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A Call for Rethinking International Arbitration: A TWAIL Perspective on Transnationality and Epistemic Community

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• Published: 18 May 2023
• Volume 35 , pages 405–424, ( 2024 )

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• Mansour Vesali Mahmoud 1 &
• Hosna Sheikhattar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7616-6862 2  

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Despite the increasingly diversified discourses in international commercial arbitration, this device of socio-legal regulation remains a relatively under-theorized subject. In particular, far too little attention has been paid to analyzing international commercial arbitration through critical approaches such as Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL). TWAIL is broadly understood as a methodological reorientation in international law by highlighting the historical links between the foundations of this field of law and the history of capitalism and imperialism as well as the colonial and Eurocentric legacies in the structure and operation of the current international legal regime. With this in mind, two fronts in international commercial arbitration invite a reexamination through a TWAIL perspective and by drawing on the concept of hegemony. One front is the transnational account of arbitration, and the other one is the epistemic community of arbitration. By examining these two notions through a narrative of hegemony of Western legal traditions, we posit that any effective attempt at redefining or reforming arbitral governance structure towards sustaining diversity requires a deeper understanding of historical and current world power structures and creating a vision for the prospect of dehegemonization.

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Introduction

Far too little attention has been paid to analyzing international commercial arbitration from the critical perspectives, including the third world perspective. This gap is worth investigating because of the increasingly significant role of international commercial arbitration in global governance. In particular, the liberal orientation of contemporary global governance is under the influence of arbitration as a significant and predominant mode of dispute resolution in cross-border trade (Muir Watt 2020 ). A third world perspective, which criticizes the liberal world order (Bianchi 2016 ), has the potential to bring new light to the critical analysis of international commercial arbitration as a method of international dispute settlement.

There is no coherent and distinctive definition of the Third World Approach to International Law (TWAIL) because it involves distinct strands influenced by critical legal theory and other inclinations (Bianchi 2016 ). Notwithstanding the diversity of TWAIL perspectives and the heterogeneous group of its scholars and activists, TWAIL scholarship is united in its broad opposition to the current global international legal and economic order as well as promoting the development of an alternative normative legal framework for international governance (Mutua 2000 ). Specifically, TWAIL aims to advance a methodological reorientation in international law by highlighting the links between the foundations of this field of law and the history of capitalism and imperialism as well as the colonial and Eurocentric legacies in the structure and operation of the current international legal regime (Chimni 2013 ; Bianchi 2016 ; al Attar 2020 ). The focus of TWAIL has been on different areas of public international law and international economic law (Gathii 2011 ). While public international law is mainly concerned with inter-state relations, international economic law, in its broadest sense, extends to ‘all national and international legal norms that affect transnational movements of goods, services, capital and labor’ (Paul 1995 , p. 609). The broad definition of the latter field of law also covers international commercial arbitration. This poses the question of whether and to what extent international commercial arbitration can be a potential field of study from a TWAIL perspective.

The mainstream legal scholarship of the field of international economic law considers international commercial arbitration as a rule-oriented dispute settlement mechanism, where the influence of ideology or authority is minimal (Chimni 2013 ). Such an assumption can be put into question from a TWAIL perspective, which has a clear interest in bringing to the foreground the power relationships within the international community reflected in legal constructs. Nevertheless, TWAIL scholarship hardly makes specific references to international commercial arbitration as well as its political economy, institutional structures, and substantive impact. This may be partly explained by the fact that elements of politics and power relationships are not self-evidently at play in private law. In contrast, power dynamics have had more presence in investment arbitration debates. Nevertheless, international commercial arbitration precedes investment arbitration. In particular, the historical oil nationalization arbitrations, which have been considered by some Third World scholars as ‘flagrant proof of bias’ in arbitration (Shalakany 2000 , p. 445), were indeed commercial arbitrations involving state parties. Furthermore, international commercial arbitration is also concerned with allocation of powers between national courts and arbitral tribunals. Such attributes as well as growing tendencies to harmonize international commercial arbitration across the globe make this field of law susceptible to a TWAIL analysis.

Notably, the focus of TWAIL scholarship on moral equivalency of cultures and peoples and its rejection of universalization of specific cultures (Mutua 2000 ) is a fertile ground for critically studying international commercial law from the prism of sustainable diversity. Sustainable diversity denotes accepting all traditions of the world and seeing them as mutually interdependent, a perception which in turn enhances the prospect of dispute settlement (Glenn 2007 ). A TWAIL perspective enables a particular conceptualization of international commercial arbitration that elucidates some of the historical roots of lack of sustainable diversity of the arbitral actors and cultures and may ultimately help with remedying the issue. In particular, TWAIL’s attention to the postcolonial nature of international law and asymmetries of power invites a re-examination of how political and commercial power relations are relevant to international commercial arbitration through the advent of constructs and concepts such as transnational law. Relatedly, and from a critical theory perspective, the arbitration system is part of the broader narrative of power dynamics between the global South and North, and its legitimacy is undermined by the fact that it is not representative of the global variety of perspectives (Karton 2022 ). Although such concerns have mainly been raised with regard to investor-state arbitration, they are also relevant to international commercial arbitration. This is because the perspectives of a dominant group within the society can gradually form a benchmark for views on international commercial dispute resolution. In other words, ‘normativity’ within the resolution of international commercial disputes may be shaped by a narrow segment of the society to the exclusion of other perspectives (Karton 2022 ).

The impact of power dynamics and the role of dominant groups in the development of international commercial arbitration and its conceptual apparatus is directly related to the concept of hegemony, which is a central theme of TWAIL scholarship in rethinking the resistance to international law (Rajagopal 2003 ). Inspired by Antonio Gramsci, hegemony is understood as production, reproduction, and mobilization of popular consent constructed by any dominant group by relying upon the confluence between force and moral ideas (Rajagopal 2003 ). Such consent is secured via a process through which the dominant powers exhibit their own interests as universal (Knox 2019 ).

More specifically, Western hegemony denotes a historical and cultural influence of colonialism leading to the dispersal of Western customs throughout the world (Worth 2015 ). As a corollary, Western legal traditions can also be considered as an instrumental part of the hegemony in this sense. For example, European laws used to be extensively deployed in the imperial project and subjecting the colonized territories into foreign political and cultural norms (Roy 2008 ). Notably, colonial laws continue to have contemporary relevance as an instrument of hegemony (Roy 2008 ). The prominent example of such relevance in the commercial arbitration domain is legislations influenced by the colonial laws even after independence (Asouzu 2004 ). For instance, the 1889 English Arbitration Act was extensively adopted by the Commonwealth nations Footnote 1 (Kidane 2017 ). This is while arbitration (and similar institutions) in former colonies was not an unrecognized phenomenon. Footnote 2

Against this background, this paper seeks to revisit transnational autonomy of international commercial arbitration by drawing on the concept of hegemony as viewed from the TWAIL perspective. Accordingly, the central question that this paper attempts to answer is to what extent the transnational authority of international commercial arbitration, as a private method of dispute resolution backed by the imperium of states, is a hegemonized legal institution from a TWAIL perspective.

Before we turn to the main analysis, it is necessary to discuss a methodological point as well as a clarification on terminology. As regards methodology, the line of approach taken in this work is built, mainly, around the concept of hegemony as understood by Gramsci and later borrowed in TWAIL scholarship. Given the counter-hegemonic political economic approach of TWAIL, the analysis also draws on the literature on the political economy of international commercial arbitration to highlight the role of legal constructs in perpetuating existing global power and wealth disparities.

For definitional purposes, we use the term ‘international commercial arbitration’ in this paper to refer to a method of dispute resolution whereby the parties to contracts agree (through arbitration clauses or separate submission agreements) to have their disputes arising from all relationships of a commercial nature, whether contractual or not, resolved by one or more private individuals, i.e., the arbitrators rather than by a court of law. What distinguishes this method of dispute resolution from investment treaty arbitration is the legal frameworks in which they operate. Investment treaty arbitration is based on a standing offer to arbitrate in a treaty between the states concerning disputes related to the breach of the obligations provided in the treaty. Conversely, international commercial arbitration is based on the consent of the parties (of which one may be a state) typically given in an arbitration clause contained in a contract between the parties for resolving disputes arising out of commercial transactions.

Informed by the foregoing considerations, the discussion in this paper is divided into three sections. The first section lays the conceptual groundwork for the central idea of the paper. Sections 2 and 3 address the two selected themes to be explored through a narrative of hegemony in international commercial arbitration briefly developed in the first section. These two themes, namely the claims on transnationality of commercial arbitration and the concept of epistemic community in international arbitration, have been chosen on account of their potential relevance to the debate on how concepts and practices in international arbitration have been shaped under the hegemony of Western legal traditions.

A Narrative of Hegemony in International Commercial Arbitration

Is commercial arbitration truly apolitical.

There is a tendency to distinguish between economics and politics in commercial arbitration debates. It is commonly believed that arbitration is always about resolution of contract disputes arising from property rights, and therefore apolitical Footnote 3 (Shalakany 2000 ). This is based on the prevailing perception that juxtaposes private law as ‘quintessentially legal, rational, scientific, and individualistic’ (Kennedy 2001 ) with public law as political. Nevertheless, as stated by Cutler, the belief that the settlement of international economic disputes requires a ‘depoliticized’ environment through impartial experts is one of the foundational myths of international commercial arbitration (Claire Cutler 2014 ). Most strikingly, international arbitration, from the outset of its modern history, has been complexly intertwined with political dynamics Footnote 4 and, in particular, has been dealing with North-South relations.

