This chapter presents some thoughts on international arbitration. It begins with brief descriptions of the New York Convention and the UNCITRAL Model Law, which serve as the foundations of international dispute resolution. It then discusses arbitration agreements, the role of institutions, the role of law, and the disadvantages of arbitration. It argues that international commercial arbitration has become much more like that of the London Commercial Court; more often than not lawyers are called in from the outset. Pleadings, discovery, and the like are commonplace. The arbitral process has also become more expensive, notwithstanding substantial efforts by arbitral institutions and others to limit costs. It further suggests that where the tribunal considers that the dispute can be dealt with fairly and more cheaply without the full panoply of such legal procedures as the parties’ lawyers propose, that they make certain that the parties themselves, not just their lawyers, are made aware of the tribunal’s view.
