Independence of an Arbitration Clause from the Main Contract and the Duty of a Court to Examine the Validity of an Arbitration Clause before Issuing a Ruling on a Challenge of Jurisdiction (Appeals Court of Veliko Tarnovo; 23 June 2008)

Resolution of the Appeals Court of Veliko Tarnovo No. 162, Civilian Ref. No. 335/2008, of 23 June 2008 (F.R.EAD vs. A.i.EOOD):

Rationes Decidendi:

An arbitration agreement (arbitration clause) has the nature of a procedural agreement. An arbitration agreement (arbitration clause) is an agreement that differs from an agreement defining property-related obligations between the contracting parties (the main contract).
The validity of an arbitration agreement (arbitration clause) as well as the conditions for its validity are examined independently from the validity of the main contract. An arbitration court must examine the validity of an arbitration agreement before deciding to discontinue proceedings due to
a lack of jurisdiction.

keywords
main contract
nature of arbitration clause
nature of arbitration agreement
sale and purchase agreement
challenge of jurisdiction
independence of arbitration clause
independence of arbitration agreement
validity of the main contract
validity of the arbitration clause
validity of an arbitration agreement
court jurisdiction
procedural agreement
master agreement
separability
discontinuance of proceedings
about the authors

Univ. Professor, Dr.iur., Mgr., Dipl. Ing. oec/MB, Dr.h.c. Lawyer admitted and practising in Prague/CZE (Branch N.J./US), Senior Partner of the Law Offices Bělohlávek, Dept. of Law, Faculty of Economics, Ostrava, CZE, Dept. of Int. and European Law, Faculty of Law, Masaryk University, Brno, CZE (visiting), Chairman of the Commission on Arbitration ICC National Committee CZE, Arbitrator in Prague, Vienna, Kiev etc. Member of ASA, DIS, Austrian Arb. Association. The President of the WJA – the World Jurist Association, Washington D.C./USA.

e-mail: office@ablegal.cz