Arbitration fees

Rules on arbitration fees and costs

Art. 1 – Registration fee and arbitration fees

(1) For the arbitration services provided by the Giurgiu Commercial Court of Arbitration – hereinafter the Court – a registration fee of RON 300 or the euro equivalent at the NBR exchange rate on the payment date is charged, as well as an arbitration fee composed of the administrative fee and the arbitrators’ fees, determined according to the value of the claim, as follows:

A – When the claim value is expressed in lei (RON)

B – When the claim value is expressed in euro

(2) If the claim value is expressed in a currency other than euro, the arbitration fee is calculated on the basis of the parity between that currency and the euro set by the National Bank of Romania on the date the request for arbitration is filed, and is paid in euro or in another freely convertible currency.

(3) The provisions of paragraph (2) apply accordingly where claims are made in different currencies. The Court may, however, set a single currency for collecting the arbitration fee.

(4) Claims that cannot be valued in money are charged an administrative fee of RON 3,000, plus arbitrators’ fees of RON 3,000 per arbitrator.

Art. 2 – Value of the claim

(1) The parties must state in their claims the value of the subject matter, even where they do not make monetary claims, failing which the claims may be returned.

(2) The value of the claim is generally determined as follows:

• a) in claims for money, at the amount claimed;
• b) in claims for delivery of goods, at the value of those goods when the claim is filed;
• c) in claims for an obligation to do or not to do, at the value indicated by the claimant;
• d) in claims concerning performance of a contract or other legal act, at the value of its subject matter or of the part submitted to arbitration;
• e) in claims for payment of part of a receivable, at the value of the part claimed as due or to be performed when it becomes due;
• f) in claims concerning ownership or other real rights over immovable property, at the taxable value of the property, or the value in the notarial grids managed by UNNPR;
• g) in claims for absolute nullity, annulment or termination of lease or leasing contracts, including restoration of the parties to their prior position, and in claims for delivery or return of leased or rented property, at the annual rent.

(3) Claims seeking a declaration that a right exists or does not exist are charged as non-valuable claims under Art. 1(4).

(4) Claims for termination of a contract (rescission, termination, annulment) are charged on the contract value. A claim to restore the parties to their prior position that is not accessory to the contract-termination action is charged under Art. 1.

(5) Where interest, penalties or late-payment increases are claimed, the fee due is assessed on their value under Art. 1. If such amounts continue to be claimed after the arbitral award, they must be valued and charged at their cumulative value up to the last hearing.

(6) In multi-head claims, each head must be valued separately; the claim value is the total of all heads.

(7) Where heads of claim have the same purpose, are alternative (e.g. restitution in kind or in equivalent), or are principal/subsidiary, a single arbitration fee is charged on the highest claim value.

(8) Where a party seeks, by defence or counterclaim, to set off its claim against the other party’s claim, it must pay the arbitration fee on the set-off value.

(9) If the claimant has not stated, or has inaccurately stated, the claim value, the Court, of its own motion or at the respondent’s request, determines that value from the data relating to the claim. In all cases the arbitral tribunal may reasonably determine the true claim value and order additional fees, if needed, only after debating the true value with the parties.

(10) A counterclaim, a third-party notice and a claim intervening in one’s own interest or joining other persons are charged in the same way as the main request for arbitration, including the registration fee.

(11) If at filing the arbitral action was properly charged on its initial subject matter, but during the proceedings elements appear that increase the claim value, the tribunal shall require the claimant to pay the additional amount by a set deadline.

(12) If by that deadline the claimant fails to pay, the arbitral action shall be decided only within the limits for which arbitration fees have been properly paid.

(13) If the value of the claims is reduced after the first hearing, arbitration fees remain based on the initial value, without regard to the later reduction.

(14) Where an appeal is admitted under Art. 613(3)(b) of the Civil Procedure Code and the case is remitted for re-hearing to the Giurgiu Commercial Court of Arbitration, the arbitral action is registered under a new case number and the related arbitration fees under these Rules are paid.

(15) Against the assessment of arbitration fees, the parties may file a request for re-examination within 3 days of communication of the fees due. The request is fee-exempt. It is decided in chambers by the President of the Court of Arbitration, the sole arbitrator or the arbitral tribunal, as the case may be, by a final order.

Art. 3 – Arbitration costs

(1) In addition to arbitration fees, the parties must pay, under the conditions below, arbitration costs consisting of: costs of taking evidence, translation of documents and hearings; costs of service or communication of procedural acts by courier; arbitrators’ fees; lawyers’ fees; travel costs of the parties, arbitrators, experts, advisers and witnesses; and other costs required by the arbitration.

(2) Amounts paid as fees are subject to the VAT rules applicable when the invoice is issued.

(3) The brochure containing the Court’s Rules of Procedure, the list of arbitrators and these Rules is issued to interested parties free of charge.

Art. 4 – Payment of fees and costs

(1) Arbitration fees for the main claim are advanced by the claimant, and for the counterclaim by the respondent. For a third-party notice or intervention in one’s own name, fees are advanced by the applicant.

Art. 5 – Reduction of fees and costs

(1) The administrative fee is reduced by 25% where the dispute is decided by a sole arbitrator.

(2) If the claimant withdraws the request for arbitration before summonses are issued for the first hearing, the arbitration fee is reduced by 75% and refunded proportionally.

