In its Judgment File No. 23 Cdo 991/2017 dated 27 March 2019, the Czech Supreme Court commented on the refund of a fee for arbitration conducted before the Arbitration Court attached to the Economic and Agricultural chambers of the Czech Republic. According to Section 5 of the Rules governing costs of proceedings, in case of domestic disputes, the Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and the Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic (hereinafter the “Arbitration Court”) must refund 50% of the difference between the fee calculated from the value of the dispute and the minimum fee if the plaintiff withdraws the petition within at least 7 days before the first hearing (even if the hearing is ordered repeatedly). The same rule applies in a case when a first hearing was ordered twice but was both times postponed at the request of the parties (who demanded more time for settlement negotiations) and the plaintiff withdrew the petition in the end when the settlement was reached (even before the Arbitration Court ordered another day of the first hearing).
