Substance and procedure in international arbitration

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-66
Author(s):  
Saar A Pauker
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Investment Treaty ◽  
Basic Theme ◽  
Material Points

Abstract The distinction between substance and procedure in private international law has been subject to extensive debates among national courts and scholarly writings. The basic theme that procedural issues are governed by the lex fori, and substantive issues are subject to the lex causae, is widely accepted, although the boundaries between substance and procedure are not always clear. This article examines the application of the distinction between substance and procedure in the area of international arbitration, as regards both commercial cases and investment treaty disputes. It is argued that the distinction between substance and procedure has significant ramifications in international arbitration. The central (though not the only) aim of this distinction refers to the determination of the rules to be applied to borderline issues, such as evidentiary matters, interest, and limitation rules. Arbitral tribunals should have a considerable level of discretion in drawing the distinction. Specified points of guidance are suggested for common grayzone questions. Although the general principles concerning the substance/procedure distinction are similar in investment treaty arbitration and international commercial arbitration, material points of difference, such as the key role of public international law, may somewhat narrow the investment treaty tribunals’ discretion in respect of drawing the distinction.

Features of ILM for the 1960's

1969 ◽  
Vol 8 (I1) ◽  
pp. xi-xii
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Military Force ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
National Courts ◽  
The Developed Countries

The contents of ILM for the period from 1962 to 1969 reflect several significant developments: (1) the entry on the international scene of many new countries and their establishment of relations with the developed countries, particularly in the fields of commerce and trade and of investment; (2) the prevalence of armed conflict and the use of military force in the unsettled conditions resulting from the decolonization process and from continued antagonisms between the superpowers; (3) the pervasive role of international organizations, both global and regional, general and specialized; and (4) the continued predominance of national courts in the judicial consideration of questions of international law and the shift from general to specialized tribunals in the resolution of disputes by international arbitration and adjudication.

Civil Society and International Investment Arbitration

2020 ◽  
pp. 303-327
Author(s):  
Nathalie Bernasconi ◽  
Martin Dietrich Brauch ◽  
Howard Mann
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Dispute Settlement ◽  
International Investment ◽  
Public Law ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
Investment Treaty ◽  
Investment Arbitration ◽  
International Investment Agreements

This chapter discusses the role of civil society in international investment arbitration. Much of the civil society focus on international arbitration has been on the investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS) process included in many international investment agreements. However, the historical role of commercial arbitration as the progenitor of investment treaty arbitration and the procedural and structural links between ISDS and commercial arbitration are important for the discussions on civil society engagement. Civil society recognized early on the problems of using a commercial arbitration model for investment arbitration, which involves public law matters, and concluded that this created a misappropriation of a tool that up to that time had only been used for private commercial purposes or very well-defined state-to-state purposes. The crossing of these purposes and actors to create public law arbitration between investors and states is what created this sense of misappropriation and led to a spotlight being shone on the regime by civil society. The chapter then looks back at the beginnings of civil society engagement with international arbitration through the experience with investment treaties, including the advancement of transparency and the ability to submit amicus curiae briefs.

Biting the Bullet or Redefining ‘Consent’ in Investor-State Arbitration? Pre-Arbitration Requirements After BG Group v Argentina

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-726
Author(s):  
Konstanze von Papp
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Traditional Approach ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
Group V ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Investment Treaty ◽  
Alternative Solutions ◽  
Investment Treaty Arbitration ◽  
Consensual Approach

A purely consensual approach to international arbitration has its limits even in commercial arbitration. In investment treaty arbitration, the traditional approach to finding ‘consent’ to arbitrate encounters difficulties if there are any pre-arbitration requirements that have not been satisfied. This will be illustrated by the case of BG Group v Republic of Argentina. Drawing a line between purely ‘procedural’ pre-arbitration requirements and those that are strict conditions on a host state’s consent to arbitrate is difficult, if not impossible. This article suggests alternative solutions, taking into account the need to appreciate domestic arbitration laws as well as public international law concerns. ‘Biting the bullet’ would mean accepting the lack of consent between host state and investor. A doctrinally clearer approach to jurisdictional issues could then be found by drawing an analogy to non-signatory issues in commercial arbitration.

The Expanding Role of the Supreme Court of Canada in International Law Issues

1997 ◽  
Vol 34 ◽  
pp. 89-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérard V. La Forest
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
National Courts ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The World

SummaryThe rapid globalization that marks our era has resulted in increasing demands for the legal resolution of disputes arising out of interstate activities. National courts throughout the world have been significantly affected by this development. This article describes the recent expansion of the work of the Supreme Court of Canada in relation to transnational legal issues, including issues of public and private international law, human rights, admiralty law, and issues of private law having international ramifications. It traces the Court's evolving approach to international law issues and its willingness to reformulate its principles to meet modern conditions and to foster compliance with its norms. The more cosmopolitan attitude thereby generated has worked in concert with the Court's increasing willingness to rely on comparative law techniques in assuting in the resolution of issues of a localized character.

scholarly journals The Cross-Border Freedom of Form Principle Under Reservation: The Role of Articles 12 and 96 CISG in Theory and Practice

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich G. Schroeter
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Sales Contracts ◽  
Formal Validity ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
International Sales ◽  
Positive Effect

