Malawi - International Arbitration Bill 2023
Country
Year
2023
Summary
MEMORANDUM
This Bill seeks to make provision for a new legislative framework for the regulation of international commercial arbitration in Malawi. It aims at modernizing the international commercial arbitration law of Malawi to be in line with worldwide standards by, among other things, domesticating the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, as adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL Model Law). The Bill further intends to give effect to the obligations of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 1958 (the New York Convention), which Malawi acceded to on the 4th of March, 2021 and became effective on the 2nd of June, 2021.
The Bill, among other things, makes provision for__
(a) facilitation of alternative peaceful dispute resolution through mediation and arbitration, in line with section 13(l) of the Constitution;
(b) a new legal environment that will be conducive for the establishment and operations of international arbitration centres in Malawi;
(c) international commercial arbitration based on the Convention on the UNCITRAL Model Law;
(d) giving effect to the obligations of Malawi following its accession to the New York Convention; and
(e) recognition of the specific reservations made by the Republic of Malawi to the New York Convention.
In sum, the Bill once enacted will go a long way in making Malawi an attractive seat for the resolution of international and regional commercial disputes.