NEWSLETTER-2017

143 ARBITRATION LAW Current Issues in Expedited Procedures in Arbitration* Prof. Dr. H. Ercument Erdem As a current practice, expedited procedure rules have been in- troduced as a remedy against the rising time and costs of arbitration proceedings, in principle, to be applied if the amount in dispute does not exceed a certain threshold. International arbitration aims to re- solve disputes in a timely and cost-efficient manner, which would be achieved through a special procedure to be applied in order to ensure this efficiency. Current issues in expedited procedures, which are found under various institutional arbitration rules, shall be analyzed in this news- letter article. Expedited Procedures under Institutional Arbitration Rules A brief review of institutional arbitration rules reveals that expe- dited procedures may be found under many institutional arbitration rules. A very recent example is the International Chamber of Com- merce (“ICC”) Arbitration Rules, which adopted expedited procedure rules to be effective as of March, 2017. Some institutional rules provide an opt-out system, which sets forth expedited procedures for claims under a certain threshold. The opt-out system requires that the parties who desire that the expedited procedure rules shall not be applied to them shall exclude them. The ICC, the Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution (SCAI), the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC) and the Singapore International Arbitration Center (SIAC) are among the institutions that provide an opt-out system. Additionally, the Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC) is also among these institutions. The ISTAC provides separate Fast Track Arbitration Rules, to be would be applied in dis- * Article of November 2017