ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

152 NEWSLETTER 2018 be challenged, the award may be annulled, or the enforcement of the award may be rejected. Within this context, the Turkish Court of Appeal emphasizes the requirement of the specific authorization of agents to conclude an arbitration agreement, and renders arbitration agreements signed by agents who lack specific authority null and void. In some cases, the Court of Appeal attaches the specific authority rule to the public order. Notwithstanding this consideration, in other cases, the Court of Ap- peal rejects claims for nullity raised from lacking specific authority, by ruling that these claims were not made in good faith. It must be noted that the mentioned regulations are related to vol- untarily appointed agents, but not to the representatives of legal entities. Hence, the persons acting as the representative body of a company are not required to have specific authority in order to conclude an arbitration agreement on behalf of the legal entity that it is representing. However, if the stated company is represented by voluntarily appointed agents, who are appointed by the representative body of the legal entity, then the voluntarily appointed agents will be required to have specific authority. Regarding commercial auxiliaries, commercial representatives who act as the alter ego of the merchant are not required to have specific author- ity, while the remaining auxiliaries are so required in order to conclude an arbitration agreement on behalf of the merchant. In parallel with Turkish law, the third subparagraph of Article 396 of the Swiss Code of Obligations, Article 1989 of the French Civil Code, Article 1989 of the Belgian Civil Code, Article 1008 of the Austrian Civil Code, Article 702 of the Egyptian Civil Code, Article 1713 of the Spanish Civil Code, and the Law of Hong Kong, require agents to have specific authority in order to conclude an arbitration agreement on behalf of the principal. Contrary to the provisions of the listed states, Italian, British, German, Swedish, American and Dutch laws do not require such specific authority. Form Requirements for Specific Authorization to Conclude an Arbitration Agreement The method of authorization of the agent to act on behalf of the principal must also be examined. One may ask whether the validity