Disputes over the Validity of an Arbitration Agreement

In case of a dispute over the validity of an arbitration agreement, the disputing parties may request the arbitration commission designated or a people’s court of competent jurisdiction to determine whether it is valid. And a people’s court has priority over an arbitration commission in this respect, i.e., the decision will be made by the people’s court rather than the arbitration commission if either party files a request to the people’s court and the other party files a request to the arbitration commission.

Court jurisdiction over Disputes over the Validity

A case for determination of the validity of an arbitration agreement by a people's court shall fall under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's court in the jurisdiction where the arbitration commission specified in the arbitration agreement is located, or the intermediate people's court in the jurisdiction where the arbitration agreement is entered into or the domicile of the respondent is located if no arbitration commission is expressly specified.

A case for determination of the validity of an international arbitration agreement shall fall under the jurisdiction of the intermediate people's court in the jurisdiction where the arbitration commission specified in the arbitration agreement is located, the arbitration agreement is entered into, or the domicile of the claimant or respondent is located.

A case for determination of the validity of an arbitration agreement for maritime disputes shall fall under the jurisdiction of the maritime court of the jurisdiction where the arbitration commission specified in the arbitration agreement is located, the arbitration agreement is entered into, or the domicile of the claimant or respondent is located, or the nearest maritime court if there is no maritime court in the above jurisdictions.

Governance by The Civil Code

The validity of arbitration agreements is also governed by the provisions of The Civil Code pertaining to the validity of contracts (see Attachment 1, Article 503). Therefore, if an unauthorized agent enters into an arbitration agreement in the name of a disputing party, the arbitration agreement is invalid unless the disputing party:

(1) ratifies the arbitration agreement; or

(2) fails to challenge its validity before the first hearing of the arbitration commission.

It should be noted that any challenge over the validity of an arbitration agreement must be filed before the arbitral tribunal proceeds with the first hearing. Otherwise, the challenge will not be accepted.