he Swiss International Arbitration Law Reports provides for the first time a full English translation of the decisions made by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court on a biannual basis, irrespective of whether the original decision was published in the German, French or Italian language, or whether the decision has been officially published or is simply available on the Court's website. The English translation is presented in parallel to the original text of each decision, and it is preceded by a head note and a summary of the decision for the reader in a hurry. All decisions directly relating to international arbitration will be translated, including those that deal with setting aside proceedings, the enforcement of arbitration agreements or the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in Switzerland under the New York Convention, 1958. Switzerland is historically one of the preferred venues for international commercial arbitration. Arbitrations taking place in Switzerland relate not only to contracts between European corporations, but also to contracts made in East-West trade or contracts between parties in the Northern and the Southern hemisphere. The most important decisions on international arbitration are made by Switzerland's highest court, the Federal Supreme Court. Anyone who needs to consider the position of the Swiss law on international arbitration is bound to consult these decisions. In addition, due to the leading role of Switzerland in international arbitration, the Court's decisions are frequently relied upon by arbitral tribunals in international arbitrations outside Switzerland.

Central to the book’s purpose is the procedural challenge facing arbitrators at each and every stage of the arbitral process when fairness arguments conflict with efficiency concerns and trade-offs must be determined. Some key themes include how can a tribunal be fair, and in particular be neutral, if parties are so diverse? How can arbitration be made efficient and cost-effective without undue inroads into fairness and accuracy? How does a tribunal do what is best if the parties are choosing a suboptimal process? When can or must an arbitrator ignore procedural choices made by the parties? The author thoroughly evaluates competing arguments and adds his own practical tips, expertly synthesizing and engaging with the conference literature and differing authors’ views. He identifies criteria that offer a harmonized approach to each stage of the arbitral process, with particular attention to such aspects of international arbitration as: appropriate trade-offs between flexibility and certainty; the rights, duties and powers of arbitrators; appointment and challenge of arbitrators; responses to ‘guerilla’ tactics; drafting of arbitration agreements, including specialty clauses; drafting of required commencement notices and response documents; set-off; fast track arbitration and other efficiency options; strategic use of preliminary conferences and timetabling; online arbitration; multi-party, multi-contract, class arbitration; amicus and third party funders; pre-arbitral referees and interim relief; witness evidence, both factual and expert; documentary evidence, production obligations, and challenges to production; identifying applicable law; and remedies and costs.

The Swiss International Sports Arbitration Reports provides for the first time a full English translation of the decisions made by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in setting aside proceedings against awards made by Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panels, irrespective of whether the original decision was published in the German, French or Italian language, or whether the decision has been officially published or is simply available on the Court’s website. The English translation is presented parallel to the original text of each decision, and is preceded by a head note and a summary of the decision for the reader in a hurry. The importance of the CAS based in Lausanne is well known to all practitioners engaged in sports law and arbitration. It was once famously described as the "Supreme Court of World Sports." Whether a CAS panel decides in ordinary arbitration proceedings or in an appeal brought against the decision of a federation, association or sports related body, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne has the last word where the dissatisfied party challenges the CAS panel’s decision in court proceedings.This work is edited by two well-known Swiss practitioners, both of whom are engaged full-time in international arbitration as counsel and arbitrators, and have published widely on issues of international law and arbitration. This publication will be of great use to arbitrators, parties, lawyers involved in sports arbitration as well as commentators who will benefit from access to case law in one key jurisdiction for international sports arbitration.

Arbitration in Switzerland

Sweden is one of a handful of countries where the international arbitral process has reached a stage where the jurisprudence is replete with instances involving no local parties at all. In this context of credible neutrality, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) has emerged as a leading global arbitral institution. Whether the matter at issue is a business transaction dispute or a politicized conflict involving obdurate parties, the richness of its body of decided cases manifests the SCC’s authority and reliability throughout the converging world of international arbitration. The present book, written by sixteen eminent practitioners and now in its second edition, provides a practical guide to international arbitration in Sweden, whether ad hoc or institutional. Among the many elements of practice and procedure detailed are the following: appointment, challenge, removal, and compensation of arbitrators; procedural efficiency and costs; use of international legal sources such as IBA guidelines; choice of law by parties; SCC rules and procedures; multiparty arbitrations – joinder, intervention, consolidation; investment treaty arbitration; confidentiality; documentary evidence, witnesses, and experts; grounds for setting aside; party succession; Swedish court review of the arbitrator’s jurisdiction; and appeal of arbitrators’ compensation. In addition, readers will be exposed to a trove of pertinent references to important decisions that have, in recent decades, been generated by the stream of major international arbitrations conducted in Sweden. Disputing parties wishing to know what will happen when their case is brought to Sweden for arbitration will find no clearer or more thorough guide. This book is an incomparable source for anyone called upon to act as arbitrator or counsel, or in any other capacity, in international arbitration in Sweden.

