Annulment of Arbitral Awards Rendered in Albania: Trends and Challenges
摘要
The law no. 52/2023 “On Arbitration in the Republic of Albania”, which regulates domestic and international arbitration seated in Albania, entered into force in 2023, after decades of legal vacuum. The adoption of this law is a very welcome positive step. Firstly, it solves all the problems stemming from the lack of an arbitration law in Albania. Secondly, it comes at a time when the Albanian courts’ backlog is huge, mainly due to judicial reforms. Hence, in these times, the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including arbitration, assumes particular importance for the business community. One of the main problems solved with the entry into force of the arbitration law is the possibility of challenging arbitral awards, which was previously impossible for domestic and international arbitration awards rendered in Albania, due to the lack of an arbitration law. This chapter aims to focus precisely on the novelties brought by the new arbitration law regarding the annulment of arbitral awards rendered in Albania, whether in domestic or international arbitration. Also, although drafted based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, the Albanian arbitration law is not a verbatim adoption. Several differences exist in the provisions regulating the annulment of arbitral awards. For this reason, this chapter will also focus on the challenges related to the implementation of the provisions on the annulment of arbitral awards in Albania. The aims of this chapter are achieved following an analytical and comparative approach.