A political economy perspective can bring more light to the distinction between private and public law. Indeed, such distinction, driven immensely by liberalist views, has been influential in camouflaging the process through which private law tools and constructs shape and justify power (Muir Watt 2020 ). Interestingly, the public/private distinction underlaid the outcome of arbitrations in the highly influential oil nationalization cases Footnote 5 in the past century, which were essentially private arbitrations in nature (Lim et al. 2021 ). In these cases, the question of applicable law, which until then had been hardly posed in the context of the north-south economic exchange, was particularly highlighted and incited the development of lex mercatoria (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ). Footnote 6

While the liberalist view considers transnational corporations and their law as apolitical and neutral (Claire Cutler 2003 ), it is arguable that lex mercatoria or transnational merchant law, which is often accompanied by private arbitration, is mistakenly regarded as technical and apolitical. Transnational merchant law and arbitration are intertwined in an effort towards possible dissociation of transnational corporations form judicial policies as implemented by state courts. The notion of modern lex mercatoria is in itself inseparable from its political context, which is the preference for a liberal order of international commerce based on the primacy of the freedom of the individuals (Elcin 2012 ). Modern lex mercatoria is developed by a global meritocracy, which has been defined as ‘an elite association of public and private organizations engaged in the unification and globalization of transnational merchant law’ (Claire Cutler 2003 , pp. 180–181). This expansion of the role of private authority is reinforced with the coercive power and support of political authorities. Nevertheless, the shift towards the authoritative function of the global meritocracy is masked by the liberalist ideology, which defines private as apolitical (Claire Cutler 2003 ).

At a more concrete level, the impact of political factors may also appear in the most technical aspects of commercial arbitration. An illustrative example of how the most practical aspects of arbitration might be affected by non-legal considerations can be found in a 1999 ICC arbitration. This case arose pursuant to the dispute settlement provision in a 1996 contract between an Italian company and Addis Ababa municipality, in which Addis Ababa had been fixed as the place of arbitration. However, under the terms of reference, the arbitral tribunal was empowered to decide to conduct hearings at any other appropriate place after consulting with the parties. While the respondent submitted that the appropriate venue was Addis Ababa, the claimant argued that since the majority of the participants in the hearing were based in Europe, it would be more appropriate to hold the hearing in Paris. The tribunal agreed with the claimant’s position and pointed to the significant travel time from Europe to Addis Ababa and the relative difficulty of coordinating travel arrangements for the non-Ethiopian party, counsel, the arbitrators, and the non-Ethiopian witnesses0. Footnote 7 Viewed in a broader context of African relationship with international arbitration, this decision has been heavily criticized by Kidane: ‘The level of disregard for the African party was such that the tribunal refused to go to the seat of the arbitration, instead choosing to write a 82-page justification from Paris on how the parties granted it the discretion to stay in Paris in the Terms of Reference that they all signed’ (Kidane 2017 , p. 62).

The tribunal’s decision on the venue of proceedings becomes more questionable in view of the fact that the tribunal also delayed its decision on jurisdictional objection for two years. Kidane poses the critical question: ‘[w]as the respondent justified in thinking that the arbitrators were not fair for delaying the jurisdictional decision and refusing to get out of Europe for a hearing?’ ( 2017 , p. 62).

With the benefit of hindsight concerning colonial relations, one might be inclined to revisit the rationale underlying the claims as to the depoliticized nature of international commercial arbitration. Viewing arbitration as an instrument of hegemony might bring some light into the debate.

Arbitration as an Instrument of Hegemony

The rise of commercial arbitration in the contemporary era can be traced back to the mid-twentieth century. From the 1980s, the universalizing logic of arbitration and accelerating economic globalization resulted in the expansion of international commercial arbitration (Nottage 2000 ). While this does not mean that the use of arbitration in resolving international commercial disputes was unprecedented, dynamics and characteristics of commercial arbitration in the past – including the colonization period – are not identical with those of the contemporary.

The history of commercial arbitration is indeed closely related to the political developments such as decolonization, and simultaneous economic changes (Kidane 2017 ). Certain prominent theorists have, in the framework of center-periphery analysis, addressed the question as to how the commercial arbitration regime reinforces the centrality of the North, the private and the economic vis-à-vis a periphery of the South, the public and the political (Kennedy 2014 ). Historically, the contribution of arbitration to such centrality, might be, at least in part, attributed to the changed patterns of economic interactions during the colonial period and incompatibility of those patterns with the customary means of dispute resolution in the colonized territories. These historical dynamics have led some authors to characterize modern arbitration legislation as a colonial legacy Footnote 8 (Asouzu 2004 ).

Until not too long ago, Western powers tended to protect the economic and commercial interests of their nationals through their coercive power (gunboat diplomacy) (Miles 2013 ), and the forced unequal capitulation treaties giving European powers jurisdiction over the activities of their nationals in the non-European states justified by inadequacy of local justice systems (Anghie 2005 ). During the colonial period (and even after independence), the colonies were the suppliers of primary products and raw materials to the metropolitan countries. This led to the expansion of international trade to the benefit of European metropolitan countries. For the most part, the commodity associations and exchanges in these countries closely controlled dispute settlement mechanisms in terms of devising the rules and enforcement of (mostly unreasoned) awards through their internal sanctions (Anghie 2005 ).

After the surge of decolonization post-World War II, the capital exporting states, which had lost their dominance over former colonies to a large extent, could not impose their will in commercial relations with the former colonies in respect of applicable law and national court jurisdictions (Lew 2006 ). This decline of influence created a need in Western powers for protection of economic interests of their nationals abroad (Salacuse 2010 ). In other words, the end of formal colonialism was contingent upon the enforcement of a cross-border capitalist economic order for protection of the interests of Western powers in foreign lands (Haskell 2019 ). Accordingly, the expansion of international commercial arbitration has been attributed, in part, to the inappropriateness of the use of coercive power to protect the economic interests of the nationals of Western states (Sornarajah 1991 ).

The abovementioned historical dynamics can explain how political and economic conflicts between the North and South have been translated into business conflicts capable of being managed by international commercial arbitration (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ). The historic oil arbitrations of the last century are a prominent illustration of this point. These influential oil nationalization disputes mark the commencement of the blossoming of international commercial arbitration. Footnote 9 Metaphorically, such arbitrations have been depicted as the opposition of the North and South, multinationals and third-world states, encompassing political stances and private commercial interests (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ).

International arbitration was employed in these oil conflicts as an intermediary to develop ideas based on which contracts entered into between private parties and states were detached from the realm of domestic laws. Notably, arbitral rules and procedures were also imposed and inspired by Western legal cultures. This process was in essence an attempt to legalize political and economic conflicts. Footnote 10 Such a transforming process might be considered as an influential strategy consciously adopted by the Western powers at the time to continue to maintain the hegemony over former colonies and developing countries. Extrapolating the broader context of North-South economic and political relations to the international arbitration can be seen as a continuation and revival of commercial relations between the nationals of metropolitan countries and former colonies in the colonization periods. The major difference between the two periods stems from the fact that decolonization and subsequent abolishment of the capitulation mechanisms no longer allowed the nationals of colonizing powers to dominate the commercial relations by the same instruments.

By the same token, Dezalay and Garth ( 1996 ) attribute the legitimacy of transnational legal order to the setting of a legal scene which revolves around the North-South conflict. Simply put, the transnational legal order is based on the opposition between dominated and established interests. Such an opposition was manifested in the third world countries’ effort to exercise sovereignty over natural resources and thus undermining multinationals’ concessions. The opposition served to produce efforts as to the development of legal rules and practices related to the north-south economic disputes accompanied by efforts directed at the universality of law– lex mercatoria (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ). Beyond the renowned oil arbitrations, arbitration was also an intermediary for a new commercial order Footnote 11 (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ) involving capital exporting and developing states, which juxtaposed North and South. This was (and to a large degree has been) for decades the major pattern of economic relations in the world.

The foregoing analysis is linked to the broader relationship between international law and world power structures. Hegemonic accounts of law are by no means unprecedented in the international law scholarship. Martti Koskenniemi, a prominent international law scholar, has exquisitely depicted the process in which international law appears through the positions of political actors. Such a process takes place through articulating political preferences into legal claims, in the conditions of hegemonic contestation, namely invoking legal rules to which they have ascribed meanings that challenge the contestant view (Koskenniemi 2004 ). It can be argued that shifting to international commercial arbitration as a system swinging between domestic and international legal environment for the settlement of private commercial disputes, is susceptible to be seen as an imposition of Western powers’ own preferences as the total (universal) view Footnote 12 through a hegemonic contestation and legalization. Furthermore, having in mind the developments leading to the initial blooming of international commercial arbitration, the rise of arbitration resulting from the wave of petroleum disputes may also be understood in Gramscian terms. According to the latter, the concept of hegemony describes a condition in which the supremacy of a social group is achieved not only by physical force but also through consensual submission of the very people who were dominated (Litowitz 2000 ).

It is, therefore, arguable that depoliticization of deeply political questions and transposing them into purely technical legal fields has been a scheme constantly employed in commercial and investment arbitration. Indeed, international commercial arbitration –mainly inspired by the Western legal cultures– could be an ideal venue for the time when the use of coercive power was no longer practicable. In principle, designing the structure and function of an international system of private dispute resolution as well as manipulation of legal rules and institutions to the satisfaction of own benefits and objectives is much easier for the main players and stakeholders of the system.

