We have previously reported that the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) was considering a proposal to enhance its arbitration rules by adding provision for the appointment of an emergency arbitrator to order interim measures (see Legal update, Emergency interim measures may soon be available in SCC arbitration proceedings). The SCC amended the proposal to take into account some of the many comments received from the arbitral community. On 9 December 2009, the Board of Directors of the SCC adopted the amended proposal. The new Emergency Arbitrator rules will make it possible for parties to request interim measures before the constitution of a tribunal. The emergency arbitrator will be appointed within 24 hours from the time an application for interim measures is made and shall make a decision within five days of that appointment.

The new rules, which will be included in Article 32 of the current SCC Arbitration Rules and the Expedited Rules, will enter into force on 1 January 2010. A more detailed analysis of the emergency arbitrator rules will be provided in the January edition of the PLC Arbitration multi-jurisdictional e-mail.