International commercial arbitration (ICA) in Russia is regulated by the Federal Law on International Commercial Arbitration of July 7, 1993. It is based on the 1985 UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration which was adopted in Russia with only two minor changes.

The Russian Federation participates, as a successor of the Soviet Union, in the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the 1958 New York Convention) and in the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (the 1961 Geneva Convention). In 1992, Russia signed the 1965 Washington Convention on Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of Other States but, to date, has not ratified it.

In addition to international conventions, Russia entered into numerous bilateral investment treaties, treaties on friendship, commerce and navigation, and treaties on cooperation in legal matters with many countries of the world. Such treaties often contain provisions regarding recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

Russian courts developed a line of decisions which demonstrate the "hands-off" judicial approach with respect to ICA. Recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards is granted in the majority of the cases, and control functions of the Russian courts under Article 34 of the UNCITRAL Model Law (Article 34 of the Russian Law on International Commercial Arbitration) are strictly limited. However, actual enforcement can be lengthy, costly and troublesome as obtaining a court decision on recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award does not, by itself, guarantee its execution.

Domestic arbitration in Russia is now governed by the new Federal Law on Arbitration Courts adopted on July 24, 2002. This Law has replaced the 1992 Temporary Regulation on Arbitration Courts for the Settlement of Economic Disputes. The Temporary Regulation applied to international arbitrations when parties to a contract expressly agreed to its implementation or if the contract referred disputes to an arbitration institution governed by the Temporary Regulation. The new Law on Arbitration Courts clearly states that it does not apply to international commercial arbitration (Art. 1.3).