Nevertheless, many commentators claim that bias against the developing countries is not the case anymore; the colonial period has gone, and arbitrations are taking place in many non-European or US venues (Paulsson 1987 ; Lew 2006 ). A hegemonic account of international arbitration casts doubts on such assertions. Having set the scene in that way, we will now turn to the more specific manifestations of hegemony in international commercial arbitration with reference to the two interconnected issues which have been lately the subject of renewed interest: transnationality and epistemic community.

Commercial Arbitration and Claims of Transnationality

Transnational law discourse and arbitration.

Within the context of legal pluralism, the transnational law discourse has been largely widespread with an abundance of academic literature surrounding it. Transnational law in the contemporary age is widely known to have been first proposed by the US international lawyer, Philip Jessup, to include all law regulating cross-border actions or events (Vagts et al. 2014 ). The main directions in theorizing transnational law have been summarized as follows: the mainstream direction comprises a network of treaty bodies, governments, and international lobbying; the second direction adopts a socio-legal and critical approach that understands law as a phenomenon in transnational settings; the third direction benefits from comparative legal studies (Baer 2011 ).

In recent decades, a new lease on life has been given to transnational commercial arbitration in the legal scholarship. The Dijon School of thought, which embraced prominent scholars such as Berthold Goldman, Philippe Kahn, and Philippe Fouchard has been known as the starting point for the discourse on the transnational arbitration regime (Schultz 2011a ). A leading figure in the more recent revival of transnational arbitration debates was Emmanuel Gaillard. Gaillard ( 2010 ; 2020) proposed three distinct structuring representations of international arbitration. The first assimilates an international arbitrator to a judge acting within a single national legal system (monolocal approach). The second relates arbitration to a plurality of national systems which recognize the arbitral award (the Westphalian model). Finally, the third representation, of which he was a strong adherent, attributes the juridicity of the arbitration to a transnational legal order as opposed to national legal orders. In support of the transnational approach, reference has been made, for instance, to the strong perception among arbitrators that they do not exercise a judicial mandate on behalf of any national system, but rather a judicial role benefiting the international community (Gaillard 2010 ). Nevertheless, Gaillard ( 2020a , p. 558) goes on to clarify that ‘the existence of an arbitral legal order does not imply that national legal orders play no role in international arbitration. In fact, the existence of an arbitral legal order relies on the notion that the laws of various states, when considered collectively, make up the common rules of arbitration law in which the source of the arbitrators’ power to adjudicate is rooted’. More specifically, transnational law has been considered capable of being the law applicable to the arbitral procedure, merits of the dispute, and as criteria for defining public policy (Gaillard 2020a ).

When it comes to the arbitral procedure and the interaction between national courts and arbitration, the adoption of UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration by many jurisdictions has been considered as a dynamic contribution to the transnational commercial arbitration (Gaillard 1995 ). In addition, the New York Convention has been recognized as ‘the normative, collective activity of the States in which the legitimacy and validity of the transnational arbitral legal order is anchored’ (Gaillard 2012 , p. 73).

Regarding the merits of the disputes, it has been pointed out that arbitrators believe that their awards will be more persuasive if they are based on non-state law (DeLy 1998 ). Some authors speak of growing reference by arbitration tribunals to transnational law instead of national law and cite cases in which arbitral awards applying transnational law have been upheld (Ali 2020 ). Similarly, when it comes to public policy exception, it has been argued that arbitrators are only bound by transnational public policy since they have no forum and are not held to allegiance to any state’s public policy (Gaillard 2010 ).

It has been proposed that establishing the content of transnational rules requires the systematic use of comparative law resource (Gaillard 2020b ). According to Gaillard, by engaging in a comparative law analysis, arbitrators seek to find points of convergence in different national laws and ultimately ‘ascertain the existence of a broad consensus among States on the content of a specific rule’ ( 2020b , p. 17). Gaillard attempted to respond to the critiques as to the vagueness or incompleteness of this method: ‘[i]f the analysis of comparative law has not already been carried out, it must be undertaken by counsel, a task that is no more arduous than, say, researching the content of various national laws connected to a dispute’ ( 1995 , p. 226). Nevertheless, this position does not seem to fully dispel the critiques since comparative law might be best understood as a scientific endeavor not particularly directed at identifying concrete solutions to questions of law in real life disputes.

There is an abundance of literature on the use of comparative law in arbitration (Bell 2021 ; Gaillard 2020b ; Karton 2020 ), and some comparatists consider developing common solutions using comparative law method as one of the purposes of comparative law (Siems 2018 ). A recent empirical study focusing on the use of comparative law methods by arbitral tribunals in a small sample of publicly available arbitration awards confirms that the use of comparative law by arbitrators is indeed outcome determinative (Bergolla and Goertz 2020 ). Nevertheless, this study suggests that arbitrators are not rigorous users of comparative law methodology in the classic sense. Rather, they either refer to other arbitral, international, and national cases, or engage in comparative law analysis to determine the substantive law applicable in the absence of the parties’ choice (Bergolla and Goertz 2020 ). Despite the discussion on the prevalent modality of the use of comparative law in international arbitration far from being settled, comparative law has been described as the ‘ethos of the field’, ‘a core aspect of [arbitral] professional culture’ (Karton 2020 , p. 295), ‘a common culture among arbitrators’, and ‘deeply ingrained in modern arbitral practice’ (Gaillard 2020b , p. 35).

Transnationality Claim Viewed in Hegemony Perspective

Conspicuously, TWAIL views international law as a universalization project in order to naturalize the existing order (Knox 2019 ) particularly by maintaining a dichotomy between civilized and universal on one hand, and uncivilized and particular on the other (Anghie 2005 ). As previously pointed out, in Gramscian terms, the formation of a dominant view requires universalization, naturalization, and rationalization through which a dominant group reflects its interests as the common interests. In the same manner, a process of rationalization, universalization, and naturalization must be undertaken in order to exhibit international commercial arbitration laws and practices as ‘common sense’ serving public purposes. Such undertaking of rationalization is performed by the international commercial arbitration community of arbitration lawyers, judges, multinational law firms, and related professionals who promote international commercial arbitration as a public good benefiting the world community (Claire Cutler 2014 ). This process is indeed an integral dimension of the constitution of hegemony through the apparent transformation of the private enforcement of commercial agreements into a matter of public interest and responsibility.

Justifying the promotion of international commercial arbitration as necessary in the age of proliferation of trade and investment relations has made it easier for the international commercial arbitration community to make the arbitration system self-contained to the extent possible, and more and more detached from national legal systems. For this purpose, a trend was started to modernize the national laws on international commercial arbitration. Before that, states’ accession to the New York Convention was encouraged to the extent that it has turned into a success story in international unification of law.

The concept of transnational legal order, like any other law, is constituted by power and reason, and it is also applied through both coercion and a normativity grounded in legal reasoning and process. Accordingly, the actor’s ideal law would reflect their perception of their interest and normative goals. Viewed from this perspective, US and European legal cultures would constitute the main inspiration of the content of transnational law (Halliday and Shaffer 2015 ). In a similar vein, it has been argued that ‘the so-called lex mercatoria Footnote 13 is largely an effort to legitimize as ‘law’ the economic interests of Western corporations’ (Toope 1990 , p. 96). This is in line with a defining characteristic of the TWAIL scholarship which heavily criticizes law making and formation of international law as well as its hierarchical nature. Most strikingly, according to the TWAIL, identification of customary international law is mostly driven by state practice of advanced capitalist nations and the opinions of their scholars (Chimni 2018 ). A similar line of reasoning can be developed with regard to the formation and development of lex mercatoria.

While power and reason are in a constant tension in every legal system (Halliday and Shaffer 2015 ) the modality of such interaction might be contentious with regard to the allegedly existing transnational law and transnational arbitration systems: dynamics of transnational law and arbitration are mostly driven by Western hegemonic power. The comparative law analysis method, which was proposed as a technique to apply transnational substantive rules, is prone to be based on implied superiority of the global North. Conventional comparative law, which originated from Europe around the nineteenth century, mainly employs the law of the global North as the benchmark (Salaymeh and Michaels 2022 ). Consequently, it has been argued that the discipline of comparative law is historically intertwined with colonialism and has been largely employed in pursuit of Western imperialist agendas (Salaymeh and Michaels 2022 , p. 169; Amoo 2018 , p. 318). This context leaves questions as to the adequacy of such a paradigm for our globalized world.

Part of the process of formation of transnational norms, in keeping with the Gramscian concept of hegemony, involves rationalization, universalization, and naturalization. With respect to international commercial arbitration, such a process has always taken place through a constant relationship of learning and teaching:

‘[t]heoretical origin and development of contemporary international arbitration, like most principles of law, has its roots in the dominant Western legal traditions. Western laws and institutions have a long history of transplantation into other societies around the world. The rest of the world has always been in a constant state of learning Western law, and the Western world has constantly been teaching the law. For better or worse, the teacher-student relationship did not end along with colonialism. This hierarchical relationship created the illusion of not only the superiority of the mechanics of dispute settlement, but also justified the economic class of elite arbitrators who do not lack the theoretical sophistry to justify their privileged position’ (Kidane 2017 , p. 287).

