The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization headquartered at the Peace Palace, in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides administrative support in international arbitrations involving various combinations of States, State entities, international organizations and private parties. The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regional trade. The PCA is constituted through two separate multilateral conventions with a combined membership of 122 Contracting Parties. The PCA is not a United Nations agency, but has been a United Nations observer since 1993.
UNIDROIT is an intergovernmental organization whose objective is to harmonize private international law across countries through uniform rules, international conventions, and the production of model laws, sets of principles, guides and guidelines. Established in 1926 as part of the League of Nations, it was reestablished in 1940 following the League's dissolution through a multilateral agreement, the UNIDROIT Statute. As of 2023 UNIDROIT has 65 member states.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of and funded by the World Bank Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It is an autonomous, multilateral specialized institution to encourage international flow of investment and mitigate non-commercial risks by a treaty drafted by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development's executive directors and signed by member countries. As of May 2016, 153 contracting member states agreed to enforce and uphold arbitral awards in accordance with the ICSID Convention.
The Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, commonly known as the New York Convention, was adopted by a United Nations diplomatic conference on 10 June 1958 and entered into force on 7 June 1959. The Convention requires courts of contracting states to give effect to private agreements to arbitrate and to recognize and enforce arbitration awards made in other contracting states. Widely considered the foundational instrument for international arbitration, it applies to arbitrations that are not considered as domestic awards in the state where recognition and enforcement is sought.
The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), sometimes known as the Vienna Convention, is a multilateral treaty that establishes a uniform framework for international commerce. As of December 2023, it has been ratified by 97 countries, representing two-thirds of world trade.
International arbitration is arbitration between companies or individuals in different states, usually by including a provision for future disputes in a contract.
The Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot or Vis Moot is an international moot competition. Since 1994, it has been held annually in Vienna, Austria, attracting more than 300 law schools from all around the world and spurring the creation of more than 20 pre-moots each year before the actual rounds are held in Vienna. It is the largest arbitration moot competition, and second-largest moot overall, in the world; considered a grand slam or major moot. A sister moot, known as the Willem C. Vis (East) Moot, is held in Hong Kong just before the rounds in Vienna. It was established in 2003 and attracts around 150 teams every year, making it the second largest commercial arbitration moot and also a grand slam moot. It uses the same moot problem as the Vis Moot, as does the various pre-moot friendlies.
Ex aequo et bono is a Latin phrase that is used as a legal term of art. In the context of arbitration, it refers to the power of arbitrators to dispense with consideration of the law but consider solely what they consider to be fair and equitable in the case at hand. However, a decision ex aequo et bono is distinguished from a decision on the basis of equity, "Whereas an authorisation to decide a question ex aequo et bono is an authorisation to decide without deference to the rules of law, an authorisation to decide on a basis of equity does not dispense the judge from giving a decision based upon law, even though the law be modified".
Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a neutral third party who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitration award'. An arbitration decision or award is legally binding on both sides and enforceable in the courts, unless all parties stipulate that the arbitration process and decision are non-binding.
The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration is a model law prepared by UNCITRAL, and adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on 21 June 1985. In 2006, it was amended and now includes more detailed provisions on interim measures.
An arbitral tribunal or arbitration tribunal, also arbitration commission, arbitration committee or arbitration council is a panel of unbiased adjudicators which is convened and sits to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration. The tribunal may consist of a sole arbitrator, or there may be two or more arbitrators, which might include a chairperson or an umpire. Members selected to serve on an arbitration panel are typically professionals with expertise in both law and in friendly dispute resolution (mediation). Some scholars have suggested that the ideal composition of an arbitration commission should include at least also one professional in the field of the disputed situation, in cases that involve questions of asset or damages valuation for instance an economist.
Justice Jean-Paul Beraudo is a lawyer, academic and author of legal works. He was Justice at the French Supreme Court and vice-chairman of the International Court of Arbitration. He lectures on International Private Law and International Trade Law at Panthéon-Sorbonne University and on Company law at Sciences-Po, Paris. The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) appointed him correspondent for France and a member of the scientific committee.
The "Rotterdam Rules" is a treaty proposing new international rules to revise the legal framework for maritime affreightment and carriage of goods by sea. The Rules primarily address the legal relationship between carriers and cargo-owners.
Investor–state dispute settlement (ISDS), or an investment court system (ICS), is a set of rules through which states can be sued by foreign investors for certain state actions affecting the foreign direct investments (FDI) of that investor. This most often takes the form of international arbitration between the foreign investor and the state. As of June 2024, over US$113 billion has been paid by states to investors under ISDS, the vast majority of the money going to fossil fuel interests.
The Arbitration Act 1996 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which regulates arbitration proceedings within the jurisdiction of England and Wales and Northern Ireland.
The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts is a treaty that aims at facilitating the use of electronic communications in international trade. It was prepared by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 23 November 2005. Pursuant to Article 23, it entered into force on 1 March 2013, the first day of the month after six months passed following adoption by three States parties, namely the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Singapore.
Kompetenz-kompetenz, or competence-competence, is a jurisprudential doctrine whereby a legal body, such as a court or arbitral tribunal, may have competence, or jurisdiction, to rule as to the extent of its own competence on an issue before it. The concept arose in the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany. Since then, kompetenz-kompetenz has often been important in international arbitration.
The Convention on the Limitation Period in the International Sale of Goods is a uniform law treaty prepared by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). It deals with the prescription of actions relating to contracts for the international sale of goods due to the passage of time.
Anna Joubin-Bret is a French lawyer. She is the Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and Director of the International Trade Law Division (ITLD) in the Office of Legal Affairs (OLA) of the UN Secretariat since 2017.
Vilawan Mangklatanakul is a Thai lawyer and diplomat at Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. She joined the Foreign Service in 1995 and currently serves as Deputy Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs. In November 2021, Mangklatanakul was elected as one of the International Law Commission (ILC) Members for the term 2023–2027, making her the first Thai woman national and international lawyer from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) region to serve the position.
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