The only book to consider the application of set-off in the context of arbitration covering the issues of applicable law and jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal.

The book deals with set-off in international arbitration proceedings. In these proceedings, set-off is frequently the tool relied upon to resist a claim. At the same time, the legal intricacies make it hard to use. The first part of the book provides a survey of set-off, including its definition, significance and functions. The second part offers a thorough comparative analysis of selected European laws of set-off and reveals the dramatic differences between them. The third and last part of the book deals with the problematic consequences of these differences and shows the limits and the inadequacy of the traditional choice-of-law doctrines. While demonstrating how to overcome the practical hurdles of the present situation, the third part also offers normative alternatives that should provide significant help in the adjudication of commercial disputes. This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's International Arbitration online service.

Arbitration and International Trade in the Arab Countries by Nathalie Najjar is masterful compendium of arbitration law in the Arab countries. A true study of comparative law in the purest sense of the term, the work puts into perspective the solutions retained in the various laws concerned and highlights both their convergences and divergences. Focusing on the laws of sixteen States, the author examines international trade arbitration in the MENA region and assesses the value of these solutions in a way that seeks to guide a practice which remains extraordinarily heterogeneous. The book provides an analysis of a large number of legal sources, court decisions as well as a presentation of the attitude of the courts towards arbitration in the States studied. Traditional and modern sources of international arbitration are examined through the prism of the two requirements of international trade, freedom and safety, the same prism through which the whole law of arbitration is studied. The book thus constitutes an indispensable guide to any arbitration specialist called to work with the Arab countries, both as a practitioner and as a theoretician.

This volume celebrates the first fifty years of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) by presenting the landmark cases that have been decided under its auspices. These cases have addressed every aspect of investment disputes: jurisdictional thresholds; the substantive obligations found in investment treaties, contracts, and legislation; questions of general international law; and a number of novel procedural issues. Each chapter, written by an expert on the chapter’s particular focus, looks at an international investment law topic through the lens of one or more of these leading cases, analyzing what the case held, how it has been applied, and its overall significance to the development of international investment law. These topics include: - applicable law; - res judicata in investor-State arbitration; - notion of investment; - investor nationality; - consent to arbitration; - substantive standards of treatment; - consequences of corruption in investor-State arbitration; - State defenses - counter-claims; - assessment of damages and cost considerations; - ICSID Arbitration Rule 41(5) objections; - mass claims, consolidation and parallel proceedings; - provisional measures; - arbitrator challenges; - transparency and amicus curiae; and - annulment. Because the law of international investment continues to grow in importance in an ever globalizing world, this book is more than a fitting way to mark the past fifty years and to welcome the next fifty years of development. It will prove both educational for practitioners new to the field and informative for seasoned investment lawyers. Moreover, the book itself is a landmark that will be of great value to professionals, scholars and students interested in international investment law.

Although the idea of arbitral tribunal's mandate is in everyday use in the international arbitration scholarship, it remains an elusive concept lacking any legal definition. Often associated with other notions such as the tribunal's mission, powers, authority or even jurisdiction, the meaning of arbitral tribunal's mandate remains a moving target and escapes easy classification. Yet, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, a non-compliance with the arbitral tribunal's mandate provides a basis for a challenge of the arbitral award at the post-award stage (either during setting aside proceedings or at the enforcement stage). Since the concept of the tribunal's mandate is vague, it attracts, in turn, a broad interpretation of the ground leading to a frustration of the fundamental value of arbitration - the finality of the arbitral award. It is therefore essential to determine how the national courts review arbitral awards on the basis of 'excess of mandate' and consequently in what instances they accept the argument that the tribunal acted in violation of its mandate. This study aims at recognizing the similarities and differences of the 'excess of mandate' type of challenges in selected legal systems (namely the UNCITRAL Model Law, France, England, the U.S. and the New York Convention). Looking through the eyes of what the selected legal systems consider to be an 'excess of mandate' allows us to identify common features and contributes to a better understanding of the concept of the arbitral tribunal's mandate by arbitrators, judges and legal practitioners alike. Accordingly, this research adds a building block to the definition of the tribunal's mandate.

