Arbitration and Law
This chapter discusses the relationship between arbitration and law. Three sets of questions present themselves with respect to the role of law in arbitration. The first relates to arbitration’s legal framework. The second relates to the specific procedures by which arbitration proceedings unfold, for example, in presenting evidence or organizing oral hearings. The third implicates the arbitrator’s evaluation of the merits of the disputes itself. Although separate, the three dimensions of law support each other in promoting the efficiency, fairness, and legitimacy of cross-border dispute resolution. Performance of the arbitrator’s function thus falls within a framework of cases, statutes, and treaties seeking balance between two goals: (i) to prevent disregard of an arbitration commitment; while at the same time (ii) to monitor the arbitral process for conformity to recognized notions of procedural fairness.