Lawyers reacted angrily to Anton Ivanov’s plans, with one Russian partner at an international law firm telling London’s Legal Week newspaper: ‘This is an absolutely shocking statement. Russia is party to the New York Arbitration Convention, and we have to abide by those rules. We were making progress towards arbitrations being honoured as in any civilised legal system, but this retrograde step is almost Stalinist. It makes me feel deeply ashamed to be Russian.’

Seizure of assets

At a conference in St Petersburg last month, Mr Ivanov stated that Russian judges should have powers to set aside awards made in oversees jurisdictions if it is felt that they unfairly prejudice Russian parties. According to the report, he also proposed penalties for states that negatively influence Russian interests overseas and criticised the seizure of Russian assets by foreign courts.
With Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev apparently supporting the idea – describing the plan as ‘a civilised means of resolving issues’ -- lawyers have warned that proposals could soon become laws. Yuri Botiuk  -- a litigation partner  at international firm Pinsent Masons -- told the newspaper: ‘If these comments on Russia having overriding jurisdiction on Russian matters were made law, the potential impact on foreign direct investment would probably be too high a price to pay.’

Confusing

Andrey Goltsblat, managing partner at Goltsblat -- the Russian practice of London-based law firm Berwin Leighton Paisner -- added: ‘It is confusing what is meant by these proposals – how can you legally implement them? Russia doesn’t want to cause problems at the moment, as there are a number of high-profile court cases going on in other jurisdictions. We need to improve the Russian legal system before we can fully attract parties to arbitrate here.’