A Primer on International Arbitration for Board Members & Local Counsel

Abstract

Arbitration is not a new concept, in fact it has been used for centuries, with Plato writing about arbitration amongst the ancient Greeks. As international trade and commerce have grown over the past decades, the frequency of international arbitration proceedings has significantly increased since globalization of cross-border investments and trade has led to increased and ever more complex relationships between businesses, investors, and States. Hence, over the last 50 years or so, the international community has increasingly embraced arbitration, with many recognizing its importance as the primary means of resolving complex transnational disputes. For example, nearly half of the requests for arbitration filed with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration since its creation in 1923 were filed in the 1980s with a steady increase in each decade thereafter with records in 2016 and 2017 and beyond.