The Lebanese Arbitration and Mediation Center (the “LAMC”) of the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture is an arbitral institution located in Beirut, Lebanon, “that provides administration and monitoring services for arbitration and mediation proceedings in Lebanon. It caters [to] the local and international business communities, private and public institutions and the government.”[1] The Lebanese Arbitration Center was founded in 1995, while the mediation component was added in 2012.
The structure of the LAMC is similar to that of the International Chamber of Commerce in that it includes a Secretariat, which is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Center and the administration of all disputes referred to the LAMC, and a Court of Arbitration, which supervises arbitral proceedings and ensures the proper application of the LAMC Rules of Arbitration.
The LAMC Court of Arbitration comprises five members, including a President and Vice-President, and decides procedural issues such as the confirmation of nominated arbitrators, the challenge of arbitrators, consolidation of arbitrations, and the fees of arbitral tribunals.
The LAMC also includes a Board of Trustees, which is composed of experts in the field of international arbitration and business, and which carries out functions such as the approval of general policies of the Center and amendments to the Rules of Arbitration, issuing by-laws of the Court of Arbitration, and appointing the Secretary-General of the Secretariat.
This year, the LAMC released an updated version of the LAMC Arbitration Rules (the “2024 LAMC Rules”), which define and regulate the management of cases received by the Court of Arbitration as of that date. The 2024 LAMC Rules entered into force on 1 July 2024.
The 2024 LAMC Rules replaced and significantly expanded on the 1995 LAMC Rules, adapting LAMC arbitration to align with the needs and practices of modern arbitration. This note will examine some key provisions and updates of the 2024 LAMC Rules.
Procedures for Complex Disputes
One of the most significant advancements of the 2024 LAMC Rules is that they now cater to the complexities of arbitrations involving multiple parties and multiple contracts, as is often the case in construction and infrastructure disputes, which are common in the Middle East.
Article 11(1) regulates the appointment of arbitrators in cases involving multiple parties as Claimants or Respondents who have not agreed to another method of appointment, providing for joint nomination or, if joint nomination fails, appointment by the Court of Arbitration. This Article also gives the Court, notwithstanding any agreement by the parties on the method of constitution of the arbitral tribunal and in exceptional circumstances, power to appoint each member of the tribunal to avoid a significant risk of unequal treatment and unfairness amongst the parties that may affect the validity of the award:[2]
Multiple Parties
a) Where three arbitrators are to be appointed and there are multiple parties as Claimants or as Respondents, unless the parties have agreed to another method of appointment of arbitrators, the multiple Claimants, jointly, and the multiple Respondents, jointly, shall nominate an arbitrator for confirmation pursuant to Article 10(5) of these Rules. Such nomination shall occur within the time limits provided for in Article 10(2) of these Rules.
b) The parties may agree that the arbitral tribunal is to be composed of a number of arbitrators other than one or three. In such a case the arbitrators shall be appointed according to the method agreed upon by the parties.
c) In the event of any failure to constitute the arbitral tribunal under this Article, the Court of Arbitration shall constitute the arbitral tribunal, and in doing so, may revoke any nomination or appointment already made, and appoint or reappoint each of the arbitrators and designate one of them as the presiding arbitrator.
d) Notwithstanding any agreement by the parties on the method of constitution of the arbitral tribunal, in exceptional circumstances, the Court may appoint each member of the arbitral tribunal to avoid a significant risk of unequal treatment and unfairness amongst the parties that may affect the validity of the award.
Article 11(2) clarifies that claims arising out of or in connection with more than one contract may be made in a single arbitration, irrespective of whether such claims are made under one or more than one arbitration agreement under the Rules:[3]
Multiple Contracts
Claims arising out of or in connection with more than one contract may be made in a single arbitration, irrespective of whether such claims are made under one or more than one arbitration agreement under the Rules.
Article 20(1) now also gives parties the option to request the joinder of third parties as a party in the arbitration. While this article does not specify a particular time period for such joinder, it is clear from the language of the provision (“[t]he arbitral tribunal may, at the request of any party, allow one or more third persons to be joined in the arbitration as a party”) that it permits joinder after the constitution of the arbitral tribunal, which was also a feature recently added to the ICC Arbitration Rules in 2021.[4]
Article 20(1) of the 2024 LAMC Rules reads:
The arbitral tribunal may, at the request of any party, allow one or more third persons to be joined in the arbitration as a party, provided that such person is a party to the arbitration agreement, unless the arbitral tribunal finds, after giving all parties, including the person or persons to be joined, the opportunity to be heard, that joinder should not be permitted because of prejudice to any of those parties. The arbitral tribunal may make a single award or several awards in respect of all parties so involved in the arbitration.
