Introduction to International Commercial Arbitration

Abstract

This is the introduction to the third edition of the book Principles and Practices of International Arbitration, published by Cambridge University Press. The introduction provides an overview of international commercial arbitration and discusses its defining characteristics, its advantages and disadvantages, and its regulatory framework. It explains the differences between institutional arbitration and ad hoc arbitration, and discusses various international arbitral institutions. In addition, arbitrations outside of commercial arbitration, such as investment arbitration and arbitrations between nation states are considered. Finally, the introduction includes a brief discussion of other dispute resolution methods, such as mediation, conciliation, mini-trials, expert determination and neutral evaluation.

Keywords: arbitration, arbitral institution, international arbitration

JEL Classification: K33, K41