Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration, now in its 5th edition, is widely regarded as one of the leading texts on the law and practice of international arbitration. Although this source focuses on practitioners and arbitrators, it covers both the theory and practice of international arbitration, contains in-depth discussions on all aspects of arbitration, and draws on arbitral awards from arbitration institutions around the world to illustrate their discussions. Most of the documents contained in the printed resource are also available online through Kluwer Arbitration. Mealey`s International Arbitration Report, available in print and online through LexisNexis, is a monthly newsletter covering arbitration and related disputes before international and national courts around the world. The report contains articles, news, case summaries, lists of lawyers and full-text court documents related to international arbitration. International commercial arbitration is a means of settling disputes arising from international trade treaties. It serves as an alternative to litigation and is governed mainly by the clauses previously agreed by the parties and not by national law or procedural rules. Most contracts include a dispute resolution clause that states that all disputes arising out of the contract will be dealt with by arbitration, not by litigation. The parties may indicate the forum, the rules of procedure and the law in force at the time of the contract. Arbitration can be “institutional” or “ad hoc”. The terms of the contract determine the type of arbitration. If the parties have agreed that an arbitration institution will administer the dispute, this is institutional arbitration.
If the parties have established their own arbitration rules, this is an ad hoc arbitration. Ad hoc arbitration proceedings shall be conducted independently of the parties responsible for deciding the forum, the number of arbitrators, the procedure to be followed and all other aspects of the administration of the arbitration. In particular, many lex arbitri, as well as the applicable institutional rules, empower arbitrators to directly apply the law (or rules of law) they deem appropriate (the so-called direct approach) when determining the lex contractus. This is provided for, for example, in Article 1511 of the French Code of Civil Procedure (see also a brief discussion here, question 6), Article 21(1) of the 2017 ICC Rules and Article 22(3) of the 2020 LCIA Rules. It also means that, unlike national judges, arbitrators are generally not required to follow the conventional conflict-of-laws approach (the so-called indirect approach), although in practice they could be guided by widely accepted conflict-of-laws rules. This means that creditors of the award must take into account the fact that, in the State in which they wish to enforce an arbitral award and effectively seize the assets of the responsible party, national enforcement rules and judicial proceedings are also applicable. While this may seem complex, it is advantageous over litigation where a court decision may not be enforceable at all in a foreign jurisdiction. Directories are annual publications designed to provide the reader with updates to the law that have taken place over the past year. Arbitration directories may contain articles on new developments in international arbitration law, case notes or texts of arbitral awards, new laws and treaties, and other information. As already mentioned, experience shows that the choice of an appropriate national legal system is the most common choice in international trade agreements. The choice of a particular national law may be justified by its binding nature on the Contracting Parties; or perhaps simply because the parties see it as a well-suited legal system for regulating modern trade relations.
“Many treaties involve the choice of law of a particular country, although they have no connection with that country. For example, construction contracts, freight, freight and freight contracts, unitary and conscience contracts, and insurance contracts often contain the choice of English law, as English commercial law reflects and meets the needs of modern international trade. Depending on the substantive law agreed by the parties, you will also need to find laws, cases and other sources of national law. Research guides and other sources, such as the Foreign Law Guide and country profiles on GlobaLex, help to find a country`s national laws in printed form, in commercial databases and on the free Internet. For parties to international contracts, it is essential to include applicable law in order to improve predictability and avoid costs and wasted time for disputes over the applicable law in the event of a dispute. Each country has its own lex arbitri, which is part of its domestic law and can be incorporated into its Code of Civil Procedure, as is the case, for example, in France (French arbitration) and Germany (German arbitration), or as an “autonomous” law, as is the English Arbitration Act 1996 (see also our commentary on the English Arbitration Act 1996 here). A complete list of most national arbitration laws can be found here. Peter Ashford`s Handbook of International Commercial Arbitration, 2nd ed., provides an up-to-date discussion of each stage of arbitration and is accompanied by a CD-ROM containing sample submissions, correspondence and other documents to assist practitioners in arbitration. International Arbitration and Mediation: A Practical Guide by Michael McIlwrath and John Savage provides detailed and simple discussions on each step of the arbitration process, as well as the mechanisms for negotiating and drafting an international dispute settlement agreement. The focus is on early case assessment and cost analysis, as well as alternatives to arbitration such as mediation and arb-med. The book contains model dispute settlement clauses and arbitration documents, as well as a comprehensive bibliography of general and specialized arbitration treaties and documents, as well as a list of websites and other online resources on arbitration.
International Arbitration and Mediation: A practical guide is available in print and online through Kluwer Arbitration. “As already stated in the discussion of contracts in which a state agency is involved, one of the main fears of commercial organizations that have commercial or other business relations with a sovereign state is that after concluding the basis of the contract and signing the contract, the state may change its own law to the detriment of the private party.” Therefore, one solution is to apply national law only to the extent that it is in conformity either with international law or with another system with recognized minimum standards. .