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shall be composed of a general assembly, a board of directors, auditor,
advisory board, national and international arbitration courts and a sec-
retary general.
Emphasis should be made on the composition of certain bodies.
Pursuant to the Draft Law, the Istanbul Arbitration Center shall have a
general assembly which, among others, shall have the duty of forming
the board of directors, approving the applicable arbitration rules, and
the budget.
The general assembly shall consist of 23 members. Among these
members, six shall be elected by the TOBB (which already has an
institutional arbitration); three shall be elected by the Council of
Higher Education; and the Ministry of Justice, the Capital Markets
Board, the Istanbul Stock Exchange, the Banking Regulation and
Supervision Authority shall each elect one member. This composition
could easily raise concern about the independence of the Istanbul
Arbitration Center, as many members of the general assembly are indi-
rectly elected by the state. Moreover, only five members are required
to have a legal background. Especially bearing in mind the nature of
the duties of the general assembly, such as approval of the rules, we
believe that more lawyers should be engaged.
Material Milestones for an Arbitration Center
The Draft Law constitutes merely the starting point for Istanbul
becoming an internationally recognized center of arbitration. The rules
to be adopted also are among the first steps. In fact, the rules of arbi-
tration adopted by institutions mostly referred to in practice are not
drastically different from each other. Undoubtedly, the rules to be
adopted by the Istanbul Arbitration Center need to be suitable for
international arbitration, and should not disregard the internationally
accepted and frequently applied rules. However the choice of an arbi-
tration institution by the parties for dispute resolution in their transac-
tions is less determined by the institution’s rules, and more by matters
which specifically affect the arbitral proceedings, such as the choice of
arbitrators or enforceability of awards.
Thus, the autonomous character of an institution, the appointment
of impartial and independent arbitrators, as well as the arbitration-
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