“You say po-tay-to; I say pot-ah-to” – a Belgian perspective on the right of access to justice in arbitration matters Commentary on Belgian Supreme Court (Cour de cassation/Hof van Cassatie), 7 November 2019 - b-Arbitra | Belgian Review of Arbitration View “You say po-tay-to; I say pot-ah-to” – a Belgian perspective on the right of access to justice in arbitration matters Commentary on Belgian Supreme Court (Cour de cassation/Hof van Cassatie), 7 November 2019 by - b-Arbitra | Belgian Review of Arbitration “You say po-tay-to; I say pot-ah-to” – a Belgian perspective on the right of access to justice in arbitration matters Commentary on Belgian Supreme Court (Cour de cassation/Hof van Cassatie), 7 November 2019 2020 1

Summary

Where none of the parties to the arbitration agreement are Belgian or based in Belgium, and the arbitration rules provide for an appeal, the losing party in the arbitration which failed to pay the costs requested for the appeal, with the consequence that the appeal was deemed to be withdrawn, is admissible to launch a setting aside proceeding before the Court of First Instance where such costs constitute a manifestly unreasonable financial burden.

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