DUSHANBE, October 24, 2008, Asia-Plus — The CIS Economic Court Plenum will hold a meeting in Dushanbe on November 4, according to the Tajik MFA. .
The Plenum is an appellate instance of the Court, reviewing decisions of the chambers of the Court. The Plenum consists of regular judges and chief justices of economic or commercial courts of member states.
The Economic Court, which has its seat in Minsk, Belarus, was established under the Agreement on the Statute of the Economic Court, approved by the Council of Heads of State of the CIS on July 6, 1992. All member states of the CIS, except Turkmenistan and Ukraine, signed the 1992 Agreement. Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan ratified the 1992 Agreement and the 1992 Statute of the Economic Court.
As a formal matter, the Economic Court became a judicial organ of the CIS only after the adoption of the CIS Charter in 1993.
The Economic Court operates at two levels: as a court of first instance and as an appellate court. Decisions of the chambers of the Economic Court may be challenged in the Plenum of the Economic Court. From an organizational perspective, both the Economic Court and the Plenum of the Economic Court are separate parts of the same institution—the Economic Court of the CIS.
All contentious cases in the first instance are heard by the chambers of the Economic Court, while advisory opinions are rendered by the full Court.
The Chairperson of the Economic Court and Deputy Chairpersons are elected by a simple majority of judges for a term of five years. However, their appointment requires subsequent formal approval of the Council of Heads of State.
The present Chairman of the CIS Economic Court is Fayzullo Abdulloyev of Tajikistan.
At present the member nations of the CIS Economic Court are Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
