ANNOUNCEMENT
December 06, 2013
Introduction to KLRCA Fast Track Rules
KLRCA recently launched its Fast Track Arbitration Rules (2nd Edition, 2012).
Sitpah Selvaratnam, chairperson of the KLRCA Working Committee that revised the rules, explained the changes on the day of the launch. her speech below is reproduced with her kind permission.
The landscape of dispute resolution in Malaysia has changed so dramatically over the last three years; with the concerted efforts of the Judiciary, the KLRCA, the Malaysian Bar and the various professional and arbitral institutions in Malaysia. It would have been unimaginable 5 years ago that a litigant would have its claim that is lodged in the Malaysian High Court, fully heard and decided, and appeals exhausted all in a matter of months, as opposed to years. It is the reality of today, although it is very hard work for our Judges and lawyers.
Very much an integral part of this progressive change are the roles played by the Chief Justice of Malaysia, Tan Sri Ariffin Zakaria, and Mr. Sundra Rajoo as Director of KLRCA. Although it is a constant challenge to strive for a proper balance between speed and quality, the stakeholders are by large appreciative of these initiatives.
In 2010, the KLRCA published the revised rules of the KLRCA. By doing so, the KLRCA became the first arbitral institution in the world to adopt the revised UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, paving the way for the implementation of the best practises of arbitration, as framed by international leaders of dispute resolution.
A year later, in August 2011, a maritime working committee was empanelled by the KLRCA to integrate the maritime industry’s needs and expectations into its second set of rules – the Fast Track Rules of 2010 that KLRCA had earlier drafted in collaboration with the MIArb. We were put on a tight leash – to have the revision completed in four months. This we achieved only because the maritime working committee stood on the strong shoulders of the draftsmen of the 1st Edition of the Fast Track Rules, aiming only to inject aspects of dispute resolution which the maritime community desired, that would also benefit all other sectors of business. In a nutshell, the maritime players want speed, quality and decisiveness, at moderate costs. The 2nd Edition of the Rules more particularly caters for this.