The Arbitration Court at the BCCI hosted an international conference "Legal Aspects of the Digitalization of the Activities of Permanent Arbitral Institutions"

On November 15, 2024, an international conference was held at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the topic: "Legal Aspects of the Digitalization of the Activities of Permanent Arbitral Institutions and of the Arbitration Proceedings", which was hosted by the main organizer - the Arbitration Court at the BCCI. The conference is part of the cycle of events provided for in the Program of the AC at the BCCI, to promote arbitration proceedings and the Arbitration Court at the BCCI.

The event was opened by Tsvetan Simeonov, President of the BCCI, who greeted the guests. The main emphasis in the welcome address was the expressed desire of the BCCI management to do everything possible, including by engaging the responsible institutions, so that the Arbitration Court at the BCCI can keep up with global trends in the administration of justice.

Arbitration is the greatest achievement of business, it allows disputes between traders to be resolved quickly, cheaply and through modern methods, so a way will be sought to bring order to the arbitration courts in Bulgaria, and only the best ones will remain to work for the benefit of clients.

A welcome address was given by Ms. Maria Pavlova, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Bulgaria. In her address, she drew attention to the fact that the spread of intelligent technologies, which are aimed at increasing the efficiency and quality of arbitrations, will undoubtedly create a new reality and is expected to lead to savings in time and costs.

Unfortunately, revolutionary development excludes the human factor, which is particularly important in law, and the question arises whether fundamental human rights are sufficiently respected. Minister Pavlova wished the conference success, expressing the hope that such meetings will be held more often, since the advancement of technologies inevitably leads to the need for this.

Prof. Daniel Valchev, Dean of the Faculty of Law of Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski also congratulated the participants in the forum, noting that law schools are trying to do what state and public institutions are doing in the field of digitalization.

According to Prof. Valchev, the main challenges facing lawyers are the rapid development of blockchain technologies, which have caused numerous legal disputes at a supranational level, and the second challenge is the question of the nature of artificial intelligence, which is not just a powerful computer, but a machine-based neural network, and the problems we will face in connection with its use are incalculable, and results and answers are expected from lawyers by presumption.

Congratulations were delivered by Evgeniy Staykov, Deputy Chairman and Head of the Commercial Chamber of the Supreme Court of Cassation, Prof. Tanya, Yosifova, Chairman of the Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Economic Chamber, and Ivaylo Dermendzhiev, Chairman of the Supreme Bar Council and Deputy Chairman of the Arbitration Court at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The event was attended by participants and speakers from Bulgaria and abroad, who were also given the opportunity to join the conference virtually. 8 reports were presented, the authors of which are from Bulgaria, Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia. Speakers from the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Sofia Bar Association participated on the Bulgarian side.

The speakers - practicing lawyers, arbitrators, attorneys, representatives of the academic community, consultants and practitioners - examined various aspects of the concepts, boundaries and manifestations of the digitalization of the activities of institutional arbitrations and arbitration proceedings.

The first panel of the conference discussed the following topics:

• Prof. Dr. Georgi Dimitrov, lawyer, partner at the Law Firm "Dimitrov, Petrov & Co.", lecturer, with the topic "Legal regime of electronic evidence in arbitration proceedings, electronic identification of the parties, electronic signing and delivery, electronic arbitration award"

• Krasimir Mashev, judge of the Supreme Court of Cassation, with the topic "Participation in the proceedings by electronic means. Electronic file"

• Lachezar Lazarov, lawyer, arbitrator from the general list of the AC at the BCCI with the topic "Good arbitration practices in relation to the submission of written evidence in electronic format"

The second panel also included foreign lecturers from partner organizations of the AC at the BCCI and the following topics were discussed:

• Elizabeth Vanas-Metzler, Deputy Secretary General of the Vienna Center for International Arbitration, with the topic "Participation in the proceedings by electronic means. Electronic File”

• Tatyana Slipachuk, Member of the Presidium of the International Court of Arbitration at the CCI, Ukraine with the topic, “Generative Artificial Intelligence and Expert Evidence: Expectations, Initial Findings and What’s Next?”

• Ana Smilevska, Secretary General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of North Macedonia, with the topic “Navigating Online Arbitration - Benefits and Best Practices in the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of North Macedonia”

• Julieta Mandazhieva, lawyer, with the topic “Use of Artificial Intelligence in Preparing Expert Opinions and Making an Arbitration Award”

• Milen Marinov, lawyer, with the topic “Acts Issued by the Arbitration Court in Electronic Form - Legal and Practical Matters”      

The speakers shared their views and experience in this area, as well as the latest developments in European legislation. Theoretical and practical cases were discussed, the current legal requirements for the application of artificial intelligence in arbitration proceedings, as well as trends.

The topics provoked an active discussion, many questions were asked related to the challenges posed by digitalization, not only to commercial arbitration, but also to the entire judicial system. Many answers were given and many questions remained open for future discussions.

The conference was closed by the Chairperson of the AC at the BCCI, Assoc. Prof. Aneta Antonova, who drew attention to the fact that practice and science go hand in hand, proof of which is the forum held, thanking the participants, guests and speakers.