International Commercial Arbitration

B.A.LL.B (Optional Paper)

-Apoorvi Shrivastava & Vini Singh

Course description: The course deals in an exhaustive manner with the substantive and
procedural aspects of the law related to international commercial arbitration. The course will
examine and discuss various issues which occur in international arbitral process, ranging from
entering into the arbitration agreement to the enforcement of the award. It will focus on
theoretical foundations of international arbitration, the juridical nature of arbitration, the
agreement to arbitrate, applicable laws, the interplay between national courts and international
arbitral tribunals and finally the various issues related with the award. We shall refer to various
national arbitration statutes, international arbitration treaties and the arbitral rules of leading
international arbitral institutes.

Object: The object of the course is to enable students to develop legal strategy to solve
disputes in the field of international commerce, through the method of arbitration.

Course Detail:

Module I

Concept and ethos of arbitration

 Dispute settlement mechanisms

 Arbitration as a dispute settlement mechanism
 What is arbitration (theoretical definitions)
 Arbitration defined in various laws
 Why to arbitrate?
 History and growth of international commercial arbitration
 Forms of arbitration- their advantages and disadvantages
 International Commercial Arbitration defined
 The meaning of international
 The meaning of commercial
 Arbitration in equity and amiable compositeur
 Distinguishing International arbitration from arbitration
“Article- Jan Paulson, International Arbitration is not Arbitration, Stockholm
International Arbitration Review 2008”
 Overview of the legal regime governing international commercial arbitration
 Parties v Non-parties – extension of the arbitration agreement to non-signatories

Module II

Theoretical foundations of International Commercial Arbitration:

Two Theoretical Models:

  National order approach
 The denationalized autonomous approach

Is international commercial arbitration part of the national sovereign legal order? Or

entirely separate from the national legal order: a denationalized creature of contract?

Readings-

 Lex Facit Arbitrum, F. A. Mann, Arbitration International, Vol. 2 No. 3 (1986)

 The status of Vacated Awards in France: the court de cassation Decision in
Putrabali, Arbitration International, Vol. 24 No.2 (2008)
 Arbitration Unbound: Award detached from the country of its origin, Jan Paulson,
International and Comparative Law quarterly (1981)

Module III

The Agreement to Arbitrate

 Categories of arbitration agreement

 Significance of an arbitration agreement- positive and negative effect
 Parties to an arbitration agreement
 Formal Validity- The requirement of writing and the debate surrounding it
 Key Characteristics: The doctrine of Separability/Autonomy – UNCITRAL Model Law
Art. 16
“Reading- Fiona Trust & Holding & Holding Corporation v Yuri Privalov & others
(2007) UKHL 40”
 Issues of Substance: The concept of Arbitrability
 Confidentiality

Module IV

Applicable Law

 Capacity- Article V (I) (a) New York convention

 The Law Governing the Agreement to Arbitrate
 C v D (2007) EWCH 1541
 Sulamérica Cia Nacional De Seguros S.A. and others v Enesa Engenharia S.A
[2012] EWCA Civ 638
 Arsanovia Ltd and others v Cruz City 1 Mauritius Holdings [2012] EWHC 3702
 The law applicable to the substance
 The law governing the Arbitration
 Union of India v McDonnell Douglas (1993) 2 Lloyd’s Rep. 48
 The concept and relevance of seat
 Delocalised Arbitration
 Conflict Rules and the search for the applicable law
Module V

Arbitral Tribunals

 Appointment of Arbitrators
 Different types of tribunals
 Composition of Arbitral Tribunals
 Challenge and replacement of Arbitrators – Independence v Impartiality v Neutrality v
Actual v Apparent bias, Duties of Disclosure
Loss of right to appoint/ Truncated tribunals
 Status of Arbitral Tribunals- judges or creatures of contract
 Jurisdiction of Arbitration Tribunal: Competence of arbitral tribunal to rule on its
jurisdiction (Competence-Competence)

Module VI

Conduct of Arbitral Proceedings

 Preliminary Steps
 Written submission
 Evidence gathering
 Hearings & proceedings after the hearing
 How an arbitral tribunal reaches its decision- Deliberation, Majority Voting, The
Bargaining Process, Tribunal Psychology, Separate, Concurring and Dissenting
opinions

Module VII

The Role of National Courts During the Proceedings

 At the beginning of the arbitration

 During the arbitral proceedings
 At the end of the arbitration

Module VIII

The Award

 Categories of Awards
 Validity of Awards
 The effect of Awards- Res Judicata
 Clarification and review of the Award
 Recourse against Arbitral Awards
 Recognition and enforcement of arbitral Awards
Prescribed books:

Nigel Blackaby and Constantine Partasides with Alan Redfern and Martin Hunter, Redfern and
Hunter on International Arbitration, 5th ed. Oxford

Gary Born, International Arbitration; Law and Practice 2012

Reference books:

Gary Born, International Commercial Arbitration, 2009 CCH

Jean-François Poudret, Sébastien Besson Comparative Law of International Arbitration, 2007

Fouchard, Gaillard, Goldman on International Commercial Arbitration, Gaillard and Savage

ed.

Emmanuel Giallard, Legal Theory of International Arbitration, Martinus Nijhoff, 2010

Julian D.M. Lew et al. Comparative International Commercial Arbitration, Kluwer Law
International.

Poudret and Besson, Comparative Law of International Arbitration, 2007