of the written materials and evidence submitted by the parties or to hold an oral hearing.”

    These Amendments shall be effective as from October 1, 2020.

    The articles in the SCIA Arbitration Rules and the SCIA Arbitration Rules for Financial Loan Disputes shall be amended or renumbered accordingly.