Apart from the doubts as to the content of transnational law as the law applicable to the substance of the dispute, prevailing practices and rule making efforts with regard to procedure in international arbitration might also be called into question. Since the 1980 and 1990 s, international commercial arbitration has been to a large extent monopolized by big Anglo-American law firms (Moreno Rodríguez 2018 ). This has led to a phenomenon known as ‘technocratization of arbitration’, which also entails increasing judicialization with a particular emphasis on Anglo-American devices of procedural management (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ; Moreno Rodríguez 2018 ). The general predominance of common law procedural tools in international commercial arbitral practice (Ferreres Comella 2021 ) is accompanied by the specific dominance of American style procedure in rules of evidence. It has been observed that a revolutionary transformation has taken place in the past decades in the context of taking of evidence in international arbitration which requires practitioners to ‘master fundamental precepts of US common law discovery’ (Martinez-Fraga 2009 ). While some authors speak of the development of a standard arbitration procedure as a set of arbitral rules having the merit of merging different procedural cultures (Koffmann-Kohler 2003 ), an American commentator, despite noting that Americanization of arbitral procedure is ‘too much to claim’, observes that:

‘the trend in international arbitration is to move towards the American style of litigation. For example, procedural disputes have multiplied, jurisdictional objections are common, and cross-examination is prevalent. While American style discovery remains anathema, the limited discovery procedure discussed in Article 3 of the International Bar Association Rules of Evidence has become commonplace. International commercial arbitrations also permit the interviewing of witnesses, which was traditionally considered unethical. Furthermore, there are many additional procedural issues that have been introduced by American lawyers into international commercial arbitration in recent years’ (Bergsten 2006 , p. 301).

Epistemic Community in Commercial Arbitration

The concept of epistemic community.

The concept of epistemic community was first developed in international relations (Haas 2008 ) and refers to ‘a network of professionals with recognized expertise and competence in a particular domain and an authoritative claim to policy-relevant knowledge within that domain or issue-area’ (Haas 1992 , p. 3). Members of such–often transnational–communities share a common set of normative beliefs and enjoy an authoritative claim to policy-relevant knowledge within their field (Haas 2008 ). The distinctive traits of epistemic communities from other types of groups active in policy making are in particular ‘the socialized truth tests and common causal beliefs’ (Haas 2008 ). The existence of such internal criteria for validating knowledge provides epistemic communities with a reputation for impartial expertise (Bianchi 2020 ).

A Critique of Epistemic Community in International Commercial Arbitration

As one of the main tenets of the TWAIL, knowledge production in international law has been called into question. ‘Since TWIAL aims at challenging the hegemonic structures, it must also do so regarding the production of knowledge itself and challenge where and how knowledge is produced and valued’ (Justin Bendel 2021 , p. 411). Knowledge production and practice shaping in international commercial arbitration may be viewed along similar lines. The international community of arbitral scholars and practitioners has been characterized as an epistemic community (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ; Lynch 2003 ; Kidane 2017 ). This concept can be employed to explain the control over and dissemination of knowledge and information (Lynch 2003 ) within the field of international commercial arbitration.

Significantly, the scholars of the field of origin of the concept of epistemic community have put forward that this community ‘should not be mistaken for a new hegemonic actor that is the source of political and moral direction in society. Epistemic communities are not in the business of controlling societies; what they control is international problems. Their approach is instrumental, and their life is limited to the time and space defined by the problem and its solutions’ (Adler and Peter Haas 1992 , p. 371). It is indeed questionable whether the epistemic community of international arbitration has remained within this defined scope of activity.

The epistemic community in international commercial arbitration is said to be originally composed of mostly European academics, judges and barristers, who could act as arbitrators due to their high statuses (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ; Lynch 2003 ). Notably, Dezalay and Garth ( 1996 ) borrow the concept of ‘symbolic capital’ from Bourdieu to explain the significance of elements such as career path, expertise, social class and education in the market for international commercial arbitration.

It has been argued that the professional community of arbitrators has gradually gained authority through promoting treaties on enforcement of commercial arbitral awards and thereby, commercial interests of multinationals have secured greater representation in arbitral proceedings, and at the same time, national judiciaries have been disempowered (Kennedy 2018 ). Some scholars point out that powerful transnational businesses have circumvented the states’ coercive powers through transformation of the law enforcement mechanisms, for instance by the use of arbitration to scrutinize the states exercise of regulatory power (Pistor 2019 ). Pistor (2019) mentions New York Convention, the 1966 Washington Convention (ICSID), and the interpretative tools contained in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties Footnote 14 as the pieces of the puzzle of such transformation of law enforcement mechanisms. Indeed, as a global community with a particular interest and expertise in legitimating arbitration, the arbitration community has shaped its social rules and norms. These community-specific norms guide the behavior of the members of the group in carrying out their tasks. One prominent example of such a process is the development of common interpretive policies which influence the meaning and application of legal rules (Schultz 2011b ).

More specifically, the participants in the epistemic community have been able to influence policy making in international commercial arbitration at national and international levels (Lynch 2003 ). Using the terminology of Katharina Pistor ( 2019 , p. 162), these legal experts are ‘the masters of the code’ who ‘actively fashion new law’ and they are ‘central to the coding of capital and distribution of wealth in society’. The masters of the code, regardless of their ethnic background, are often trained at Western elite law schools and are later employed by top law firms (Pistor 2019 ). Indeed, despite attempts to address ethnic and gender diversity of key players in international arbitration, teaching and training in international arbitration law is predominantly shaped by a Western outlook. Footnote 15

Furthermore, many of these experts employ scholarly work as a channel of learning and communication, which makes their role as the value providers of the social field of arbitration even more explicit (Schultz and Niccolò Ridi 2020 ). These players have a clear collective interest in the protection of the industry of arbitration. This collective interest creates incentives for producing studies that protect the status quo or advocate the expansion of the field.

The phenomenon of the epistemic community of arbitration and its authority is closely linked to the transnational law discourse in arbitration. In arbitration a special recognition and value is given to those who adhere to the universality of law (Dezalay and Garth 1996 ). Specifically, the development of transnational norms is mainly furthered and advocated by the recognized community of scholars and practitioners of arbitration. Certainly not to be overlooked is the authority attached to the label of transnational law. By granting the status of ‘law’ to a subset of norms, we empower certain individuals and institutions as law makers and thus redistribute political power (Schultz 2014 ). Simply put, characterization of a regime as law results in the superiority of the normative power of the chosen regime over all other social or moral norms. Affixing the label of law to certain norms in the legal academic discourse, can orient practical behavior and ultimately translate into real power for those who generate norms to be regarded as law (Schultz 2017 ). Significantly, theorizing about transnational law in arbitration can be used to advance the interests of the epistemic community in the protection of the industry of arbitration, which in turn is arguably tied to the interests of the global capital market.

Historical and contemporary world power structures cannot be overlooked in critical studies of international arbitration. This paper has sought to demonstrate that while international commercial arbitration is commonly viewed as a meeting point and place of convergence for different legal cultures, Western hegemony is deeply ingrained in its formation and development.

Although discussions regarding gender and ethnic diversity in arbitration have dominated research in recent years, the historical roots of international commercial arbitration in colonialism and imperialism and its relationship with lack of diversity of the actors in this field have remained relatively unexplored. Yet the recognition of Western hegemony embedded in modern international commercial arbitration serves as a first step towards enhancing inclusivity and sustainable diversity in this field. Sustainable diversity of international commercial arbitration presupposes the identification and embracing of all potential actors and legal cultures. This concept underpins the acceptability of commercial arbitration as a central element of the legal order of contemporary global governance. Such centrality would be faced with legitimacy challenges if marginalized cultures and actors continue to be overlooked through a hegemonized construction of the legal order of global governance.

We posit that any effective attempt at redefining or reforming arbitral governance structure requires an understanding of the hegemonic account of arbitration with the aim of sustaining diversity in international arbitration. Particularly, in a field of law where prominent theorists are often also practitioners, it is crucial to revisit, from a Third World perspective, the historical and political power structures that reinforce the status que of the field. For this purpose, two of the main theoretical components of the international commercial arbitration literature, which also carry practical implications, were critically explored. More specifically, an inquiry into the influence of hegemony of Western legal cultures and communities was the focus of the exploration of transnational authority and epistemic community of arbitration.

There is a persuasive argument that the transnational authority of arbitration has been shaped and developed under the hegemony of Western legal traditions. Further, both the demographics of the epistemic community of arbitration and their normative convictions reinforce this hegemony. As a result, even parties from developing countries often have a preference for counsel and arbitrators from Western countries. A corollary to these observations is that revisiting the transnationality and epistemic community of commercial arbitration and envisaging the prospects for dehegemonization is essential in the future perspective of the agenda of debates on sustainable diversity in international commercial arbitration.

Indeed, dehegominizing international commercial arbitration requires a concerted effort from a range of stakeholders, including governments, arbitral institutions, and legal practitioners to promote greater inclusivity for a diverse range of legal traditions and cultures. For instance, growing engagement from the global South through regional arbitral institutions and participation in soft law design can provide a counter-balance to the current hegemonic position of international commercial arbitration. In addition, leading textbooks and treatises written from the perspective of underheard legal systems in international commercial arbitration literature may also contribute to challenging the monopoly of prevalent national legal systems in international arbitral procedures and practice.

In conclusion, this article is a starting point, rather than an endpoint, for rethinking the discipline of international commercial arbitration through the TWAIL perspective. We admittedly do not claim that the current regime of international commercial arbitration as a means of global governance must be wholly transformed. This paper is rather an attempt to call for further inquiry into the subject in order to identify and substantiate the potentials for reform, and consequently remedy the grounds upon which the existing order of the international arbitration has been premised, with the prospect of furthering sustainable diversity in international arbitration.

Change history

04 august 2023.

In the original publication of the article, “(Pistor 2019). Pistor (2019)” was converted to “(Pistor 2019)”.