(3) If, following settlement or waiver of arbitration, the dispute ends at the first hearing, the fee is reduced by 50% and refunded proportionally.

(4) Where the Court finds it has no jurisdiction, the arbitration fee is reduced by 75%.

(5) If the claimant reduces the claims up to and including the first hearing for which the parties were duly summoned, the arbitration fee is calculated on the reduced claim value.

(6) The minimum arbitration fee is irreducible.

(7) The registration fee is neither reduced nor refunded in any case.

Art. 6 – Special fees

(1) Requests to challenge an arbitrator are charged RON 3,000.

(2) Requests for certificates on the status of an arbitral dispute are charged RON 500.

(3) Other requests within the Court’s competence not provided above are charged at twice the registration fee.

Art. 7 – Duty to pay

(1) The registration fee and arbitration fees are paid in full when filing the request for arbitration or, as the case may be, the counterclaim and other charged requests. Proof of payment is attached. It may also be produced within a time limit set by the Court Secretariat, but no later than 10 days after receiving the Secretariat’s notice.

(2) Where the arbitral file is registered by decline of jurisdiction, no registration fee is due.

Art. 8

If proof of payment of the arbitration fee is not produced with the filing or within the prescribed time, the request for arbitration is returned to the claimant.

Art. 9 – Other costs

(1) The party at whose request an expert report or other evidence is ordered, or translations of case documents or interpretation of oral hearings are arranged through the Court, must advance those costs.

(2) If such a measure is ordered of the Court’s own motion, the Court may require each party or both, in the proportion it sets, to advance the cost.

Art. 10 – Arbitrators’ fees

(1) Where the dispute is decided by an arbitral tribunal, the arbitrators’ fees under Art. 1 are multiplied by the number of arbitrators on the tribunal.

(2) In the situation under paragraph (1), the sum representing arbitrators’ fees is shared as agreed by the arbitrators or, failing agreement, as follows:

• a) 10% for the super-arbitrator or, as the case may be, for the arbitrator who drafts the award;
• b) the remaining 90% is shared among all members of the arbitral tribunal.

(3) If arbitration is discontinued without an award, the fees for work performed are reduced accordingly under Art. 5.

(4) Payment of fees to arbitrators is made through the Giurgiu Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture at the end of the dispute, within at most 30 days of drafting and communicating the arbitral award under the Rules of Arbitral Procedure.

(5) For disputes suspended under mandatory legal provisions, arbitrators’ fees are paid as follows: 50% on suspension and 50% on finalisation by award, including an award of peremption, or, as the case may be, when the judgment opening insolvency proceedings becomes final.

(6) Where joinder to another file is ordered under Art. 23 of the Rules of Arbitral Procedure after the tribunal is constituted, the arbitrators appointed in the joined file are entitled to a fee of 25% of the amount paid under that head.

Art. 11 – Means of payment

The arbitration fee and arbitration costs are paid in cash at the cashier’s desk of the Giurgiu Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, or by payment instruments accepted by the Chamber. In the latter case, fees and costs are deemed paid on the day the amounts enter the Chamber’s account.

Art. 12 – Sanction for non-payment

(1) If one party fails to pay the fee or arbitration costs due from it, the other party may pay them, and the arbitral award shall determine how those amounts are borne.

(2) Any surplus of fees and costs is regularised and paid immediately.

(3) If proof of payment of the arbitration fee is not produced within the set time, the claim is returned.

Art. 13 – Facilities and staggered payment

(1) The Giurgiu Commercial Court of Arbitration may, on request, grant legal persons reductions, staggered payments or deferrals of arbitration fees due for arbitral actions within its competence:

• a) a 25% reduction of arbitration fees for legal persons that are members of the Giurgiu Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, on request with proof of membership;
• b) a reduction of up to 30%, deferral or staggered payment for 1–6 months, for legal persons that meet the following conditions:
  • the fee exceeds 10% of average net income over the last 3 months of activity;
  • full payment is not possible because the legal person is being wound up or dissolved, or its assets are lawfully frozen.

(2) Exceptionally, the Court may grant reductions, staggered payments or deferrals in other cases where, given the legal person’s financial situation, paying the full fees would significantly affect its current activity.

(3) Fee reductions may be granted separately or together with staggered payment or deferral.

(4) For the arbitration costs under Art. 3, reductions are not available, but the deferral and staggered-payment rules in paragraphs (1)–(3) may apply.

(5) A request for payment facilities may be made at any stage of the proceedings.

(6) The President of the Court, the sole arbitrator or the appointed tribunal decides on the request without summoning the parties, by a reasoned order in chambers. The order is communicated to the applicant and, where applicable, to the other party.

(7) If the request is granted, the order shall set, as the case may be, the reduction rate or reduced fee amount, the payment date(s) and the instalment amounts.

(8) If staggered fees are not paid by the time the tribunal retires to deliberate, it shall issue an award proportionate to the fees actually paid.

Art. 14 – Transitional provisions

Requests for arbitration filed before these Rules enter into force remain subject to the fees in force on the filing date, except for Art. 2(10), Art. 6 and Art. 13, which apply to requests made after these Rules enter into force.

Art. 15 – Entry into force

These Rules were approved by the Governing Board of the Giurgiu Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture.