Introductory description

The aim of this module is to provide students with a strong legal foundation in the law arbitration, as the most frequent mechanism for the resolution of international commercial disputes. The course provides a complete introduction to the fundamental notions of the discipline and addresses some of the challenges created by arbitration practice. Students will be expected to learn English arbitration law, but the module contains constant references to other legal systems (including the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration) and international treaties and conventions applied worldwide. This comparative approach responds to the legal diversity frequently present in arbitration practice and the influence exercised by various jurisdictions in the evolution of this law.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

International Commercial Arbitration as the business mechanism for dispute resolution

The sources of International Commercial Arbitration

The Arbitration Agreement

Appointment and removal of arbitrators

Bias in arbitration

The relationship between the jurisdiction of arbitral tribunals and national courts

Types of Arbitral Procedures

The determination of the law applicable in international arbitration

Validity and effectiveness of arbitral awards

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand and critically evaluate the importance of the arbitration agreement and the choice of arbitral institutions and rules in effectuating the parties' agreement.
• Understand and critically evaluate the differing legal regimes that may apply to an arbitration and the choice of law issues that are thereby created.
• Understand and critically evaluate the reasons for the growth in the popularity of arbitration as a method of resolving international commercial disputes, and the features of arbitration which further that growth.
• Understand and critically evaluate the legal underpinning of arbitration and the relationship between arbitral panels and national courts in the process.
• Understand and critically evaluate the tensions and procedures involved in enforcing arbitral awards and the limits of judicial review of these awards.

Indicative reading list

The principle text will be Born, International Arbitration: Law and Practice (Wolters Kluwer 2012)
Other recommended texts include:
Redfern & Hunter, International Commercial Arbitration (5th ed. 2009)
Moses, The Principles and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration (CUP 2 ed. 2012)
Other recommended books:
Paulsson, The Idea of Arbitration (OUP 2014)
Gaillard, Legal Theory of International Arbitration (Nijhoff/Brill 2010)
Dezalay and Garth, Dealing in Virtue: International Arbitration and the construction of a
Transnational Legal Order (Univ. of Chicago Press 2nd ed. 1998)
Brown & Marriott, ADR Principles and Practice (Sweet & Maxwell 3rd ed. 2012)

Subject specific skills

No subject specific skills defined for this module.

Transferable skills

No transferable skills defined for this module.