On the influence of colonial arbitration laws on Southeast Asia see: (Schaefer 2000 ).

For example, in Africa, there was a long-standing tradition of customary arbitration, which had been largely marginalized by colonization (Kidane 2017 ; Asouzu 2004 ). Arbitration-like structures were also used among Parsis in India during the colonization period. (Sharafi 2014 ).

Rejecting the institutional bias (namely configuration of arbitration to the satisfaction of economic interests of the North) and doctrinal bias (namely applicable law configuration), Shalakany ( 2000 ) observes that disciplinary bias accounts for favoring economic interests of the North in arbitrations (particularly those involving state contracts between North and South) through a public-private distinction and apolitical representation of the private sphere coupled with the depoliticization of contract law.

The colonial period has been highlighted in the recorded history of commercial arbitration in many parts of the world, e.g. Africa and Asia, through the import of the use of commercial arbitration by Europeans into the colonized regions or otherwise (Born 2020 ).

Oil nationalization cases generally refer to cases in which interests and assets Westen petroleum companies had acquired pursuant to concession agreements were nationalized by the sovereign party subsequent to which, petroleum companies resorted to arbitration agreements in those concession agreements.

See 1.b below.

Salini Costruttori S.P.A. v. The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority, ICC Case No. 10,623/AER/ACS, paras 48–49, 6.

This was a consequence of exporting laws in different forms from colonizing States to colonized countries. ‘Imperialism was not only about military conquest, but also about spreading the legal system of the European States to the colonies they created in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.’ (Pistor 2019 ).

Dezalay and Garth ( 1996 ) argue that ‘the petroleum disputes were founding acts. They made arbitration known and recognized. The importance of financial, political (the definition of colonial relations), and legal (the relationship between sovereignty and the respect of contractual obligations) stakes incited a certain number of important actors from the legal field (high judges, noted practitioners and academics, leading law firms) to become interested and to invest in this mode of dispute resolution. The efforts and intellectual activity that they deployed for resolving these new, exceptional conflicts in a legal manner served to construct the minimum base of knowledge necessary to build a field of practice.’

Dezalay and Garth ( 1996 ) also observe the process of translating the economic conflicts to arbitration as a gradual legalization.

As a significant component of the new commercial order, arbitration facilitated the trade between East and West because domestic courts of each side were not trusted by the other side (Hale 2015 ).

This is also in line with the Gramscian perspective under which, ‘the establishment of a ruling worldview requires the mechanisms of universalization, naturalization, and rationalization. By universalism, the dominant group manages to portray its parochial interests and obsessions as the common interests of all people.’ (Litowitz 2000 ).

The term lex mercatoria has been used interchangeably with transnational rules. However, it has been suggested that the concept of lex mercatoria emphasizes on the content of these rules by suggesting that these rules are specifically tailored to the merchant community. The term ‘transnational rules’, on the other hand, focuses on the sources of these rules and implies that such rules originate from national law systems (Gaillard 1995 ).

Mainly, Pistor ( 2019 ) points to the provision of Article 27 of the Vienna Convention according to which, a state may not invoke the provisions of its law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty.

In his study of arbitration through the prism of sociology, Emmanuel Gaillard ( 2015 ) sketches different social actors within the field of arbitration. Value providers are a category of actors that provide guidance as to the development of the field. Among the value providers are professional and academic institutions. Most of these institutions are based in Europe and North America.

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Vesali Mahmoud, M., Sheikhattar, H. A Call for Rethinking International Arbitration: A TWAIL Perspective on Transnationality and Epistemic Community. Law Critique 35 , 405–424 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-023-09344-7

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International Commercial & Investment Arbitration Research: Getting Started

• Getting Started
• International Treaties & Agreements
• International Organizations
• Awards & Decisions
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International commercial arbitration is a private dispute resolution mechanism for resolving cross-border commercial disputes generally based on a contract between the parties. Investment arbitration is a dispute resolution method generally based on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), a national investment law, or investment agreement.

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of primary and secondary sources that may be utilized to research the general topics of international commercial arbitration and international investment arbitration as well as more specific subtopics.  Included are introductory materials, bibliographies, treatises, commercial databases, and free websites.  Suggested resources for locating arbitral awards and decisions are also listed.

Law360: International Arbitration

Law360  is a popular legal news and current awareness resource covering over 40 different practice areas, including international arbitration. The UIC law library's Law360 subscription allows users to receive daily newsletter alerts on legal topics of their choosing. Law360 is available from any on-campus computer or from off campus with proxy authentication (current UIC Law ID and password).  Ask a reference librarian for help setting up an account. 

Bibliographies

Bibliographies of published materials related to international commercial arbitration are listed below. Note that not all publications included in these bibliographies are available in English.

• Consolidated Bibliography of Recent Writings Related to the Work of UNCITRAL (1968-Present): International Commercial Arbitration and Conciliation
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Introductory Materials (Electronic)

• ASIL Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: International Commercial Arbitration Posted on the American Society of International Law (ASIL) website, this is a comprehensive research guide for international commercial arbitration, authored by Washington, D.C. law firm librarian Gloria Miccioli. The guide includes extensive lists of links to arbitral institutions and the texts of national arbitration statutes as well as descriptions of applicable commercial databases. Systematically updated and expanded.
• International Arbitration between Foreign Investors and Host States (Investor-State Arbitration) Hernando Otero and Omar García-Bolívar, both international attorneys with experience as investment arbitrators, authored this research guide on international investment arbitration. Published on New York University Law School's GlobaLex site in March/April 2022, the guide includes tips on locating awards and decisions.
• UPDATE: International Commercial Arbitration Published in September/October 2022 on GlobaLex by Charles Bjork, this introductory guide covers all aspects of international commercial arbitration.
• International Arbitration: Peace Palace Library Research Guide This online guide to researching international commercial arbitration includes a bibliography and "librarian's choice" suggestions for secondary research. The Peace Palace Library specializes in international law and services institutions in The Hague, including the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the Hague Academy of International Law.
• International Commercial Arbitration Research Guide Part of the Georgetown Law Library's series on legal research, this guide includes lists of treatises and periodical literature related to international commercial arbitration.
• S.I. Strong, "International Commercial Arbitration: A Guide for U.S. Judges," Federal Judicial Center, 2012. With a target audience of U.S. federal judges, this guide provides a practical overview of ICA in less than 100 pages.

Introductions to International Commercial Arbitration (Print)

Howard M. Holtzmann Research Center for the Study of International Arbitration and Conciliation

The American Society of International Law (ASIL), headquartered in Washington, DC, launched the Center in 2013 to honor Judge Howard M. Holtzmann.  The Center houses a collection of research materials on international arbitration, including Judge Holtzmann’s personal library and papers. The Center also offers a regular program of events, including a speaker series featuring leading figures in the field of international arbitration. 

Practical Law: Arbitration

Practical Law is a Thomson Reuters current awareness service that is available to UIC law students and faculty with their Westlaw subscriptions.  Practical Law:  Arbitration is a comprehensive suite of resources that includes practice notes, drafting notes and examples, and overviews of topics such as investment treaty arbitration.  There is an  "Arbitration Global Guide" and a "Browse by Country" tab.  UIC law students and faculty may sign up for e-mail updates. 

UCIA, Universal Citation in International Arbitration

Online Translators

English translations of legal materials, including foreign statutes, are often difficult to locate and can be unreliable.  Only in rare instances are authoritative English translations available.  If authoritative versions are not available, look for "official" translations that are created by, or for, a government organization.  Further, look for synoptic translations, which allow for side-by-side comparisons of the vernacular with the English translation. 

Many online translators are available on the WWW, but these should be used with caution since web translators do not generally include specialized legal or commercial vocabulary.  Online translators, however, may be of some help in getting the general sense of a document or passage.  Examples of WWW translators are:

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International Arbitration Research

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This is a guide to international commercial and investment arbitration research at the Harvard Law School Library. 

The content of this guide is on a single page. To search for a term in the guide, use CTRL+F. To navigate through the guide, use the links on the left.

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QUICK LINKS

Below are quick links to some of our most popular resources for arbitration research.

• Global Arbitration Review 100 (print edition, includes the GAR 100 and GAR 30 lists, shelved in the reading room
• International Commercial Arbitration (Gary Born) (Treatise)
• Investment Arbitration Reporter (Subscription Database)
• Investor-State Law Guide (Subscription Database)
• Jus Mundi (Subscription Database)
• KluwerArbitration (Subscription Database)
• Oxford Legal Research Library: International Commercial Arbitration (Subscription Database)
• Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration (Treatise)

Below are links to information about words or phrases that often appear in the arbitration literature.  Terms listed include those used in the following types of arbitration, both of which are covered in this guide: 

• Investment arbitration:  resolving a dispute between a private investor and a state
• Commercial arbitration:  resolving a dispute between two private parties that have entered into a commercial contract with each other

A variety of types of sources are linked to, including legal dictionaries, introductory treatises, and official websites of relevant organizations.

• Arbitration
• Arbitration Agreement
• Arbitration Clause
• Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT)
• Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Arbitration Convention) (1958)
• International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
• International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT)
• Investment Treaty
• Investment Treaty Law
• United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) (Vienna, 1980)
• United States Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)

Using the Harvard Library Catalog, HOLLIS, for Arbitration Research

Access to all sources listed in this guide is available through the HOLLIS library catalog at  https://hollis.harvard.edu , which you can use to search for books, journal articles, and more.  Limit search results by resource type, library location, and more using the options on the right side of the search results screen.

