International Contracts And National Economic Regulation Dispute Resolution Through International Commercial Arbitration

The growth of national economic regulation and the process of globalisation increasingly expose international transactions to an array of regulations from different jurisdictions. These developments often contribute to widespread international contractual failures when parties claim the incompatibility of their contractual obligations with regulatory laws. The author challenges conventional means of dispute resolution and argues for an interdisciplinary approach whereby disciplines such as international economic law, conflict of laws, contract law and economic regulations are functionally united to resolve international and multifaceted regulatory disputes. He identifies the normative foundation of contract law as an important determinant in this process, contending that contract law is essentially neutral and underpinned by the concept of corrective justice, while economic regulations are mainly prompted by distributive justice. Applying this corrective/distributive justice dichotomy to international contracts, the author critically assesses major conflict of laws approaches such as `proper law', `the Rome Convention' and `governmental interest analysis', which could disregard either public interest or private rights. The author, taking these theories into account, proposes an alternative two-dimensional interest analysis approach. He tests the viability of this approach with reference to arbitral awards and court decisions in various jurisdictions and concludes that it uniquely fits into the structure of international commercial arbitration. In adopting this approach arbitrators would take into account both corrective and distributive justice, and to the extent that corrective justice prevails, would be able to avert a total failure of the contract.

Increased economic interdependencies and trade flows between states, innovations in information technology and computer networks, a global shift toward market economies and regional and multilateral trade arrangements, have all led to an increasingly globalized world economy. The Forces of Economic Globalization: Challenges to the Regime of International Commercial Arbitration examines some of the challenges facing the regime of international commercial arbitration in the contemporary global economy. It considers the debates concerning the transformation of the global order and the role of nation states within the context of international commercial arbitration. Issues discussed include the transformative effect of economic globalization, the role of the epistemic community and the increased institutionalization within the international arbitral regime, the nationalization of international commercial arbitration and the denationalization and harmonization trends, the competitive nature of legislative reform, convergence and divergence in the international arbitral process, multilateralism and regionalism, market modernization and transnationalism, globalization and lex mercatoria, and the development of online arbitration schemes in cyberspace. This book seeks to analyze the inner penetration of a form of world polity or transnational order ? comprised of part epistemic community, institutional networks, national laws and multilateral conventions, norms, rules, principles and transnational ideology ? on the traditional notion of state sovereignty within the international arbitral regime. The book will interest practitioners and academics with an interest in international commercial arbitration.

The second edition of Gary Born's International Commercial Arbitration is an authoritative 4,408 page treatise, in three volumes, providing the most comprehensive commentary and analysis, on all aspects of the international commercial arbitration process, that is available. The first edition of International Commercial Arbitration is widely acknowledged as the preeminent commentary in the field. It was awarded the 2011 Certificate of Merit by the American Society of International Law and was voted the International Dispute Resolution Book of the Year by the Oil, Gas, Mining and Infrastructure Dispute Management list serve in 2010. The first edition has been extensively cited in national court decisions and arbitral awards around the world. The treatise comprehensively examines the law and practice of contemporary international commercial arbitration, thoroughly explicating all relevant international conventions, national arbitration statutes and institutional arbitration rules. It focuses on both international instruments (particularly the New York Convention) and national law provisions in all leading jurisdictions (including the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration). Practitioners, academics, clients, institutions and other users of international commercial arbitration will find clear and authoritative guidance in this work. The second edition of International Commercial Arbitration has been extensively revised, expanded and updated, to include all material legislative, judicial and arbitral authorities in the field of international arbitration prior to January 2014. It also includes expanded treatment of annulment, recognition of awards, counsel ethics, arbitrator independence and impartiality and applicable law. Overview of volumes: Volume I, covering International Arbitration Agreements,provides a comprehensive discussion of international commercial arbitration agreements. It includes chapters dealing with the legal framework for enforcing international arbitration agreements; the separability presumption; choice of law; formation and validity; nonarbitrability; competence-competence and the allocation of jurisdictional competence; the effects of arbitration agreements; interpretation and non-signatory issues. Volume II, covering International Arbitration Procedures, provides a detailed discussion of international arbitral procedures. It includes chapters dealing with the legal framework for international arbitral proceedings; the selection, challenge and replacement of arbitrators; the rights and duties of international arbitrators; selection of the arbitral seat; arbitration procedures; disclosure and discovery; provisional measures; consolidation, joinder and intervention; choice of substantive law; confidentiality; and legal representation and standards of professional conduct. Volume III, dealing with International Arbitral Awards, provides a detailed discussion of the issues arising from international arbitration awards. It includes chapters covering the form and contents of awards; the correction, interpretation and supplementation of awards; the annulment and confirmation of awards; the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards; and issues of preclusion, lis pendens and staredecisis.