Written by today’s leading arbitrators and counsel, this remarkably candid guide provides insight into the practitioner’s approach, conduct, style, and techniques that have proven most effective. While the facts and the law are fundamental, a successful outcome is the product of painstaking document review, witness interviews, legal research, strategizing and focusing the case, and developing compelling written and oral presentations. How to properly perform these tasks is the subject of this book. And where the first edition focused mainly on the cultural differences in advocacy performed in various regions of the world, this new edition expands on this theme by addressing each functional aspect of an international arbitration and the techniques that have been developed for good written and oral advocacy. Intended to assist both the novice in learning the techniques of advocacy, and the experienced advocate in improving his skills, this is an essential reference.

Handbook of ICC Arbitration provides expert analysis of the whole process of using and adhering to the ICC Arbitration Rules. It examines close up the diverse issues that can occur during an arbitration and hosts essential information related to arbitration on an international level with reference to published and unpublished awards and procedural orders, as well as to many decisions of national courts.

International Arbitration Law Library, Volume 65 International commercial arbitration is by no means free from bribery and corruption. Although a plethora of legal scholarship clearly affirms this contention, a thorough study on the particularly important question of the authority and duty of international commercial arbitrators to investigate a suspicion or indication of bribery or corruption sua sponte ¬– that is, on their own initiative – has been surprisingly lacking. This important book fills this gap, inter alia, by locating sua sponte authority in the position of arbitral tribunals in establishing the facts of a case and ascertaining and applying the applicable normative standards. In addition to providing a comprehensive examination of how the issue of bribery and corruption is dealt with in contemporary international commercial arbitration, the book also highlights the role of arbitrators in global efforts to combat transnational commercial bribery and corruption. Among others, the following critical issues are thoroughly investigated: arbitrability of issues of public interests; intermediary contracts; role of arbitrators in the fact-finding process; party autonomy versus overriding mandatory rules; iura novit curia in international commercial arbitration in the context of bribery and corruption; notion of transnational (or ‘truly international’) public policy; arbitrators’ duty to act as guardians of international commerce; investigative tools available to arbitrators; dealing with manifestly recalcitrant parties; possible consequences of violating the obligation to sua sponte investigate; and the view from developing countries. The analysis leans primarily on Swiss law, as Switzerland is one of the most important jurisdictions in international commercial arbitration; Switzerland has also been involved in some of the most famous and controversial arbitration cases wherein bribery and corruption became an issue. However, the study also includes a comparative analysis of the relevant laws, jurisprudence, and doctrine of other major arbitration venues, particularly England, France, and Germany. Not only in the light it sheds on how and whether international commercial arbitrators have hitherto justified the trust States have placed in them regarding the protection of the public interests but also in the practical solutions it offers arbitrators faced with issues of bribery and corruption, this deeply researched book equips arbitration practitioners and arbitration institutions with a hitherto lacking in-depth analysis on the question of sua sponte investigation. It also provides invaluable insights on how this issue might affect the future, legitimacy and expansion of this dispute settlement mechanism. Outside the field of arbitration, the book also provides jurists, legal scholars, in-house counsel for companies doing transnational business and public officials with highly enlightening perspectives on the interaction between international commercial arbitration and public interests.

Irrespective of the increasing harmonization of law at the transnational level, every arbitration raises a number of confl ict of laws problems relating to procedural questions as well as to issues concerning the merits of the case. Unlike a state court judge, the arbitrator has no "lex fori" in the proper sense providing the relevant confl ict rules to determine the applicable law. This raises the question of what confl ict of laws rules to apply and, consequently, of the extent of the freedom the arbitrator enjoys in dealing with this and related issues. The best example of the importance of confl ict of laws questions in arbitration is the Vivendi-Elektrim saga where the outcome of the various proceedings depended on the question of characterization. This very beneficial book is dealing with - the arbitration agreement, - the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, - the law applicable to the merits and - the arbitration procedure.

As simple as the arbitrability question might appear (namely, what types of issues may and may not be submitted to arbitration), for a legal system to set a clear and consistent approach to arbitration, it must consider many complicated factors that relate to public policy and economic priorities as well as international relations. This comprehensive, precise, and practical book identifies and analyzes the fundamentals of, and major approaches to, arbitrability in the current international context. The authors focus on nine major arbitration jurisdictions—the United States, Canada, France, England and Wales, Switzerland, Germany, China (Mainland), Hong Kong, and Singapore—with meticulous attention to each jurisdiction’s pertinent case law and legislative framework as well as relevant commentary. For each jurisdiction, the arbitrability of disputes in the following fields of law is discussed: antitrust/competition; bankruptcy/insolvency; consumer; corporate; family/domestic relations; intellectual property (copyright, patent, and trademark); labor/employment; securities; and torts. Based on the jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction analysis, the authors identify key areas in which the selected jurisdictions share similarities and evince differences with respect to each of the above-mentioned fields. With a structure that enables readers to easily locate what they are looking for and gives clear-cut answers, this unique book fully elucidates the notion of arbitrability by identifying the key concepts, the applicable rules, and different criteria for arbitrability and by explaining how different jurisdictions deal with specific types of disputes. It will be welcomed by counsel, arbitrators, judges, students, and academics active in international arbitration and the enforcement of arbitral awards.