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The NAI was established as a foundation in 1949 in order to promote arbitration, binding advice and mediation as a means of resolving and settling disputes. This is done in particular by offering the business community sound and tested rules for the various proceedings and by providing assistance in these proceedings. The NAI is independent, it is not a government institution and it does not receive any subsidy from the government or any other institution. The NAI is a non-profit foundation. Its income and expenditure are coordinated such that neither profit nor loss is made.
The Board of the NAI consists of representatives from the business community, the legal profession and science, all of whom have extensive experience in the field of arbitration. Names of the members of the Board.
You can request the NAI Rules free of charge from the NAI Secretariat. You can also download the Rules.
“All disputes arising in connection with the present agreement, or further agreements resulting therefrom, shall be settled in accordance with the Arbitration Rules of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute.”
Click here for an overview of the texts of all NAI clauses.
In most cases, it is preferable to use the recommended standard texts. These contain a formulation that, in practice, has shown to cause the fewest problems. Nonetheless, there are circumstances where arbitration, binding advice and mediation clauses are customised. In those cases, the NAI gives advice regarding the draft clause.
Clauses in which certain disputes are submitted to arbitration and other disputes are submitted to binding advice and/or the ordinary court are generally not recommended. The reason is that it will not always be clear whether a dispute must be submitted to arbitrators or binding advisors and/or the regular court.
You can consult the following NAI Annual reports (in Dutch):
Frequently asked questions about the Netherlands Arbitration Institute
For more in depth knowledge, a list with recommended literature is available