International Arbitration in Kazakhstan

AIFC International Arbitration Centre (IAC)

The IAC is the institutional arbitration body of the Astana International Financial Centre — a common law jurisdiction within Kazakhstan, applying English law principles. Arbitrations run under the IAC Arbitration and Mediation Rules 2022, and the IAC is separate from the AIFC Court. The parties choose the language, which can be English, and failing agreement the tribunal decides (AIFC Arbitration Regulations 2017, Art. 32). Arbitrators are internationally appointed. In Kazakhstan, IAC awards are recognised and enforced in the same manner as awards made in Kazakhstan (Constitutional Statute No. 438-V, Art. 14(3)); within the AIFC, the AIFC Court enforces IAC awards, and parties who choose the IAC accept its jurisdiction (Posco Co. Ltd. v National Centre for Complex Processing of Mineral Raw Materials, Case No. AIFC-C/CFI/2025/0066, 27 May 2026, paras. 4.12–4.13). Bond Stone's partners are AIFC Registered Legal Advisers and appear before the AIFC Court. The IAC is often the natural forum for disputes involving AIFC-registered entities and AIFC-governed contracts.

ISTAC Istanbul Arbitration Centre

Bond Stone advises on ISTAC arbitration clauses and forum strategy for cross-border trade disputes involving Kazakhstani and Turkish counterparties. ISTAC is a cost-effective institutional forum with an established regional practice in goods supply, manufacturing, and construction contracts. An advantage for KZ–Turkey disputes: an ISTAC award seated in Turkey is not a foreign award there, so no enforcement lawsuit is needed. The creditor obtains an enforceability document from the Turkish civil court of first instance under Article 15/B of International Arbitration Act No. 4686 and then goes to the enforcement office. İlamsız Takip is a separate Turkish summary debt procedure that does not depend on an award. Bond Stone advises on ISTAC clause drafting, multi-track enforcement strategy, and the KZ–Turkey arbitration and enforcement continuum.

ICC International Court of Arbitration

ICC arbitration is the global benchmark forum for major commercial disputes involving Kazakhstan — particularly in energy, mining, infrastructure, and M&A. The ICC's Terms of Reference stage disciplines parties to define the issues in dispute before pleadings begin; its award scrutiny mechanism adds procedural credibility that institutional lenders and government counterparties recognise. Bond Stone advises on ICC arbitration strategy, arbitrator selection for Kazakhstan-side disputes, jurisdiction challenges, and enforcement of ICC awards through the Kazakhstan courts.

LCIA London Court of International Arbitration

LCIA arbitration under English law is the institutional standard for international financing agreements, shareholder agreements, and cross-border M&A transactions involving Kazakhstan. LCIA Rules provide for an emergency arbitrator, strict confidentiality obligations, and a fast-track appointment process. Bond Stone advises on LCIA clause drafting and acts as Kazakhstan-side counsel in LCIA proceedings — managing local evidence gathering, factual witness preparation, and enforcement of LCIA awards through Kazakhstan courts.

UNCITRAL Model Law Basis

Kazakhstan's Law "On Arbitration" is modelled on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, providing an internationally familiar procedural framework for both domestic and international proceedings seated in Kazakhstan. Arbitration agreements must be in writing, which includes an exchange of electronic documents (Law on Arbitration, Art. 9(1)). A wet-ink or qualified electronic signature is still recommended for all Kazakhstan-seated agreements, because proof of a simple e-signature is easier to attack.

State-Owned Entity Rules

State bodies, state enterprises and entities in which the state directly or indirectly holds 50 per cent or more of the voting shares need the consent of the authorised sector body or local executive body before arbitrating with Kazakhstan persons, and the arbitration agreement must record that consent (Law on Arbitration, Arts. 8(10), 9(4)). Consent is not required for agreements with non-residents (Supreme Court Normative Resolution No. 3 of 2 November 2023, para. 9). Where consent is required, failure to obtain it can render the clause unenforceable against the state counterparty. Bond Stone verifies authorisation status on every contract involving a KZ state entity — and recommends AIFC Court jurisdiction clauses as a structurally sound alternative for AIFC-connected state-entity transactions.

Seat and Curial Law

The seat determines the curial law governing the arbitration procedure. For Kazakhstan-seated arbitration, Kazakhstani arbitration law applies as the curial law. For disputes involving AIFC entities, an AIFC seat brings the AIFC Arbitration Regulations 2017 into play as the curial law. Bond Stone advises on seat selection — Almaty, Astana (AIFC), London, Stockholm, or Dubai — based on counterparty, governing law, and enforcement path. Seat and governing law must be deliberately aligned; conflict between the two is a common drafting error.

Emergency Arbitrator and Interim Measures

IAC Rules (Article 32) and ISTAC's separate Emergency Arbitrator Rules provide for an emergency arbitrator procedure — available before the main tribunal is constituted — for urgent interim relief including asset freezing and injunctive orders. In parallel, Kazakhstan courts have jurisdiction to grant interim measures in support of arbitration proceedings under the CPC, including property attachment orders, during the arbitration, on an application to the court at the seat of the arbitration or where the property is located (CPC Art. 155; Law on Arbitration No. 488-V of 8 April 2016, Art. 39(1), (2)). Interim relief should be planned at the outset, before assets can be dissipated.