The possibility to consolidate multiple arbitrations administered by the LAMC was likewise added to the 2024 LAMC Rules – interestingly, in two separate articles. Both Articles 11(3) (Multiple Parties, Multiple Contracts & Consolidation) and 20(2)-(4) (Joinder and Consolidation) provide identical text allowing the Court of Arbitration to consolidate two or more pending arbitrations at the request of a party:[5]
[2/a]) The Court may, at the request of a party, consolidate two or more arbitrations pending under the Rules into a single arbitration, where:
[a/i]) the parties have agreed to consolidation; or
[b/ii]) all of the claims in the arbitrations are made under the same arbitration agreement or agreements; or
[c/iii]) the claims in the arbitrations are not made under the same arbitration agreement or agreements, but the arbitrations are between the same parties, the disputes in the arbitrations arise in connection with the same legal relationship, and the Court finds the arbitration agreements to be compatible.
[3/b]) In deciding whether to consolidate, the Court may take into account any circumstances it considers to be relevant, including whether one or more arbitrators have been confirmed or appointed in more than one of the arbitrations and, if so, whether the same or different persons have been confirmed or appointed.
[4/c]) When arbitrations are consolidated, they shall be consolidated into the arbitration that commenced first, unless otherwise agreed by all parties.
Shorter Time Limit for Challenges
The new Rules have also reduced the time available to parties for challenging the appointment of an arbitrator.
In the 1995 LAMC Rules, challenges of arbitrators were regulated by Article 2(8) and (9), which gave a party 30 days from receipt by that party of the notification of the appointment or confirmation of the arbitrator or 30 days from the date when the party making the challenge was informed of the facts and circumstances on which the challenge is based:[6]
For a challenge to be admissible, it must be sent by a party either within 30 days from receipt by that party of the notification of the appointment or confirmation of the arbitrator by the Court; or within 30 days from the date when the party making the challenge was informed of the facts and circumstances on which the challenge is based, if such date is subsequent to the receipt of the aforementioned notification.
Challenges are now governed by Articles 14 and 15 of the 2024 LAMC Rules, which have halved the time available for bringing a challenge, giving a party only 15 days after a party has been notified of the arbitrator’s appointment or the circumstances justifying the challenge become known to the party.[7] Article 15(1) of the 2025 LAMC Rules indicates:
A party that intends to challenge an arbitrator shall file with the Secretariat a written notice of its challenge within 15 days after it has been notified of the appointment of the challenged arbitrator, or within 15 days after the circumstances justifying the challenge became known to that party. The notice of challenge shall state the reasons for the challenge.
Interim Measures
Parties have always been allowed to seek interim measures from judicial authorities in LAMC arbitrations.
According to Article 8(5) of the 1995 LAMC Rules, “Before the file is transmitted to the arbitrator and in exceptional circumstances even thereafter, the parties shall be at liberty to apply to any competent judicial authority for interim or conservatory measures, and they shall not by so doing be held to infringe the agreement to arbitrate or to affect the relevant powers reserved to the arbitrator.”[8]
While Article 29(9) continues to allow parties to make requests for interim measures to judicial authorities, the 2024 update also expands the ways in which parties may seek interim measures by expressly allowing arbitral tribunals to grant them at the request of a party through Article 29(1)-(8).[9]
Unlike Article 28(1) of the 2021 ICC Arbitration Rules, which does not specify any particular requirements necessary for granting interim measures, Article 29 of the 2024 LAMC Rules requires the requesting party to satisfy the arbitral tribunal that (a) a harm not adequately reparable by an award of damages is likely to result if the measure is not ordered; and (b) there is a reasonable possibility that the requesting party will succeed on the merits of the claim, although it also specifies that these requirements shall apply only to the extent the arbitral tribunal considers appropriate.[10]
Place of Arbitration/Seat
Article 12 of the 1995 LAMC Arbitration Rules provided: “The place of arbitration shall be fixed by the Court of Arbitration, unless agreed upon by the parties.”[11]
This provision presumably referred to the seat of arbitration, although it is ambiguous, as the place of arbitration may refer to the venue of the proceedings.
The 2024 LAMC Rules have dispensed with this language in favour of the clearer term “seat of arbitration” in Article 21. The 2024 Rules have also shifted the responsibility for determining the seat of the arbitration (and venue for that matter) from the Court of Arbitration to the arbitral tribunal in Article 21:[12]
1. If the parties have not previously agreed on the seat of arbitration, the seat of arbitration shall be determined by the arbitral tribunal. The award shall be deemed to have been made at the seat of arbitration.
2. The arbitral tribunal may hold meetings at any location it considers appropriate or by any means of telecommunications, including videoconferences.
3. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, the arbitral tribunal may also meet at any location it considers appropriate for any other purpose, including hearings.
Emergency and Expedited Arbitration
As most major arbitral institutions now offer emergency arbitration mechanisms and expedited arbitration procedures, the LAMC has followed suit and introduced both useful features into its 2024 Rules.
