BANI Arbitration Rules 2025 unveiled: Key changes, highlights, and what you need to know.

Overview

The Indonesian National Board of Arbitration (Badan Arbitrase Nasional Indonesia or “BANI”) has just unveiled its updated 2025 BANI Arbitration Rules and Procedures (2025 BANI Rules), ushering in a new set of guidelines to replace the 2022 BANI Arbitration Rules and Procedures (2022 BANI Rules).

The 2025 BANI Rules introduces several enhancements to its arbitration procedures, particularly concerning requests for arbitration in multi-party and/or multi-contract disputes, as well as the introduction of emergency arbitration. Further, it also sets out some key changes in its role as an appointing authority and a further refined rule on third-party joinders.

Under the 2025 BANI Rules, parties represented by foreign counsel are now required to appoint an Indonesian counsel to act alongside them. This requirement applies regardless of the governing law chosen for the dispute, effectively removing the previous limitation that tied the requirement to disputes governed by Indonesian law.

We set out below the key changes made by the 2025 BANI Rules.

Provisions on multi-party and/or multi-contract arbitration

Article 9 of the 2025 BANI Rules establishes clearer procedural guidelines for facilitating multi-party and/or multi-contract arbitration in BANI:

• Article 9(1) allows multiple claimants to submit a single Request for Arbitration, provided the claimants are related to one another.
• Article 9(2) allows parties to submit disputes arising from multiple contracts within a single Request for Arbitration, under the condition that the contracts are related to one another.

These provisions appear to establish a more defined procedure for multi-party and multi-contract arbitration in contrast to the previous 2022 BANI Rules, which only recognised multi-party arbitration in the context of appointing an arbitrator.

However, uncertainty remains as the 2025 BANI Rules do not define the threshold for determining when parties or contracts are considered “related”. As there is no established test for this, the decision to accept or reject a multi-party and/or multi-contract arbitration request may ultimately rest with BANI or the tribunal, depending on the procedural stage.

Introducing BANI’s emergency arbitration

As a new feature, the 2025 BANI Rules introduces an emergency arbitration mechanism under Article 17(5), enabling parties to seek urgent interim or conservatory relief before the arbitral tribunal is constituted.

The emergency arbitration procedure, as set out in Annex I of the 2025 BANI Rules, is summarised as follows:

1. Parties apply for emergency arbitration to BANI.
2. The BANI Chairman must appoint an emergency arbitrator two days after receiving the emergency arbitration application.
3. The first emergency arbitration hearing must be held within three days after an emergency arbitrator has been appointed.
4. An emergency arbitration decision must be rendered within 14 days after an emergency arbitrator has been appointed. The emergency arbitrator may provide an additional seven days if there exist reasonable grounds for an extension.

While practical enforcement may still present challenges, the inclusion of this mechanism is supported by Supreme Court Regulation No. 3 of 2023 (SC Regulation No.3), which outlines a formal procedure for executing security attachments.

Under SC Regulation No.3, the procedural framework for implementing security attachments in the context of arbitration has been clarified, an area that was previously left unclear and lacked detailed guidance under Article 32(1) of Law No. 30 of 1999 on Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (Arbitration Law).

BANI Chairman as an appointing authority in ad-hoc arbitration

Article 1(e) of the 2025 BANI Rules grants authority to the BANI Chairman as the appointing authority in ad-hoc arbitration. Although the explicit authority granted to the BANI Chairman plays a crucial role in establishing BANI’s function as the appointing authority in ad-hoc arbitration, the provisions regarding the cost of appointment have not been published by BANI, which remains to be clarified.

Threshold on third-party joinders

Under Article 9(3) of the 2025 BANI Rules, third parties may join arbitration if they have a "related interest", aligning with Article 30 of the Arbitration Law. This contrasts with the 2022 Rules, which lacked a specific threshold for a joinder.

Requirement for Indonesian counsel

Article 5(2) of the 2025 BANI Rules requires that parties represented by foreign counsel must also appoint an Indonesian counsel. This requirement applies regardless of the governing law, marking a shift from the previous rule, which only imposed this condition when disputes were governed by Indonesian law. This change appears aimed at striking a balance between promoting BANI as an attractive forum for cross-border disputes involving foreign counsel and ensuring compliance with domestic arbitration procedures under the Arbitration Law by requiring the retention of Indonesian counsel.

Effective date and transitional application of the 2025 BANI Rules

Although the 2025 BANI Rules do not contain specific transitional provisions, it is generally understood that the following approach applies in practice:

• Requests for arbitration submitted before January 2025 will continue to be governed by the 2022 BANI Rules, regardless of the arbitration clause.
• Requests submitted in or after January 2025 will be governed by the 2025 BANI Rules, even if the arbitration clause refers to the 2022 version.

This means that, as of January 2025, the 2022 BANI Rules are no longer in effect, and the 2025 Rules will apply by default to all new arbitration requests. Parties referencing the 2022 Rules in their contracts should be aware that those rules will not apply if arbitration is commenced in or after January 2025.

We will continue to closely monitor the implementation of the BANI Rules 2025, including any further clarification or guidance issued by BANI. As arbitration practices in Indonesia continue to develop, we will provide timely updates to ensure our clients remain informed of any significant legal or procedural changes.

Should you have any questions on how these changes may impact your existing or future arbitration agreements, please do not hesitate to contact us.