24.01.2020 Ankara
The Union of Chambers and Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) President and the ICC Turkey National Committee Chairman M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu, who attended the 15th ICC Turkey Arbitration Day meeting, said arbitration is now a must for doing business.
The
15th ICC Turkey Arbitration Day meeting was held in Istanbul by the International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, the ICC Turkey National
Committee and the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB)
TOBB
President and the Turkey ICC National Committee Chairman M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu noted that the ICC is the largest business organization working
to increase trade and investments in the world, founded by a group of
entrepreneurs with the slogan ‘merchants of peace’ following the First World
War.
- The importance of the ICC
Hisarcıklıoğlu
noted that the ICC has established many different formations for the
development of global trade since its inception, and that the ICC has over time
gathered private sector representatives from different countries under one
roof, becoming a reference institution for increasing trade in the world, removing
trade barriers and resolving trade disputes.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
said that the ICC, which has behind it 100 years of success, has renewed its
mission in the 21st century as ‘a business world for all, working
every day and everywhere,’ and that the ICC International Court of Arbitration
was one of the most important services of the ICC.
Hisarcıklıoğlu
noted the importance of the development of arbitration issues in Turkey,
noting:
“As
someone who's been through arbitration, I'd like to say. Foreign direct capital
investment, which used to come to Turkey, would not exceed $1 billion a year.
Then our government added arbitration to our national legislation. As a result
of this, Turkey's appeal for investors has increased. The incoming foreign
direct capital investment has risen to an average of $10 billion annually. It
is clear that arbitration is a very important issue for the business community.
As
business people, we want to be assured when we establish our business contacts.
Because trading and investing means taking risks. When you do that in another
country, the risk grows even greater. Because every country has different
legislations, different practices. Investors can't know all of this. This
reduces the appetite for trade and investment. An impartial, objective,
respectable, with rules clearly set from the beginning, the presence of an executive
authority protects all parties in the event of a conflict. It makes the country
more attractive to business people. Therefore, arbitration has now become one
of the essential conditions of doing business.”
Reporting
that, today, in developed economies, 75% of commercial disputes are resolved by
alternative dispute resolution methods such as arbitration, Hisarcıklıoğlu
stated that only 1 out of 4 disputes necessitate standard judiciary procedure.
- “We are one of the top 10 countries
using ICC Arbitration”
Hisarcıklıoğlu
stressed that Turkey is an important country for ICC arbitration, and concluded:
“In
2019, we were one of the top 10 countries which used ICC Arbitration. We have a request for the Secretary General,
Mr. Fessas. There is a very well-trained, experienced and high quality legal
community in Turkey. Since we are such a
good customer of ICC arbitration, then we expect the ICC to give more room to
our country's lawyers in referee appointments. Finally, I would like to forward
a request to our Deputy Minister of Justice; There is also a lot of work in the
courts to qualify Turkey as an arbitration-friendly country. Both in terms of assistance to arbitral
committees during the arbitration proceedings and in terms of the ref's
judgment. We expect the positive contributions and constructive attitudes of
the District Courts and the Supreme Court on this issue. We, as TOBB, will
continue to work to make our arbitration known and spread.”
- Deputy Minister of Justice
Zekeriya Birkan
Deputy
Minister of Justice Zekeriya Birkan, said that the government and the Ministry
of Justice also support alternative dispute resolution methods in labor law, “It
is a fact that it is no longer possible for us to solve these problems with
classical proceedings as they are.”
Birkan
mentioned the work done in Turkey on arbitration, said:
“It
is a fact that it is no longer possible for us to solve these problems with
classical proceedings as they are. We're building almost the world's largest
courthouses in Europe. We are, but in our meetings, we see that these buildings
are not enough, we are short of judges, prosecutors, officers, and we try to
complete them. But we realized that, especially as the Department of Justice,
we have supported alternative solutions in recent years at the core of our
legal policies. In this regard, our biggest working partners with us are our
bar associations and chambers union. In other words, our industrialists, trade
men and our lawyers are trying to find solutions to these problems together by
developing alternative solutions.”
- Turkish Bar Association President
Atty. Prof. Dr. Metin Feyzioğlu
Atty.
Prof. Dr. Metin Feyzioğlu, President of the Turkish Bar Association (TBB), also
noted the importance of peace in order to have a healthy trade.
Stating
that trade is the insurance of peace, Feyzioğlu said:
“The
miraculous solution revealed by the common mind of humanity is to secure trade.
That's what ancient tradition taught us. We are heirs to the land that is the
cradle of trade. Trade came out of this land, arbitration came out of this
land. Roman law came out of this land. Recent scientific research on this
subject has proven to us that the ancient source of Roman law is the Anatolian
territory.”
- ICC International Court of
Arbitration Secretary General Alexander Fessas
Alexander
Fessas, Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, said
the arbitration courts are among the first places sought out for resolution.
Noting
that even corruption-related issues are first referred to arbitration courts,
Fessas noted, “Human rights violations are also referred to arbitration courts.
Even environmental disputes, such as carbon change, go into arbitration.
International arbitration has become a self-regulating autonomous system. The
ICC plays a crucial role in facilitating global trade. International arbitration
organizations form the backbone of these systems.”