Searching HOLLIS

Below is a list of pre-populated HOLLIS searches that are relevant for international arbitration research.  Click a link to view its search results in HOLLIS.  Note that most of these searches are very broad, so you will probably want to limit the search results by date, additional keywords, or other options.

• HOLLIS search: Keyword anywhere = "friendship, commerce, and navigation"
• HOLLIS search: Keyword anywhere = "investment arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Keyword anywhere = "investment treaty arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Keyword anywhere = "investor-state dispute"
• HOLLIS Search: Keyword anywhere = "trade arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Keywords anywhere = "international investment law" AND "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "arbitration act"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "arbitration" AND Keyword anywhere = "confidentiality"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "arbitration (international law)"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "arbitration, industrial"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "arbitration agreements"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "arbitration and award"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "CISG" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "commerce" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "commercial arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "commercial courts -- rules and practice"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "commercial treaties" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Conflict of Laws -- Arbitration and Award"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "dispute resolution (law)" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "foreign trade regulation" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "General Agreement and Tariffs and Trade" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "ICSID" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "intellectual property" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "international chamber of commerce" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "international commercial arbitration"
• HOLLIS Search: Subject = "international disputes" AND Keyword Anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "international law" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "international sales law"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "international trade law" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "investments, foreign" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "jurisdiction (international law)" AND Keyword Anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "parallel proceedings (law)"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "UNCITRAL" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot"
• HOLLIS search: Subject = "World Trade Organization" AND Keyword anywhere = "arbitration"

Browsing Materials in HOLLIS by Library of Congress Call Number

Books in our library are organized on the shelves by subject and classified according to the Library of Congress call number system.  Under this system, all books that are primarily about law have a call number that starts with the letter "K."  If the book is mainly about international arbitration, then its call number will begin with "K2400."

In HOLLIS, you can browse books by call number.  Click the link below to browse the K2400 books in HOLLIS.

HOLLIS call number browse: K2400​

Using HOLLIS to Find Papers on Arbitration Written by HLS LLM and SJD Students

To view a list of papers on the topic of arbitration in the library's collection written by HLS LLM and SJD students, click the link below to run the appropriate search in HOLLIS:

Title = "Harvard Law School Thesis" AND Keywords anywhere = "arbitration"

Subscription Databases for Arbitration Research

Below is a list of subscription databases that are helpful for arbitration research, organized alphabetically. For each database, a link to its HOLLIS record, which include a link to its Harvard-specific URL, is provided, along with a brief description of its content.

• Global Arbitration Review (GAR) "International journal of public and private arbitration."
• HeinOnline HeinOnline provides comprehensive coverage of more than 2,600 law-related periodicals. It also contains materials related to treaties, constitutions, case law, world trials, classic treatises, international trade, foreign relations, and more.
• Investment Arbitration Reporter (IAReporter) Investment Arbitration Reporter is a news & analysis service tracking international arbitrations between foreign investors and sovereign governments.
• Investor-State Law Guide Investor-State Law Guide provides access to all materials relevant to publicly available ICSID, NAFTA and ad hoc tribunal decisions. Note that you may experience access problems for this database if you are using a Google Chrome browser.
• Jus Mundi Search engine for international law and arbitration -- includes extensive database of arbitral awards and citator functionality.
• KluwerArbitration KluwerArbitration is the world's leading online resource for international arbitration research. It contains a wealth of commentary from expert authors and an extensive collection of primary source materials, including ICC materials.
• Oxford Reports on International Law Includes two modules: International Law in the EU Courts and International Trade Law Decisions.
• Westlaw In the search box on the Westlaw homepage, type "International Arbitration Materials" and select the corresponding link when it comes up in the drop-down menu. Content: cases, awards, rules, conventions, legislation, model laws, guides, model clauses, treatises, journals, and current awareness.
• WorldTradeLaw.net Provides summary and analysis of all WTO reports and arbitrations; a current keyword index; a database of dispute settlement tables and statistics; and a user-friendly search tool for WTO cases, legal texts, and other documents.

General Arbitration Research: Books/Treatises

Below are selected secondary sources that discuss international arbitration in general. They may provide a good basic overview for your research.

• The Complete (But Unofficial) Guide to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot by Jörg Risse Publication Date: 2015 (3rd ed.)
• The Culture of International Arbitration by Won L. Kidane Publication Date: 2017
• Domke on Commercial Arbitration by Martin Domke Publication Date: 2003-
• The Evolution of International Arbitration: Judicialization, Governance, Legitimacy by Alec Stone Sweet and Florian Grisel Publication Date: 2017
• Foreign Investment Law Including Investor-State Arbitrations in a Nutshell by Ralph H. Folsom Publication Date: 2022
• The Functions of Arbitral Institutions by Remy Gerbay Publication Date: 2016
• International Arbitration: A Practical Guide by Stuart Dutson Publication Date: 2019 (2nd ed.)
• International Arbitration: Law and Practice by Gary Born Publication Date: 2016 (2nd ed.)
• International Commercial Arbitration by Gary Born Publication Date: 2014 (2nd ed.)
• International Commercial Arbitration: A Transnational Perspective by Tibor Varady et al. Publication Date: 2019 (7th ed.)
• International Commercial Arbitration: International Conventions, Country Reports, and Comparative Analysis by Stephan Balthasar (ed.) Publication Date: 2016
• International Investment Arbitration: Substantive Principles by Campbell McLachlan Publication Date: 2017 (2nd ed.)
• International Investment Law and Arbitration: History, Modern Practice, and Future Prospects by Borzu Sabahi, Ian A. Laird, and Giovanna E. Gismondi Publication Date: 2018
• National Arbitration Laws by Loukas Mistelis, Laurence Shore, general editors ; Hans Smit, founding editor. Publication Date: 2010 (2nd ed., looseleaf)
• The Principles and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration by Margaret L. Moses Publication Date: 2017 (3rd ed.)
• Private International Law and Arbitration (v. 1) by Jack J. Coe, Jr. and Donald Earl Childress (eds.) Publication Date: 2018
• Redfern and Hunter on International Commercial Arbitration by Nigel Blackaby Publication Date: 2015 (6th ed.) Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration. .
• UCIA -- Universal Citation in International Arbitration by Stephen Anway et al. (eds.) Publication Date: 2023 (2nd ed.)
• The World Arbitration Reporter: International Encyclopedia of Arbitration Law and Practice by Loukas Mistelis, Laurence Shore, general editors ; Hans Smit, founding editor Publication Date: 2010- (Looseleaf)

Arbitration Book Series

Academic publishers sometimes issue a series of books about a particular subject, and there are a few series devoted to arbitration.  To search HOLLIS by series title, click its corresponding link below.

• Arbitration in Context (Kluwer)
• International Arbitration Law Library (Kluwer)
• International Commerce and Arbitration (Eleven)
• International Courts and Tribunals Series (Oxford)
• Lloyd's Arbitration Law Library (Routledge)
• Oxford International Arbitration Series

Selected Topics in Arbitration: Books/Treatises

• Addressing Corruption Allegations in International Arbitration by Brody K. Greenwald and Jennifer A. Ivers. Publication Date: 2019
• Arbitration and Contract Law: Common Law Perspectives by Neil Andrews Publication Date: 2016
• Arbitration in the Digital Age: The Brave New World of Arbitration by Maud Piers & Christina Aschauer (eds.) Publication Date: 2018
• The CISG Advisory Council Opinions by Ingeborg Schwenzer (ed.) Publication Date: 2017
• Contributory Fault and Investor Misconduct in Investment Arbitration by Martin Jarrett Publication Date: 2019
• Cross-Examination in International Arbitration: Nine Basic Principles by Kaj Hober Publication Date: 2014
• Fair and Equitable Treatment: Its Interaction with the Minimum Standard and its Customary Status by Patrick Dumberry Publication Date: 2018
• Good Faith in International Investment Arbitration by Emily Siporski Publication Date: 2019
• Guerrilla Tactics in International Arbitration by Günther J. Horvath, Stephan Wilske (eds.) Publication Date: 2013
• The Guide to Challenging and Enforcing Arbitration Awards by J William Rowley (ed.) Publication Date: 2019
• The Guide to Damages in International Arbitration by John A. Trenor Publication Date: 2018 (3rd ed.)
• Hardship and Force Majeure in International Commercial Contracts: Dealing with Unforeseen Events in a Changing World by Fabio Bortolotti; Dorothy Ufot Publication Date: 2019 Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration. .
• Injunctive Relief and International Arbitration by Hakeem Seriki Publication Date: 2015
• International Arbitration and Forum Selection Agreements: Drafting and Enforcing by Gary Born Publication Date: 2016 (5th ed.)
• Interpretation of Contracts in Comparative and Uniform Law by Ahmet Cemil Yıldırım Publication Date: 2019 Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration. .
• Jurisdiction, Admissibility, and Choice of Law in International Arbitration: Liber Amicorum Michael Pryles by Neil Kaplan & Michael Moser (eds.) Publication Date: 2018 Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration.
• Party-Appointed Arbitrators in International Commercial Arbitration by Alfonso Gomez-Acebo Publication Date: 2016 Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration. .
• Pleading in Arbitration: A Practitioner's Guide by Steven Walker and Iain K. Clark Publication Date: 2017
• The Powers and Duties of an Arbitrator: Liber Amicorum Pierre A. Karrer by Patricia Shaughnessy, Sherlin Tung (eds.) Publication Date: 2017
• Principles of Evidence in Public International Law as Applied by Investor-State Tribunals: Burden and Standard of Proof by Kabir Duggal, Wendy W. Cai. Publication Date: 2019
• Procedure Shopping through Hybrid Arbitration Agreements: Considerations on Party Autonomy in Institutional International Arbitration by Nathalie Lendermann Publication Date: 2018
• Protection of Legitimate Expectations in Investment Treaty Arbitration: A Theory of Detrimental Reliance by Teerawat Wongkaew Publication Date: 2019
• Rules of Evidence in International Arbitration: An Annotated Guide by Nathan D. O'Malley Publication Date: 2019 (2nd ed.)
• Shifting Paradigms in International Investment Law: More Balanced, Less Isolated, Increasingly Diversified by Steffen Hindelang and Markus Krajewski Publication Date: 2016
• The Use of Economics in International Trade and Investment Disputes by Marion Jansen, Joost Pauwelyn and Theresa Carpenter (eds.) Publication Date: 2017
• What Counsel in Arbitration Can Do, Must Do, or Must Not Do by Vanessa Foncke et al. (eds.) Publication Date: 2015

Arbitration in the International Legal Order: Books/Treatises

The books listed below focus more on international law generally and include one or more chapters or sections specifically dedicated to arbitration.

