Fast Track Arbitration in the Nordics: Where Do We Go from Here?

Abstract

All the Nordic countries have their own well-established arbitral institutions. The SCC, DIA, FAI and OCC all offer fast track arbitration, as do many commonly used institutes outside the Nordics, such as the ICC, SIAC, CIETAC, SCAI and DIS. UNCITRAL’s Working Group II has since its 69th session in February 2019 had expedited arbitration as one of its main topics for discussion. The Nordic Offshore and Maritime Arbitration Association (NOMA) is working on its own rules on fast track arbitration. Bespoke fast track rules are readily available and provide robust, costeffective alternatives to full-scale arbitration. Still, the use of fast track arbitration continues to be rather limited in the Nordics, generally speaking.
This chapter seeks to explore what characterizes fast track arbitration in the Nordics, why we need fast track arbitration and attempts to explain why fast track arbitration is not used more frequently. Finally, some thoughts are given as to what may make this – in the author’s view – often highly adequate form of dispute resolution more recognized and thus more used.