Arbitration is the normal and preferred mode for resolving international commercial disputes. It presents an essential advantage over national courts by offering neutrality of adjudication, but is currently only available where both parties have consented to it. This innovative book proposes a fundamental rethink of this assumption and argues that arbitration should become the default mode of resolution in international commercial disputes.

Energy projects in Latin America are a major contributor to economic growth worldwide. This book is the first to offer a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of specific issues arising from energy and natural resources contracts and disputes in the region, covering a wide range of procedural, substantive, and socio-legal issues. The book also includes how states have shifted from passive business partners to more active controlling players. The book contains an extensive treatment and examination of the particularities of arbitration practice in Latin America, including arbitrability, public order, enforcement, and the complex public-private nature of energy transactions. Specialists experienced in resolving international energy and natural disputes throughout the region provide detailed analysis of such issues and topics, including: state-owned entities as co-investors or contracting parties; role of environmental law, indigenous rights and public participation; issues related to political changes, corruption, and quantification of damages; climate change, renewable energy, and the energy transition; force majeure, hardship, and price reopeners; arbitration in the electricity sector; take-or-pay contracts; recognition and enforcement of awards; tension between stabilization clauses and human rights; mediation as a method for dispute settlement in the energy and natural resources sector; and different comparative approaches taken by national courts in key Latin American jurisdictions. The book also delivers a clear explanation on the impact made to the arbitration process by Covid-19, emerging laws, changes of political circumstances, the economic global trends in the oil & gas market, the energy transition, and the rise of new technologies. This invaluable book will be welcomed by in-house lawyers, government officials, as well as academics and rest of the arbitration community involved in international arbitration with particular interest in the energy and natural resources sector.

Overriding Mandatory Rules in International Commercial Arbitration discusses the applicability of mandatory rules of law in international commercial arbitration and addresses the concerns of the arbitrators and judges at various stages of arbitration and the enforcement of the award.

The book deals with confidentiality as one of the most controversial issues in international commercial arbitration. On the one hand, it is widely recognized that confidentiality is an important advantage of arbitration which contributes to its attractiveness. On the other hand, there is no uniform regulation in national legislations, arbitration rules, and other relevant sources as to the scope or even to the existence of a duty of confidentiality. A uniform approach to confidentiality of international commercial arbitration is possible. The best way to achieve it would be through harmonization of national arbitration laws which should impose a confidentiality obligation subject to certain exceptions. The purpose of maintaining confidentiality would be to protect primarily the parties from undesirable leaks that can be avoided and to protect arbitration as an institution. As to a systematic publication of arbitral awards without identifying the parties’ identity, it is desirable and should be the goal.

The collected papers in ICCA Congress Series no. 11, as reflected in its title, address important contemporary questions in international commercial arbitration. Included are contributions written by participants in the UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration and Conciliation on its current work on the requirement of a written form for an arbitration agreement, interim measures of protection and UNCITRAL?s Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation. Further contributions give leading practitioners? views on illegality in the formation and performance of contracts or in the conduct of the arbitration, examining questions on how the arbitral tribunal should deal with these vexed issues and how forgery and fraud may be detected. The factors that lead to acceptance by parties of the decisions of arbitrators are dealt with in contributions on the psychological aspects of dispute resolution. The volume concludes with a series of articles on arbitration under investment treaties written by experienced arbitrators and practitioners, with special emphasis on ICSID and NAFTA and the emerging issues of transparency, accountability and review. Contains lengthy articles on the ongoing work of UNCITRAL on proposed amendments to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the recently adopted Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation Details the current thinking on the requirement of an arbitration agreement in writing and how this can be accommodated by the UNCITRAL Model Law and the 1958 New York Convention Addresses the granting of interim measures by arbitral tribunals and their enforcement by national and foreign courts Analyzes issues raised by illegality in the formation and performance of contracts and in the conduct arbitrations and provides a systematic overview of the answers given by legislation, arbitrators and courts Provides insight into the attitudes of arbitrators and parties regarding dispute settlement processes Addresses the changing public perception of arbitration under investment treaties