• Building a Treaty on Business and Human Rights: Context and Contours by Surya Deva and David Bilchitz Publication Date: 2017
• Critical International Law: Postrealism, Postcolonialism, and Transnationalism by Prabhakar Singh, Benoît Mayer (eds.) Publication Date: 2014
• Irresolvable Norm Conflicts in International Law: The Concept of a Legal Dilemma by Valentin Jeutner Publication Date: 2017
• Principles of International Economic Law by Matthias Herdegen (ed.) Publication Date: 2016 (2nd ed.)
• Reconceptualising the Rule of Law in Global Governance, Resources, Investment, and Trade by Photini Pazartzis, Maria Gavouneli, Anastasios Gourgourinis, and Matina Papadaki (eds.) Publication Date: 2016
• Transnational Commercial Law by Maren Heidemann Publication Date: 2019

Arbitration Journals

• American Review of International Arbitration
• Arbitration International
• Dispute Resolution Journal
• European Arbitration Review
• European International Arbitration Review
• European Investment Law and Arbitration Review
• ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin
• ICSID Reports
• ICSID Review
• International Arbitration Law Review
• International Commercial Arbitration
• International Quarterly
• International Sports Law Journal
• Journal of International Arbitration
• Journal of International Dispute Settlement
• Journal of International Economic Law
• Journal of Private International Law
• Journal of World Investment and Trade
• Journals in KluwerArbitration Arbitraje: Revista de Arbitraje Comercial y de Inversiones, ASA Bulletin, Asian Dispute Review, Asian International Arbitration Journal, Belgian Review of Arbitration, BCDR International Arbitration Review, Indian Journal of Arbitration Law, International Commercial Arbitration Review, International Journal of Arab Arbitration, Journal of International Arbitration, Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem, Review de l'Arbitrage, and Spain Arbitration Review
• Journals in Kluwer Law Online Includes Arbitration, ASA Bulletin, Asian International Arbitration Journal, Journal of International Arbitration, Revue de l'arbitrage, World Trade and Arbitration Materials, and more.
• Mealey's International Arbitration Quarterly Law Review
• The Middle Eastern and African Arbitration Review
• Swiss International Arbitration Law Reports
• Vindobona Journal of International Commercial Law and Arbitration

Online Sources for General Arbitration Research

• Chambers Practice Guides: International Arbitration 2019
• GlobaLex Guide to International Commercial Arbitration
• GlobaLex Guide to Investor-State Arbitration

Arbitration Treaties

Print sources.

• International Arbitration Treaties by Loukas Mistelis, Laurence Shore, Monique Sassons, general editors ; Hans Smit, founding editor Publication Date: 2010- (Looseleaf)

Electronic Sources

• Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) (KluwerArbitration)
• Database of Investment Treaties (ICSID)
• International Investment Agreements Navigator (UNCTAD)
• International Arbitration: Treaties (Westlaw) Coverage begins with 1952 (Europe), 1992 (NAFTA), and 1994 (GATT).
• Multilateral Treaties (Conventions) (KluwerArbitration)
• Treaties & Rules (Investor-State Law Guide)
• UNCITRAL Texts and Status
• Uruguay Round Agreements (Worldtradelaw.net)
• WTO Legal Texts (WTO)

Arbitration Rules

• Analytical Commentary to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules by Peter Binder Publication Date: 2013
• Arbitrating under the 2014 LCIA Rules: A User's Guide by Maxi Scherer Publication Date: 2015 Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration .
• Arbitration Rules -- International Institutions by Loukas Mistelis, Laurence Shore, Stavros Brekoulakis, general editors ; Hans Smit, founding editor Publication Date: 2010 (3rd. ed., looseleaf)
• A Commentary on the LCIA Arbitration Rules 2014 by Shai Wade et al. Publication Date: 2015
• Comparison of International Arbitration Rules by Robert H. Smit Publication Date: 2013 (4th ed.)
• A Guide to the HKIAC Arbitration Rules by Michael J. Moser Publication Date: 2017
• A Guide to the ICDR International Arbitration Rules by Martin F. Gusy Publication Date: 2019
• A Guide to the SIAC Arbitration Rules by John Choong, Mark Mangan, Nicholas Lingard Publication Date: 2018 (2nd ed.)
• Institutional Arbitration: Article-by-Article Commentary by Rolf A. Schütze et al. Publication Date: 2013 Coverage: ICC rules -- DIS rules -- Vienna rules -- Swiss rules -- LCIA rules -- MKAS rules -- CIETAC rules -- SIAC rules -- KLRCA rules -- IAR -- SCC rules -- DIAC rules -- ICSID rules -- UNCITRAL rule
• IBA Rules of Evidence: Commentary on the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration by Tobias Zuberbühler et al. Publication Date: 2012
• The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules: A Commentary by David D. Caron Publication Date: 2013
• American Arbitration Association (AAA) International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) - Rules, Foms, and Fees
• Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) Arbitration Rules
• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention Arbitration Rules
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration Rules
• Permanent Court of Arbitration -- PCA Rules
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules

Arbitration Awards and Other Proceeding Documents

Arbitration awards and documents related to arbitration proceedings can be notoriously difficult to find.  Below is a list of options you can try.  To suggest other sources that are not listed below, please contact [email protected].

• ASA Bulletin (Kluwer Law International) This publication from the Swiss Arbitration Association includes arbitral awards and orders under various auspices including ICC, ICSID, and the Swiss Chambers of Commerce (“Swiss Rules”).
• Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts (CLOUT) This is a system for collecting and disseminating information on court decisions and arbitral awards relating to the Conventions and Model Laws that have emanated from the work of the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).
• CISG Database (Pace Law School Institute of International Commercial Law) Free electronic database that includes cases/awards on the CISG; can be searched or browsed by country. Also includes a UNCITRAL case digest.
• FINRA Arbitration Awards Online FINRA's Arbitration Awards database enables users to perform Web-based searches for FINRA and historical NASD arbitration awards free of charge, seven days a week. Also available through the site are historical awards for New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
• Histoire sommaire et chronologique des arbitrages internationaux, (1794-1900)
• History and Digest of the International Arbitrations to Which the United States Has Been a Party 6-volume historical treatise and reporter by John Bassett Moore, published in the late 1800s and available through HeinOnline.
• ICC Court of Arbitration Bulletin Includes excerpts from ICC arbitral awards, official notes, reports and guidelines on dispute resolution practice and procedure, statistics, news, and articles by eminent arbitration specialists.
• ICSID Arbitration Cases Database Includes more than 700 cases; filtering options include case status, case type, applicable rules, stage of proceeding, dispute subject, and more.
• International Arbitration Forum Database - Awards Established in 2008, one of the biggest free online databases for lawyers and scholars seeking articles and cases related to international arbitration. Search here for arbitration awards.
• International Investment Arbitration and Public Policy (IIAPP) Includes a searchable database of investment treaty cases up to May 2010.
• International Legal Materials (ILM) ILM is a publication of the American Society for International Law. It publishes legal documents from various courts and tribunals around the world, including arbitral organizations like the ICSID arbitral tribunal.
• ITALAW Free online current awareness service for arbitration awards, decisions, and materials.
• Jus Mundi Includes arbitration awards from multiple international tribunals.
• KluwerArbitration KluwerArbitration includes an extensive database of arbitration awards issued by international arbitration tribunals, including the ICC, ICSID, ICDR, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, LCIA, Cour Permanente d'Arbitrage, AAA, and many more.
• Lloyd's Arbitration Reports Coverage = 1988-1992.
• Oxford Public International Law Database: Arbitral Cases Database of more than 1,000 arbitral awards and decisions from various sources.
• Permanent Court of Arbitration -- Cases Online database of cases heard by the PCA, including inter-state arbitrations and investor-state arbitrations.
• Reports of International Arbitral Awards Published by the United Nations. For more information about this resource, visit http://legal.un.org/riaa/ .
• World Trade and Arbitration Materials Includes reports of arbitration awards related to international trade; published several times a year.