Confidentiality

The Law on Arbitration makes confidentiality a principle of arbitration: arbitrators and participants may not disclose information learned in the proceedings without the parties' consent, except where the law provides otherwise. IAC and LCIA Rules impose additional express confidentiality obligations on parties and arbitrators. For sensitive commercial disputes — trade secrets, shareholder disagreements, regulatory non-compliance — the confidentiality of arbitration can be a real advantage over Kazakhstan court litigation, where hearings and judgments are public.

Arbitrability Limits

Not all disputes are arbitrable under Kazakhstan law. Arbitration is limited to disputes arising from civil-law relations. Article 8 of the Law on Arbitration excludes disputes affecting the interests of minors or persons lacking legal capacity, disputes between banks or microfinance organisations and individual borrowers under non-business loans, rehabilitation and bankruptcy matters, disputes between natural monopolies and their consumers, disputes between state bodies or quasi-state sector entities, and personal non-property disputes. For standard B2B commercial contracts, arbitrability is rarely an obstacle. Bond Stone screens for arbitrability on every mandate — particularly in regulated-sector, state-adjacent, and IP-intensive transactions — and addresses any arbitrability constraints at the clause-drafting stage rather than at the tribunal stage.

Enforcement Timeline

The court considers the application within 15 working days of receiving it (CPC Art. 503(6)). Allow longer in practice for returned applications, notice to the debtor, and any appeal and cassation review. Bond Stone prepares enforcement applications in parallel with the closing stages of arbitration to minimise the gap between award and enforcement.

Interest on Awards

Commercial interest claimed in arbitration runs under the contract rate or, absent a contractual rate, the National Bank of Kazakhstan base rate under Civil Code Article 353. Bond Stone calculates pre-award interest as a separate head of claim and drafts the interest claim in the statement of claim — an omission at this stage cannot easily be corrected after the hearing.

Limitation Period

An application for a writ of execution on an arbitral award must be filed within three years of the end of the period for voluntary performance, and a foreign award may be presented for compulsory enforcement within three years of entering into force; a court may restore a period missed for good reason (CPC Arts. 253, 501, 503). The writ itself must then be presented within three years (Law on Enforcement Proceedings, Art. 11). These periods must be tracked from the outset — particularly in matters where enforcement is deferred pending a set-aside challenge or appeal.

Arbitration Clause Architecture

A binding arbitration clause requires: (1) designated institution and applicable rules; (2) seat of arbitration specifying the curial law; (3) governing law of the contract aligned with the seat; (4) language of proceedings; (5) number of arbitrators and appointment mechanism; (6) confidentiality provision; and (7) for goods supply contracts that may be governed by the law of a CISG state, an express CISG exclusion. Bond Stone drafts each element deliberately — there is no standard Bond Stone clause because there is no standard Kazakhstan transaction structure.

Payment Security and Asset Preservation

For contracts where enforcement risk is elevated — state entities, counterparties with limited identifiable Kazakhstan assets, or politically connected respondents — Bond Stone recommends pre-contract security arrangements that bypass the enforcement stage: confirmed letters of credit, bank guarantees, retention of title clauses (with Article 238 Kazakhstan Civil Code risk noted for transit goods), escrow, or security over identifiable Kazakhstan assets. These instruments are negotiated at signing, not requested after a breach.

Evidence Preservation Protocol

International arbitration is decided on documentary and testimonial evidence. Contracts with Kazakhstan counterparties should include express document retention obligations, audit rights, and quality inspection procedures — particularly in goods supply, EPC, and service contracts. Bond Stone advises on the evidentiary footprint of each transaction: which documents need to exist, in what form, and how they must be signed and retained to be admissible and credible in an international forum.

Force Majeure and Hardship

Kazakhstan law recognises force majeure under the Civil Code, but the standard applied by Kazakhstan courts and arbitral tribunals to state-caused impediments — sanctions, export restrictions, currency control changes, regulatory bans — is not always consistent with the parties' commercial expectations. Bond Stone drafts force majeure clauses that are specific to the transaction risk (logistics, currency, regulatory approval), include a notice procedure and mitigation obligation, and exclude events within the party's reasonable control from qualifying as force majeure under the contract.

Stage 1

Dispute Risk Assessment

Contract audit; liability analysis; quantum assessment; respondent asset profile; enforcement risk memo; go/no-go recommendation

Stage 2

Pre-Arbitration Demand

Formal reserved-rights letter; mandatory pre-claim notice compliance; settlement attempt; interim measure assessment; parallel asset preservation

Stage 3

Pleadings and Procedure

Statement of claim; arbitrator appointment; jurisdictional challenges; procedural timetable; document disclosure and production

Stage 4

Evidence and Hearing

Documentary evidence package; expert witnesses; witness statements; cross-examination preparation; closing submissions

Stage 5

Award Enforcement

Exequatur application; KZ court enforcement; AIFC Court enforcement (IAC awards); cross-border asset recovery; Turkish enforcement of ISTAC awards; İlamsız Takip debt claims