Arbitration clauses in international commercial contracts are often reused from existing contracts. By so doing, the parties choose to apply, for example, either ad hoc or institutional arbitration and the UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, SCC, Swiss or other arbitration rules without necessarily being aware of the consequences. Moreover, parties often assume that an arbitration clause has the effect of excluding any kind of interference from a court of law and of rendering any but the chosen law redundant. This book highlights the specific features of various forms of arbitration and enables lawyers to make informed choices when drafting arbitration clauses. Chapters explain the framework for arbitration, its relationship with national law, and the features of the main arbitration institutions in Europe. The book also highlights new trends in other parts of the world that may have repercussions on the theory of international arbitration.

The first version of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules was endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in December 1976. Now considered one of UNCITRAL's greatest successes, the rules have had an extraordinary impact on international arbitration as both instruments in their own right and as guides for others. The Iran-US Claims Tribunal, for example, employs a barely modified version of the rules for all claims, and many multilateral and bilateral foreign investment treaties adopt the UNCITRAL Rules as an arbitral procedure. The Rules are so pervasive and the consequences of the new version potentially so significant that they cannot be ignored. This commentary on the Rules brings the official documents together in one volume and includes the insights and experiences of the Working Group that are not included in the official reports.

Damages and other forms of redress are the object of nearly every international investment dispute. Given the financial stakes in these cases, compensation is a key concern for both foreign investors and States. The increasingly large sums awarded and the growing complexity of claims call for a renewed analysis of legal and valuation concepts related to damages. Contemporary and Emerging Issues on the Law of Damages and Valuation in International Investment Arbitration, edited by Christina L. Beharry, examines a broad range of damages topics, building on basic principles and surveying current developments to identify trends in the jurisprudence. A central contribution of this book is its exploration of cutting-edge issues dominating a new generation of investment awards and the interconnectedness of damages with other areas of international investment law. This volume brings together leading practitioners, experts, and academics with extensive experience working on issues related to the law of damages and the quantification of compensation. Readers are provided with a deeper understanding of legal and valuation principles that are often the source of intense debate in international investment cases.

This book provides a comprehensive commentary on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Arbitration. Combining both theory and practice, it is written by leading academics and practitioners from Europe, Asia and the Americas to ensure the book has a balanced international coverage. The book not only provides an article-by-article critical analysis, but also incorporates information on the reality of legal practice in UNCITRAL jurisdictions, ensuring it is more than a recitation of case law and variations in legal text. This is not a handbook for practitioners needing a supportive citation, but rather a guide for practitioners, legislators and academics to the reasons the Model Law was structured as it was, and the reasons variations have been adopted.

***NO SALES RIGHTS IN SWITZERLAND*** This second edition of the first comprehensive commentary on the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration covers the new version of these rules which entered into force on 1 June 2012. It is a practical guide for arbitrators, counsel, state courts and persons involved in the conduct and administration of arbitral proceedings under the Swiss Rules. This commentary presents the new version of the Swiss Rules from a double perspective. On the one hand, it emphasizes the relationship between these Rules and the Swiss legal regime governing international arbitration, namely the provisions of chapter 12 of the Swiss Private International Law Statute. On the other hand, it puts these Rules in an international perspective by comparing them with the corresponding provisions of the other major institutional rules (ICC, LCIA, SCC, DIS, VIAC, SIAC, HKIAC, CIETAC, AAA/ ICDR, WIPO and ICSID) and with the provisions of the former edition of the rules. Finally, it highlights the main differences between the Swiss Rules and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules which were revised in 2010. This book is written by arbitration practitioners based in Switzerland who work with established law firms, widely experienced in international commercial arbitration. It is the work of a refreshing new generation of Swiss arbitration specialists. Two of the editors were members of the working group for the revision of the Swiss Rules and thus bring special insight into the book about the revision process.