The Evolution And Future Of International Arbitration

The School of International Arbitration of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London celebrated its 30th anniversary in April 2015 with a major conference featuring presentations by 35 international arbitration practitioners and scholars from many countries representing a variety of legal systems. This volume has emerged from that conference. What is striking is not only the range and diversity of the topics examined but also the emergence of new subjects for examination, demonstrating that arbitration law and practice do not stand still but are constantly evolving. The issues and topics covered include the following: - Evolution of case law and practice in international arbitration; - The concept and autonomy of arbitral award; - Parties in international arbitration; - Parallel proceedings in international arbitration; - Court review of arbitration awards; - Geographic expansion of international arbitration; - Counsel regulation and conflicts disclosures; - The use of technology in international arbitration; - Teaching and research in international arbitration. This superbly organised and edited volume, like earlier conference volumes from the School of International Arbitration, is sure to be welcomed and acclaimed, and like them will prove of lasting value.

What is it about international arbitration that makes it so open to evolution and adaptation? What are the main pressure points today and the unmet needs of stakeholders? What are the opportunities for expansion to new sectors and new audiences? What are the drivers for change, the obstacles and the risks? And equally important, what are the core principles that should never be lost? These were the topics of the Twenty-Fourth ICCA Congress, held in Sydney, Australia, in April 2018, the proceedings of which are collected in this volume. The volume highlights arbitration as a ‘living organism’ that has adapted in the past to various challenges, and that today – under attack from various quarters – might need to demonstrate its adaptability again. Accordingly, the contributions address the evolving needs of users, the impact of the rapidly changing face of technology, the expectations of the public, and the convergence and divergence of different aspects of legal traditions and cultures. Topical issues of interest for practitioners, academics, and students of arbitration include the following: legitimacy and authority of arbitrators, institutions and professional organizations to act as lawmakers; investment treaty reform, with particular reference to the definition of ‘investment,’ the evolution of substantive treaty standards, and sustainable development obligations; commercial arbitration reform, including issues of public and private interest, the development of common law, and cost, delay and transparency concerns; revisiting party autonomy in choosing decision-makers, including through institutional appointments or investment courts; equality of arms, the economics of access, and the role of costs and third-party funding; public-private disputes and special issues that arise when State entities arbitrate; public participation and transparency, and their effect on both ISDS and commercial arbitration; revisiting conventional wisdom in organizing arbitral proceedings; lessons to be learned from other dispute resolution frameworks; technology as friend and enemy, including new tools, new threats, and cybersecurity; arbitration of disputes in conflict and post-conflict zones; inter-generational blame and praise in investment arbitration; and the emergence of sovereign wealth funds as arbitration participants. A special section on ‘New Frontiers in Arbitration’ offers enlightening perspectives on new types of claims and new types of stakeholders likely to affect the future of international arbitration, including the potential for climate change disputes and enlarged participation.

The development of international arbitration as an autonomous legal order comprises one of the most remarkable stories of institution building at the global level over the past century. Today, transnational firms and states settle their most important commercial and investment disputes not in courts, but in arbitral centres, a tightly networked set of organizations that compete with one another for docket, resources, and influence. In this book, Alec Stone Sweet and Florian Grisel show that international arbitration has undergone a self-sustaining process of institutional evolution that has steadily enhanced arbitral authority. This judicialization process was sustained by the explosion of trade and investment, which generated a steady stream of high stakes disputes, and the efforts of elite arbitrators and the major centres to construct arbitration as a viable substitute for litigation in domestic courts. For their part, state officials (as legislators and treaty makers), and national judges (as enforcers of arbitral awards), have not just adapted to the expansion of arbitration; they have heavily invested in it, extending the arbitral order's reach and effectiveness. Arbitration's very success has, nonetheless, raised serious questions about its legitimacy as a mode of transnational governance. The book provides a clear causal theory of judicialization, original data collection and analysis, and a broad, relatively non-technical overview of the evolution of the arbitral order. Each chapter compares international commercial and investor-state arbitration, across clearly specified measures of judicialization and governance. Topics include: the evolution of procedures; the development of precedent and the demand for appeal; balancing in the public interest; legitimacy debates and proposals for systemic reform. This book is a timely assessment of how arbitration has risen to become a key component of international economic law and why its future is far from settled.

