ELECTRONIC ARBITRATION AS A MEANS OF RESOLVING TOURIST DISPUTES 559 of the request for arbitration, as stated in the award. If admitted, the counterclaimant shall be given a period of fifteen days to present arguments or, as the case may be, to put forward evidence, delaying, if necessary, the hearing. This hearing may be undertaken in writing or orally, by any means that allow the direct communication of the parties that are present. The parties shall be summoned to it with sufficient notice and may present such arguments and evidence as they deem appropriate to assert their rights. The minutes of the hearing shall be signed by the secretary of the arbitration body. An important aspect within the process is that of evidence, the admission or rejection of which will be resolved by the arbitration body, which may propose, if it deems it appropriate, the practice of complementary evidence it considers essential to resolve the dispute. The agreement adopted by the arbitral body on the practice of evidence shall be notified to the parties, indicating the date, time and place of celebration and the summons for the practice, regarding those in which their presence is possible. As a general rule, the expenses incurred will be borne by the party proposing it, the common or coincident expenses divided in half and the ex officio expenses by the Consumer Arbitration Board or by the Administration to which it reports, depending on the budgetary availability29. The ruling that decides the controversy receives the name of arbitral award30, which will take place even if the parties are absent and inactive, being adopted by majority in the event that the body is collegiate, with the deciding vote being cast by the president in the absence of agreement. The period for issuing the award (except for the exceptions in Articles 49.1.2 and 49.2 RD 231/2008) will be six months, starting from the day following the commencement of the procedure, although it may be extended by the arbitration body for a period of no more than two months, unless the parties agree otherwise. The uniqueness of the telematic processing of the consumer arbitration procedure (in this case tourism) lies in its management. Specifically, in the possibility that the Consumer Arbitration Boards have, in the terms stated in their respective constitution agreements, of voluntarily ascribing themselves to an arbitration administration that’s substantiated by means of electronic systems 29 In electronic arbitration, when the practice of having evidence present is agreed, it shall be carried out by videoconference or by any technical means that allows the identification and direct communication of the appearing parties. 30 The form and content (always motivated) shall be governed by the provisions of Law 60/2003. As for the rest, an award will be issued terminating the actions or without entering into the substance of the matter in the cases of Articles 48.2 and 3 RD 231/2008.
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