Article 12 of the LAMC Rules now provides that in the case of “exceptional urgency”, at any time prior to the formation of the arbitral tribunal, any party may request the immediate appointment of a temporary sole arbitrator who is to decide on the claim for emergency relief no longer than 14 days following its appointment, with any relief, order or award made by the arbitrator in the emergency procedures to be subsequently confirmed, varied, discharged or revoked in whole or in part by the arbitral tribunal in the arbitral proceedings.[13]
Section VI Expedited Arbitration Procedure, Article 51, adds an expedited procedure for arbitrations where (a) the amount in dispute does not exceed two million dollars, (b) the parties have expressly agreed (in the arbitration agreement or before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal) to submit the arbitration to the Expedited Arbitration Procedure provisions, or (c) the Court of Arbitration upon the agreement of the parties after the constitution of the arbitral tribunal to submit the arbitration to the Expedited Arbitration Procedure provisions approves such agreement. The Expedited Arbitration Procedures provide, inter alia, that the arbitral tribunal may decide the dispute solely on the basis of the documents submitted by the parties, and that the time limit within which the arbitral tribunal must render its final award is six months from the date of its appointment.[14]
Scrutiny
Like many arbitral institutions, the Court of Arbitration of the LAMC scrutinises awards rendered in arbitrations under its administration. Article 21 of the 1995 LAMC Rules provided that “[b]efore signing an award, whether partial or definitive, the arbitrator shall submit it in draft form to the Court of Arbitration.” It allowed the Court to “lay down modifications as to the form of the award” and, so long as it did not affect the arbitrator’s liberty of decision, also draw the arbitrator’s attention to “points of substance.” This Article additionally stipulated that “[n]o award shall be signed until it has been approved by The Court as to its form.”[15]
The 2024 LAMC Rules retained this scrutiny procedure but added certain exceptions reflecting the principle of party autonomy. Article 38 of the 2024 Rules stipulates that scrutiny of the award shall not apply if: (a) the parties have expressly agreed in the arbitration agreement that the award(s) shall not be scrutinised by the Court of Arbitration; or (b) the parties have agreed before the constitution of the arbitral tribunal that the award(s) shall not be scrutinised by the Court of Arbitration; or (c) the Court of Arbitration, upon an agreement reached by the parties after the constitution of the arbitral tribunal not to submit the award to the scrutiny of the Court, approves such agreement.[16]
Thus, the provision that no award shall be signed until the Court has approved it has been removed in favour of these important exceptions.
Interpretation and Correction of the Award
Under the 1995 LAMC Rules, there was no clear provision for interpreting or correcting an arbitral award once it had been notified. In fact, Article 24 of the 1994 LAMC Rules simply provided that “the arbitral award shall be final.”[17]
However, the 2024 update has taken into account the reality that arbitral awards may contain errors or unclear provisions requiring correction or interpretation. Articles 41 and 42 of the 2024 LAMC Rules, therefore, allow a party, within 30 days of receipt of the award, to request the arbitral tribunal to give an interpretation of the award or correct in the award any error in computation, any clerical or typographical error, or any error of a similar nature.[18]
Confidentiality
Article 44 of the 2024 LAMC Rules now provides rules regarding the confidentiality of the arbitral proceedings, addressing both the confidentiality of the materials submitted by the parties and the deliberations of the arbitral tribunal. This represents an important addition to the LAMC Rules, given that the confidential nature of arbitral proceedings is often one of the factors that attracts parties to arbitration in the first place.[19]
Article 44 of the 2024 LAMC Rules stipulates:
1. Unless the parties expressly agree in writing to the contrary, the parties undertake to keep confidential all materials submitted by the parties in the arbitral proceedings not otherwise in the public domain, save and to the extent that a disclosure may be required of a party according to a legal duty, to protect or pursue a legal right or to enforce or challenge an award in legal proceedings before a judicial authority. This undertaking also applies to the arbitrators, the tribunal-appointed experts, the secretary of the arbitral tribunal, the Secretariat and the Center.
2. The deliberations of the arbitral tribunal are likewise confidential, save and to the extent that a disclosure may be required by a court decision.
3. In its commitments to fostering arbitration, the Center reserves the right to publish its awards in an anonymized or pseudonymized form to maintain the confidentiality of the parties involved and the particulars of the dispute. In the event a party objects to the publication of the award, or specifically requests the anonymization or pseudonymization of specific details, the Center shall thoroughly evaluate such objection or request. Subsequently, the award, at the Center’s discretion, will either not be published or will be disseminated in a redacted manner, ensuring that specific details remain undisclosed.
* * *
In sum, the amendments introduced by the 2024 LAMC Rules enhance the overall efficiency, flexibility and transparency of LAMC arbitrations, as well as codifying recent trends in international arbitration, such as the incorporation of procedures for dealing with complex arbitrations.
[1] Lebanese Arbitration & Mediation Center, Who We Are, https://lamc.org.lb/aboutus/#organization (last accessed 16 December 2024).
[2] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 11(1).
[3] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 11(2).
[4] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 20(1).
[5] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules , Articles 11(3), 20(2)-(4).
[6] 1995 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 2(8)-(9).
[7] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Articles 14-15.
[8] 1995 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 8(5).
[9] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 29.
[10] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 29(3).
[11] 1995 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 12.
[12] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 21.
[13] 2025 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 12.
[14] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 51.
[15] 1995 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 21.
[16] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 38.
[17] 1995 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 24.
[18] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Articles 41-42.
[19] 2024 LAMC Arbitration Rules, Article 44.
