Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment?

Arbitration’s Age of Enlightenment? is a timely compendium of essays addressing the criticism of the arbitral process that has been voiced in recent years, interpreting the challenge as an invitation to enlightenment. This volume directly presents the considered views of a broad cross-section of the international arbitration community and records the entire proceedings of the twenty-fifth Congress of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), held in Edinburgh in September 2022.

What’s in this book:

Topics range from the impact of artificial intelligence to the role of international arbitration in restraining resorts to unilateralism, protectionism, and nationalism. The contributors address the following contentious issues:

• time and cost
• gender and cultural diversity
• confidentiality versus transparency
• Investor-State dispute settlement procedures
• the proposed establishment of a permanent international investment court system
• how cross-fertilisation across different disciplines may impact international arbitration
• determining whether a document request seeks documents that are relevant and material to the outcome of a dispute
• whether we would be better off if investment arbitration were to disappear, and
• implications for international arbitration of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

Considering global issues that are likely to give rise to disputes in the future, including climate change, environmental protection, access to depleting water resources, energy and mining transition, and human rights initiatives, several contributions lay stress on developments in specific countries (China, India) and regions (Africa, the Middle East).

How this will help you:

Arbitrators, corporate counsel, and policymakers will welcome this opportunity to engage with current thinking on key issues in international commercial and investment arbitration, especially given the diversity of thought presented by authors worldwide.