New Courts for Commercial Disputes Could Foster Investment

If a new law is passed to set up courts specialising in commercial disputes, the resulting streamlining of such cases should give foreign companies greater confidence to invest in Tajikistan, NBCentralAsia analysts say.



A bill to create a permanent court of arbitration was discussed by a government working group in Dushanbe on April 6.



Similar courts, which are part of the civil law system and generally hear commercial cases, now exist in all other post-Soviet states except Turkmenistan. Tajikistan currently has regulations in place allowing courts of arbitration to be set up on a temporary basis to handle specific disputes.



According to deputy Mahmad Rahimov, a member of the working group, the new courts will have powers to review disputes if the parties involved sign an agreement agreeing to submit to arbitration.



Ubaidullo Davlatov, deputy speaker of the lower house of parliament, said legislators were interested in setting up such courts as permanent institutions because commercial disputes currently “pile up in the ordinary courts for years”.



Mukim Mallaev, an expert with the Arbitrazh association and one of the bill’s architects, says the new law will be good for the economy. At the moment, says businessmen often have to choose between going to court or staying in business, since once legal proceedings start, their assets are frozen until a verdict has been brought.



Since there are more and more cases pending in the judicial system, courts of arbitration could ease the load and speed up the process, Mallaev said.



The bill’s architects also want to ensure that arbitration judges are impartial and competent.



“The staff working in these courts should be highly qualified and have a legal background,” said Rahimov.



An expert who works on a European Union project in Tajikistan suggested that making access to arbitration easier could improve the investment climate and encourage inward investment. For that to happen, though, the legislation will need to spell out how foreign companies working with Tajik businesses can use the new courts to resolve commercial disputes.



(News Briefing Central Asia draws comment and analysis from a broad range of political observers across the region.)