33 Journal of Law and Commerce (2014), 79–117The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods of 11 April 1980 (CISG) incorporates the freedom of form principle, allowing the conclusion of international sales contracts as well as their later modification to be made without regard to any form. The Convention does provide, however, for the possibility of individual Contracting States declaring a reservation against this principle, the scope and effect of which are described in Articles 12 and 96 CISG. Eleven among the current Contracting States to the Convention have made such a declaration, making the reservation to the freedom of form principle the most popular among the reservations permitted under the CISG.This article addresses a number of questions and difficulties in interpretation that have arisen under Articles 12 and 96 CISG, and proposes answers and solutions. It covers inter alia the reservation's drafting history, the current reservation states including recent signs for upcoming withdrawals of reservations, the prerequisites for making a declaration under Article 96 CISG and the consequences of such prerequisites lacking in certain reservation States. In its central part, it focusses on the effects of an Article 96 CISG reservation for the Convention's practical application, introducing the distinction between the reservation's 'negative' effect (i.e. the removal of Contracting States' public international law obligation to apply the freedom of form principle) and its disputed 'positive' effect (i.e. the question whether the reservation in itself leads to the applicability of the form requirements of the reservation State - a question that should be denied). It furthermore elaborates on the determination of the law governing the formal validity of CISG contracts in accordance with rules of private international law, and on the inadmissibility of the parties excluding the 'negative' effect through party agreement (Article 12 second sentence CISG).

Part 1 General and Special Reports, 7 International Commercial Arbitration: Perspective on the Hague Principles in International Commercial Arbitration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gama Lauro ◽  
Girsberger Daniel ◽  
Rodríguez José Antonio Moreno
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
State Court ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
International Commercial Arbitration ◽  
Party Choice ◽  
The Hague ◽  
Model Law

This chapter studies how the private international law rules of most jurisdictions have traditionally addressed State court litigation, without considering the specificities of international arbitration. Many nations have now created their own legislation for international arbitration or adopted the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. These laws regularly contain their own rules dealing with parties’ choice of law on the merits. The chapter then explores choice of law in international arbitration with a particular view on the Hague Principles which are, as paragraph 4 of their Preamble discloses, intended to apply equally to courts and arbitral tribunals. It analyses the approach arbitral tribunals have taken when confronted with choice of law issues, and particularly a party choice of the law applicable to the merits of the dispute. The chapter also assesses whether it is correct and if so, for which reasons, and in which way, that commercial parties have a larger autonomy in arbitration, compared to litigation, to choose non-State rules of law, and which types of rules they may choose. Finally, it demonstrates why, how, and to what extent the Hague Principles can contribute to define, delineate, interpret, and supplement existing (conflict of law) regimes in the field of international arbitration.

Private International Law and International Commercial Arbitration – A Dialogue about the Usefulness and Awareness of the Former for the Latter

2019 ◽  
pp. 310-324
Author(s):  
Giuditta Cordero-Moss ◽  
Diego P. Fernández Arroyo
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
Choice Of Law ◽  
International Commercial Arbitration

This chapter reproduces a keynote debate that took place at one of the conferences in Edinburgh in the context of the PILIM project. Diego Fernandez Arroyo and Giuditta Cordero-Moss discussed the role of private international law in international commercial arbitration. They discuss the usefulness of conflict rules in arbitration proceedings, among other things where the parties have made a choice of law, examining also the limitations of choice of law clauses.

scholarly journals Vanishing Set-Aside Authority in International Commercial Arbitration

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-154
Author(s):  
Meng Chen ◽  
Chengzhi Wang
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Common Phenomenon ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
International Commercial Arbitration ◽  
National Courts

Summary Traditional set-aside theory is subject to considerable challenges as a result of an uncompromising trend towards autonomy and internationalism in international arbitration. The silence and ambiguity of international law regarding enforcement of set-aside arbitral awards allow some states to abandon their own set-aside authority or ignore set-aside decisions made by competent courts. This article presents a range of evidence that demonstrates the enforcement of set-aside arbitral awards has become a common phenomenon. This article first introduces robust academic debates regarding set-aside authority. Then this article exposes omission and ambiguity in the legal source, which leads to confusion in enforcement proceedings of set-aside arbitral awards. This article describes and analyses selected cases and practical data in order to summarize the approaches taken by national courts when reviewing foreign set-aside decisions. Finally, this article briefly evaluates the most promising solutions to the contradictory enforcement proceedings of set-aside arbitral awards.

scholarly journals Applicable Law for Contracts in the Sporting Context

SEEU Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 197-221
Author(s):  
Ines Medić
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
Elite Level ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Law ◽  
Rome I

Abstract This article presents an analysis of contractual relations in sport from the standpoint of the Croatian legislative system. Due to the complexity of the subject matter, the author considers only a small fragment of it - the significance and the role of sport in Croatian society and the law of contracts „as a cornerstone on which „sports law“ has been built and which is of primary importance in most areas where there is an interface between sport and the law, irrespective of whether the sport is being played at an elite level or at a more humble one“. Bearing in mind the limited extent of this article, the autor tries to provide some clarifications and some guidance on how to deal with the designation and the determination of the applicable law for contracts in the sporting context. Considering that there are different legal regimes which may come into play with regard to the designation of the law applicable to contracts in the sporting context, the author first presents the determination of the applicable law according to the Rome I Regulation and then according to the Croatian Arbitration Act, Swiss Private International Law Act and the CAS Code of Sports-related Arbitration, as the most common in sports practice. Then, the author deals with contracts concluded with minor athletes and the determination of the law applicable to some preliminary questions. Finally, the author presents her perception of the problems encountered and some suggestions for the improvement of the existing legal framework.

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