Answer ... Under the Arbitration Act, to be valid and enforceable, an arbitration agreement must:

• refer to an arbitrable dispute;
• be in writing;
• be concluded by parties that have the necessary qualities or capacity;
• not be concluded by a party acting under duress, fraud or mistake; and
• refer to a dispute involving a defined legal relationship (Article 10).

An arbitration agreement can cover both existing and future disputes (Article 9).

Answer ... Under the Arbitration Act, an arbitration clause is considered separable from the main contract (Article 28). In other words, the fact that a contract containing an arbitration clause is declared null and void does not automatically entail the invalidity of that clause.

Answer ... In the absence of the parties’ agreement, the seat of arbitration is determined by the arbitral tribunal, taking into account the circumstances of the case, which include the convenience of the parties (Article 34(2)). If the parties have agreed to entrust the organisation of the arbitration to a permanent arbitral institution, the seat of arbitration shall be determined in accordance with its rules.

If the seat of arbitration is not determined in accordance with the preceding principles, the seat is deemed to be the place indicated in the arbitral award as the place where the award was made (Article 34(4)). Also, unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the arbitral tribunal may meet at any place it considers appropriate to conduct deliberations; hear witnesses, experts or the parties; and inspect goods, property or documents (Article 34(5)).

If the parties have failed to agree on the language of the proceedings, this question is determined by the arbitral tribunal. When making their decision, the arbitrators should take into account the seat of arbitration and the language used by the parties in their legal relationship. Permanent arbitral institutions may regulate the language of the arbitration by their own rules. Before the language of the proceedings is determined, a statement of claim, a statement of defence and other submissions may be submitted in the language of the contract, the language of the arbitration agreement or the Serbian language (Article 35).