Mandatory Rules In International Arbitration

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.

"...[papers] originally presented at a colloquium on Mandatory rules of law in international arbitration held at Columbia Law School in June 2007 and organized by Professor George A. Bermann of Columbia Law School and Professor Loukas A. Mistelis of the School of International Arbitration, Queen Mary University of London" -- P. vii.

Irrespective of the increasing harmonization of law at the transnational level, every arbitration raises a number of confl ict of laws problems relating to procedural questions as well as to issues concerning the merits of the case. Unlike a state court judge, the arbitrator has no "lex fori" in the proper sense providing the relevant confl ict rules to determine the applicable law. This raises the question of what confl ict of laws rules to apply and, consequently, of the extent of the freedom the arbitrator enjoys in dealing with this and related issues. The best example of the importance of confl ict of laws questions in arbitration is the Vivendi-Elektrim saga where the outcome of the various proceedings depended on the question of characterization. This very beneficial book is dealing with - the arbitration agreement, - the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, - the law applicable to the merits and - the arbitration procedure.

No field of legal scholarship or practice operates in the world of private international law as continuously and pervasively as does international arbitration, commercial and investment alike. Arbitration’s dependence on private international law manifests itself throughout the life-cycle of arbitration, from the crafting of an enforceable arbitration agreement, through the entire arbitral process, to the time an award comes before a national court for annulment or for recognition and enforcement. Thus international arbitration provides both arbitral tribunals and courts with constant challenges. Courts may come to the task already equipped with longstanding private international law assumptions, but international arbitrators must largely find their own way through the private international law thicket. Arbitrators and courts take guidance in their private international law inquiries from multiple sources: party agreement, institutional rules, treaties, the national law of competing jurisdictions and an abundance of “soft law”, some of which may even be regarded as expressing an international standard. In a world of this sort, private international law resourcefulness is fundamental.

"This important book will be of great interest to arbitration lawyers, international lawyers and business people, as well as to academics, libraries, and students of dispute resolution."--Publisher's website.

International Arbitration: Law and Practice (Third Edition) provides comprehensive and authoritative coverage of the basic principles and legal doctrines, and the practice, of international arbitration. The book contains a systematic, but concise, treatment of all aspects of the arbitral process, including international arbitration agreements, international arbitral proceedings and international arbitral awards. The Third Edition guides both students and practitioners through the entire arbitral process, beginning with drafting, enforcing and interpreting international arbitration agreements, to selecting arbitrators and conducting arbitral proceedings, to recognizing, enforcing and seeking to annul arbitral awards. The book is written in clear, accessible language, suited for both law students and non-specialist practitioners, as well as more experienced readers. This highly regarded work addresses both international commercial arbitration and the related fields of investment and state-to-state arbitration and is essential reading for any student of international arbitration and any practitioner seeking a complete introduction to the field. The Third Edition has been comprehensively updated to include recent legislative amendments, judicial decisions and arbitral awards. Among other things, the book provides detailed treatment of the New York Convention, the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, all leading institutional arbitration rules (including ICC, SIAC, LCIA, AAA and others), the ICSID Convention and ICSID Arbitration Rules, and judicial decisions from leading jurisdictions. The Third Edition is integrated with the author’s classic International Commercial Arbitration and with the online Born International Arbitration Lectures, enabling students, teachers and practitioners to explore particular topics in more detail. About the Author: Gary B. Born is the world’s leading authority on international arbitration and litigation. He has practiced extensively in both fields in Europe, the United States, Asia and elsewhere. He is the author of International Commercial Arbitration (Kluwer Law International 3rd ed. 2021), International Arbitration and Forum Selection Agreements: Drafting and Enforcing (Kluwer Law International 6th ed. 2021), International Commercial Arbitration: Cases and Materials (Aspen 3rd ed. 2021) and International Civil Litigation in United States Courts (Aspen 6th ed. 2018).

Public policy is a key concept for international arbitration and is practically relevant because public policy is enshrined in the New York Convention and almost all national laws as a ground to resist enforcement or to annul an arbitral award. However, due to its theoretical complexity and dynamic nature, it has been acknowledged as being one of the most misused grounds and the approach of arbitration scholars to the topic has also often been fragmentary. Public Policy and Mandatory Laws in International Arbitration offers a comprehensive account of a key concept for international arbitraion by two leading experts in the field. The book puts forward the argument that it is easier and more apposite to identify principles of public policy at a regional level or at a level where several states share a common legal background and tradition. The book focuses on common law principles of public policy, and public policy in English law in particular. The authors use their extensive experience and research to analyze the concept of public policy, and identify the key principles of public policy and mandatory rules of common law states in international arbitration.

International commercial arbitration raises issues other than the choice of the law applicable to the principal contract. Autonomy may have a wider meaning, extending beyond the choice of applicable law to the choice of arbitration itself, and of the place or places where it is to be conducted. Nor is it altogether clear what the forum is, if any. This paper raises the fundamental question of what gives the arbitrator his or her competence--the will of the parties or the law of the seat of arbitration which the parties may, or may not, have chosen? The paper also suggests an answer to the questions of which choice of law rules, if any, should be applied by the arbitrators, to what extent arbitrators will apply mandatory rules (règles d'application immédiate), as well as which law governs the procedural aspects and whether it has to be the procedural law of a national system. The new English Arbitration Act 1996 has also been taken into account.