New Finnish Arbitration Act will bring about significant reforms to modernize Finnish arbitration law

Insights|July 2, 2026

On 25 June 2026, the Finnish Government issued its proposal for a new Arbitration Act (välitysmenettelylaki). The new Act will replace the current Arbitration Act of 1993. The key objective of the reform is for Finland to achieve model law status and to bring Finnish arbitration law into line with international best practice. The Act is expected to enter into force in spring 2027.

The reforms include the following key changes:

No written form requirement for arbitration agreements

Under the current Arbitration Act, an arbitration agreement must be recorded in writing. In line with international practice, the new Act will abolish this requirement.

Ability to challenge arbitrators and jurisdictional decisions during proceedings

The new Act will give parties the right to challenge the impartiality and independence of arbitrators while the arbitration is ongoing. Similarly, parties will be able to challenge both negative and positive jurisdictional decisions issued by the tribunal while the proceedings are ongoing. The challenge must be raised within 30 days of the tribunal’s ruling being served.

For both types of challenge, the new Act expressly provides that, at its discretion, the tribunal may continue the proceedings and issue a final award, irrespective of any challenge to its impartiality or jurisdiction.

Interim measures by the tribunal

Finnish-seated arbitral tribunals will have concurrent jurisdiction with general courts to grant interim measures. Subject only to limited grounds for refusal, the Helsinki Court of Appeal will confirm, upon a party’s request, that the interim relief ordered by the tribunal is enforceable. A party seeking to enforce interim relief issued by a tribunal will need to deposit appropriate security with the National Enforcement Authority.

Unified challenge regime for set-aside actions

Under the current Arbitration Act, a set-aside action for most types of procedural irregularity must be brought within three months of the award being served. However, for a limited set of issues (such as public policy), the three-month time limit does not apply, and a party can request that a court declare the award null and void at any time. Under the new Act, the concept of nullity is abolished, and all set-aside actions irrespective of their legal basis will be subject to a 60-day time limit from when the award is served.

Centralized judicial oversight of arbitration proceedings

Arbitration-related proceedings before the general courts will be handled by the Helsinki Court of Appeal as the court of first instance for most types of claims, including set-aside actions, enforcement applications, and arbitrator challenges. The District Court of Western Uusimaa will have jurisdiction over a subset of less significant matters, including challenges against arbitrators’ fees and the nomination of arbitrators in ad hoc proceedings.

New rules on multi-party and multi-contract proceedings

The new Act will introduce dedicated rules on proceedings involving multiple parties or contracts, including consolidation. These revisions will improve the efficiency of ad hoc arbitration without affecting institutional arbitration, as all of the leading institutions’ rules already contain provisions on multi-party and multi-contract arbitration.