An arbitration is commenced by submitting a request for arbitration to the NAI administrator (secretariaat@nai-nl.org). The application form is completely free. You can use the download request form, but you can also fill in the form below - see the steps mentioned below - and send it to the NAI administrator. The arbitration will be deemed to have been commenced on the date the request is received by the administrator (NAI Arbitration Rules, hereinafter “Rules”, Article 7(1)).

The requirements a request for arbitration must meet are stated in Article 7(2) of the Rules. It should be noted that, if the request does not meet the requirements stated in Article 7(2), the administrator will contact the claimant in order to obtain additional information or amendment of the request as necessary. The administrator shall be authorised to suspend handling the request, this may lead to a delay in dealing with the request (Article 7(3)). The administrator will send one copy of the request to the respondent and invite him to respond to the request in a short answer (Article 8(1)).

The request for arbitration and the short answer serve as an introduction to the arbitral proceedings and are designed to further the process of appointing arbitrators. They do not prejudice the right of the parties to submit a statement of claim or a statement of defence (Article 9(1)).

The special requirements a request for summary arbitral proceedings must meet are stated in Article 36.