Comments on the Speech of the Singapore Attorney General /Doug Jones --The Need for More Information in Investment Arbitration /Makhdoom Ali Khan --The Korean Perspective on International Arbitration Today and Tomorrow /Kap-You (Kevin) Kim --Is There a "Global Free-standing Body of Substantive Arbitration Law"? /Julian D.M. Lew --How Asia Will Change International Arbitration /Michael J. Moser --Is the Free-Market of Adjudication Dysfunctional? /Alexis Mourre --Achievable Reforms /Lucy Reed --Harmonization of Arbitration Law in the Asia-Pacific Region/David A.R. Williams --A Perspective from China /Ariel Ye --Agreeing To and Initiating Arbitration: Introduction /James Castello and Domitille Baizeau --Survivals and New Arrivals /Aníbal Sabater --Reflections on the Selection of Arbitrators in International Arbitration /Yu Jin Tay --Commencing Arbitration /Cavinder Bull --Commencing Arbitration: Contemporary Paradoxes and Problems /Dominic Roughton --Evidence and Hearings /Anne K. Hoffmann and Nish Shetty --The Tribunal Resolves the Dispute: Introduction to the Session /Audley Sheppard --Compétence-compétence - The Power of an Arbitral Tribunal to Decide the Existence and Extent of its Own Jurisdiction /Jakob Ragnwaldh --A Survey of National Laws and Practices on Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in South and South East Asia /Minn Naing Oo --The Enforcement of Interim Measures Ordered by Tribunals and Emergency Arbitrators in International Arbitration /Chester Brown --The Tribunal Resolves the Dispute: Summary of the Discussion /Audley Sheppard and Chester Brown --Choices and Strategies: A Rules-Based Look at Different Approaches to International Arbitration in the Wake of UNCITRAL's 2010 Rules Revision Relating to Costs /Judith Gill --How to Mitigate Legal and Arbitration Costs: Considerations by a User /Jean-Claude Najar --Legal and Arbitration Costs: Session Summary /Siegfied H. Elsing and John M. Townsend --Arbitral Secretaries /Constantine Partasides, Niuscha Bassiri, Ulrike Gantenberg, Leilah Bruton and Andrew Riccio --Transcending National Legal Orders for International Arbitration /Emmanuel Gaillard --Is There a Real Need for Transcending National Legal Orders in International Arbitration? Some Reflections Concerning Abusive Interference from the Courts at the Seat of the Arbitration /Sébastien Besson --Do Transnational Rules Matter? /Frédéric Bachand --The Relationship Between International Arbitration and the National Judge: Introduction /Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler --Crossing the "Public/Private" Divide: Saipem v. Bangladesh and Other Crossover Cases /José E. Alvarez --The Framework of the International Arbitration System: the Challenge Derived from the Improper Conduct of Judicial Courts /Adriana Braghetta --The Relationship Between International Arbitration and the National Judge: Panel Discussion /Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler and Eva Kalnina --Safeguarding the Fair Conduct of Proceedings - Presentation at Breakout Session C3 /R. Doak Bishop --Safeguarding the Fair Conduct of Proceedings - Report /R. Doak Bishop and Margrete Stevens --A Pause for Thought /Toby Landau and J. Romesh Weeramantry --The Future of European Union Investment Policy: Navigating Between a High Level of Investment Protection and Increasing Demands for "Policy Space"--Lessons from the US Experience /Kap-You (Kevin) Kim and John P. Bang --The Future of ICSID, Ad Hoc Committees, Appelate Tribunals, International Investment Courts and Investment Arbitration: Introduction /Brigitte Stern --The Evolution of the ICSID System as an Indication of What the Future Might Hold /J. Christopher Thomas --Seeking Consistency in Investment Arbitration: The Evolution of ICSID and Alternatives for Reform /Andrea Menaker --The Future of ICSID, Ad Hoc Committees, Appelate Tribunals, International Investment Courts and Investment Arbitration: Summary of the Debate /Emmanuelle Cabrol --General Lessons for the New Technological Age of International Arbitration: Opening Remarks /William K. Slate Ii --Arbitration and New Technologies /Philippe Pinsolle --Introduction to Opus 2 Magnum Presentation /Mark Oliver Saville Of Newdigate --Opus 2 Magnum Presentation /Steven W. Fleming --Online Arbitration: Tradition Conceptions and Innovative Trends /Mohamad Salahudine Abdel Wahab --Judicial Debate on the General Theme: "State Courts and International Arbitration: The Future."

Examining a developing culture of international commercial arbitration and the implications for the evolution of contract law, this book includes case studies and analysis from interviews with international arbitrators and national court judges, and identifies trends to explain and predict arbitration decisions on issues of substantive law.

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.

This second volume of the AIIB Yearbook of International Law examines the role of international organizations in promoting effective dispute resolution. It is divided into five parts to reflect a series of overarching themes and relationships. Firstly, international arbitration’s effectiveness and affinity with multilateral institutions. Second, international organizations as proponents of the norms of dispute resolution. Third, the dispute resolution mandates of international organizations. Fourth, the role of dispute resolution and economic development. Together, this diversity of perspectives offers convincing evidence that effective dispute resolution is a precondition to successful economic development—and that international organizations have an essential role to play in promoting both. The fifth part presents the 2018 AIIB Law Lecture given by Georg Nolte, Chair of the International Law Commission, on the subject of ‘International Organizations in the Recent Work of the International Law Commission’ and the 2018 AIIB Legal Conference Report.

Economic Analysis of the Arbitrator’s Function Bruno Guandalini Arbitration has become an important market, where arbitrators are rational economic agents maximizing their utility. Although this is self-evident, it is rarely discussed. This penetrating book is the first to comprehensively analyze the market for arbitrators and arbitrators’ economic role within it. In great depth, the author tackles such salient issues as the following: effect of perceived inefficiencies and high costs on arbitration legitimacy; alleged commercialization of the arbitrator’s function; possible ethical problem raised by financial remuneration for rendering justice; what motivates a person to arbitrate; market for arbitrators’ functioning and failures, providing a better understanding of how actors could behave in such a specific market; structural and artificial entry barriers; effect of an arbitrator’s strategic behavior on the arbitrator’s function; limitations on an arbitrator’s rationality; and preventing and correcting these limitations. Numerous references to customs and procedures in major arbitral jurisdictions and to international laws and conventions affecting the efficiency of the arbitrator’s function are included. Pursuing a non-prescriptive analysis, the author draws on the discipline of law and economics, rational choice theory, behavioral economics, and psychological work on bounded rationality. Understanding the arbitrator’s function as a legal institution that is influenced by the market, this pioneer in developing and systematizing the study of the market for arbitrators and how it works will prove of inestimable value to all stakeholders in the arbitration market. Arbitrators, policymakers, regulators, and academics will be enabled to open the way to a more efficient market for arbitrators and betterment in arbitration worldwide.