Print Materials

• The 1958 New York Convention in Action by Marike Paulsson Publication Date: 2016 Note: This is also available as an eBook through KluwerArbitration. .
• Guide on the Convention on the the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards by UNCITRAL Secretariat ; Emmanuel Gaillard and George A. Bermann, editors Publication Date: 2017
• New York Convention: Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 10 June 1958: A Commentary by Reinmar Wolff (ed.) Publication Date: 2012
• Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards: The Interpretation and Application of the New York Convention by National Courts by George Bermann (ed.) Publication Date: 2017

Online / Electronic Sources

• http://newyorkconvention1958.org/ This website was created to host information on the implementation of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, signed in New York on 10 June 1958, with a view of promoting its uniform and effective application throughout the world. It provides access to the case-law from a number of jurisdictions on the application of the Convention by domestic courts as well as information on the ratification of the Convention by selected States.
• African Continental Free Trade Area (African Union)
• I-ARB (African arbitration news and information)
• MERCOSUR (Southern Common Market; South America)

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Academia.edu Journals   We're Hiring!   Help Center Find new research papers in: Health Sciences Earth Sciences Cognitive Science Mathematics Computer Science Academia ©2024 Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 - An Overview 23 Pages Posted: 19 May 2020 Aarushi Dhingra GALGOTIAS UNIVERSITY Date Written: April 22, 2020 The significant increase in the economic development of nations over the last few decades has been accompanied by a considerable increase in the number of commercial disputes as well. As a result, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms including arbitration have become more crucial for businesses operating in India as well as those during businesses with Indian firms. Keeping in mind the broader exploration between the quality of legal performance and economic growth, this paper is an attempt to critically evaluate arbitration in India as a legal institution. In this paper, the prime position in dispute resolution is discussed. This paper examines and evaluates the International Arbitration Regime in India under 1940 and 1996 Acts, and also discusses the main concepts like arbitrator, arbitration agreement, arbitral awards, foreign awards, public policy etc. This paper also deals with recognition and enforcement of the award and identifies the Indian regime governing the domestic, and International Commercial Arbitration. In International commercial arbitration contracts are frequently applied ADR techniques, especially arbitration is seen as a way out arbitration as a private, independent, and neutral system, time and cost benefits that are felt to be the hallmarks of the arbitration. Arbitration is increasingly becoming popular within the parties to settle their international as well as domestic commercial disputes. Keywords: Arbitration and Conciliation, Arbitral Award, Foreign Award, Domestic Arbitration, International Commercial Arbitration Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation Aarushi Dhingra (Contact Author) Galgotias university ( email ), do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on ssrn, paper statistics, related ejournals, conflict studies: prevention, management & resolution ejournal. Subscribe to this fee journal for more curated articles on this topic 387 IMAGES (PDF) Identifying International Commercial Arbitration (PDF) International Commercial Litigation and Arbitration Research Essay (PDF) The Involvement of National Courts in International Commercial (PDF) The Waiver Rule of Objection Right in International Commercial (DOC) International Commercial Arbitration Research Report On International Commercial Arbitration: Concept and VIDEO Approaches to International Commercial Arbitration and Investment Treaty Arbitration International commercial Arbitration Mock Trial International Arbitration Colloquium 2023: State Sovereignty and Immunity in Commercial Arbitration Arbitration conciliation Paper LLB MCQ Solved Hindi Dbrau Agra University LLB paper 2 OMR MCQ Hindi ACCA law Emerging Trends in International Commercial Arbitration COMMENTS PDF Research International Commercial Arbitration International Commercial Arbitration Law and Recent Developments in India ©Nishith Desai Associates 2022 Provided upon request only Please see the last page of this paper for the most recent research papers by our experts. Disclaimer This report is a copy right of Nishith Desai Associates. No reader should act on the basis of any statement PDF The Evolution and Future of International Arbitration Vice-President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and of the Inter-national Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI). The author can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in this paper reflect only those of the author. 1. J. Research in International Commercial Arbitration: Special Skills ... Abstract. Experts agree that international commercial arbitration relies far more heavily on written advocacy than litigation does, yet very few practitioners and arbitrators have ever received any specialized training in how to research and present written arguments in this unique area of law. Principles of International Commercial Arbitration Abstract. International commercial arbitration is the process of resolving business disputes between or among transnational parties through the use of one or more arbitrators rather than through the courts. It requires the agreement of the parties, which is usually given via an arbitration clause that is inserted into the contract or business ... The Workings of International Commercial Arbitration (ICA) 89. The Workings of International Commercial Arbitration (ICA) . Chinwe Egbunike-Umegbolu . Abstract. International commercial disputes require a significant and. expeditious determination as ... PDF Research in International Commercial Arbitration: Special Skills ... 50 Difficulties in international commercial arbitration can arise because of the absence of an internationally recognized citation system. See Jolivet, supra note 17, at 267. For example, sources for the New York Convention include 330 U.N.T.S. 3, T.I.A.S. No. 6997, and 7 I.L.M. 1046. PDF 1. Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration Maxwell 2007) 1; Gary Born, International Commercial Arbitration (3rd edn, Kluwer 2021) 269 et seq.; Julian D.M. Lew Comparative International Commercial et al., ... 9 Tanning Research Laboratories, Inc. v Hawaiian Tropic de Venezuela C.A., Caracas Court of First Instance, 2 August 2006 and Venezuelan Supreme Court, 12 ... Research and Practice in International Commercial Arbitration Research and Practice in International Commercial Arbitration. S.I. Strong, RESEARCH AND PRACTICE IN INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION: SOURCES AND STRATEGIES, Oxford University Press, 2009. University of Missouri School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2009-05. 8 Pages Posted: 19 Mar 2009 Last revised: 3 May 2012. Empirical Findings on International Arbitration: An overview It focuses on quantitative rather than qualitative empirical studies, and covers studies both of international commercial arbitration and international investment arbitration. The chapter first describes empirical research on the use of arbitration to resolve transnational disputes—in particular, the extent to which parties use arbitration ... A Call for Rethinking International Arbitration: A TWAIL ... Despite the increasingly diversified discourses in international commercial arbitration, this device of socio-legal regulation remains a relatively under-theorized subject. In particular, far too little attention has been paid to analyzing international commercial arbitration through critical approaches such as Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL). TWAIL is broadly understood as ... PDF International Commercial Arbitration-A5-With-SIAC International Commercial Arbitration Please see the last page of this paper for the most recent research papers by our experts. Disclaimer This report is a copy right of Nishith Desai Associates. No reader should act on the basis of any state- ment contained herein without seeking professional advice. The authors and the firm expressly dis- LibGuides: International Commercial & Investment Arbitration Research Law360 is a popular legal news and current awareness resource covering over 40 different practice areas, including international arbitration.The UIC law library's Law360 subscription allows users to receive daily newsletter alerts on legal topics of their choosing. Law360 is available from any on-campus computer or from off campus with proxy authentication (current UIC Law ID and password). International Commercial Arbitration Research Guide Research Assistance and Help with Related Topics. If you need assistance with international commercial arbitration research, visit the Research Help page of the Georgetown University Law Library's website. Or contact the Law Library's International and Foreign Law Department by phone (202-662-4195) or by email ([email protected]). International Arbitration Research They may provide a good basic overview for your research. The Complete (But Unofficial) Guide to the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot by Jörg Risse. Publication Date: 2015 (3rd ed.) The Culture of International Arbitration by Won L. Kidane. Publication Date: 2017. International Commercial Arbitration Law Research Papers This mainly concerns two conventions, namely the New York Convention (1958) and the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (1961). In the field of international arbitration, specifically the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, these two conventions were historically preceded by two international treaty acts. Nishith Desai Associates: New Publication We released our flagship research paper titled 'International Commercial Arbitration: Law and Recent Developments in India' as part of the 'India ADR Week, 2021' organized by the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration.Nishith Desai Associates was the knowledge partner and hosted the curtain raiser event - 'Indian Arbitration Law at a Glance'.The paper provides a broad ... International Commercial Law This mainly concerns two conventions, namely the New York Convention (1958) and the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (1961). In the field of international arbitration, specifically the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, these two conventions were historically preceded by two international treaty acts. PDF Arbitration in India: Recent Developments and Key Challenges for conducting international and domestic arbitration.10 Setting up of the Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (MCIA): The MCIA was established in 2016 as an independent, not-for-profit organization to promote institutional arbitration in India. It provides a framework for the conduct of international and domestic commercial arbitration ... Introduction to International Arbitration by Anjika Verma :: SSRN Abstract. Arbitration is one of the ways to settle disputes. Compared to disputes between domestic entities, international business disputes shave extra problems including various jurisdictions, diverse legal systems and tradition, different procedures and often involving more than one language. The disputes arising out of commercial ... International Commercial Arbitration Research Guide In the columns below, you will find a selection of secondary sources that focus on narrower topics within the field of international commercial arbitration law.To locate additional resources from the Georgetown Law Library's collection, use the Advanced Search and select Law Library Catalog.Then select Subject as the search field and enter one of the following subject headings in search box: International Commercial Arbitration Research Papers The Adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration in Hong Kong. Coming into effect in June 2011, the Hong Kong Arbitration Ordinance Cap. 609 ("AO") established a unified legal regime for both domestic and international arbitration based on the international principles of the ML. (PDF) International Commercial Arbitration International Commercial Arbitration- India. 1. Introduction: With the advent of globalisation, the world has become a global village. Business organisations have expanded themselves beyond ... Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 In this paper, the prime position in dispute resolution is discussed. This paper examines and evaluates the International Arbitration Regime in India under 1940 and 1996 Acts, and also discusses the main concepts like arbitrator, arbitration agreement, arbitral awards, foreign awards, public policy etc. This paper also deals with recognition ... assignment essay homework paper phd report resume review speech thesis