Lisbon Court of Appeal
Date: 06-02-2014
Case Nr. 866/13.4YRLSB-2
LINK DGSI
Headline:
Parties may challenge the amount of fees and expenses fixed by arbitrators in the state court. However, this right is lost if the parties have shown explicit signs of accepting the fees set by arbitrators in the terms of reference.
Summary:
- In the framework of necessary arbitration, neither can the parties impose upon the arbitrators the amount of their remuneration, nor can the arbitrators impose it to upon the parties. If no agreement on this issue has been reached between the parties and the arbitrators, it shall be for the arbitrators to fix the amount of their fees and expenses. However, the parties retain the option of submitting such a decision for revision by the state court.
2. If, in the terms of reference for the arbitral tribunal, the arbitrators set the amount of the arbitration costs, including their own fees, and subsequently the parties gave explicit signs of acceptance of the values, the parties may not challenge this decision later. They would thus incur the penalty of acting against “factum proprium”.
3. Neither the Voluntary Arbitration Law, nor the Code of Civil Procedure allows for annulment of the arbitrators’ decision which does not expressly state the reasons for the allocation of the costs of arbitration between the parties.
4. If the law is silent, and in the absence of agreement between the parties and the arbitrators, it is accepted that in determining the distribution of arbitration costs the arbitrators must take into consideration the percentage of the winning and the outcome of the award, with modifications to this based on peculiar circumstances that justify deviations from the general rule.
This case summary was kindly prepared by Sameer Thakur (sameerthakur@live.in, NALSAR University of Law), Rishabh Raheja, (rishabharaheja@gmail.com, NALSAR University of Law), and Abhishek Babbar (abhishekbabbar1996@gmail.com).