WilmerHale hosted the launch of the Journal of International Arbitration Special Issue on Empirical Work in Commercial Arbitration (Kluwer Law International).
Empirical research is a burgeoning discipline of international legal research, yielding cutting-edge insights based on real-life cases. While there is already a significant body of empirical research on investor-state arbitration, the far larger number of commercial arbitrations has hardly ever been considered from this perspective. The traditional excuse for the dearth of empirical research on commercial arbitration is the confidentiality of the process. In an age of increased publication of national court decisions and arbitral awards, it is time to revisit this premise.
A Special Issue of the Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration on the ‘Empirical Analysis of National Court Enforcement and Vacatur in International Commercial Arbitration’ does so, ringing in a new era of evidence-based research in commercial arbitration. The studies contained in this Special Issue draw on a data set of more than 1,000 court decisions on the setting aside and enforcement of commercial arbitral awards, originating from a multitude of jurisdictions. The authors of this Special Issue assess diverse topics, such as the validity and pathology of arbitration agreements; their extension to non-signatories; the enforcement of arbitral awards set aside at the seat; conflicts of interest; public policy; and regional approaches in Latin America, Europe and South-East Asia. The results present a deep and textured understanding of the current landscape regarding the enforcement of international commercial arbitration awards.
A discussion on the findings of the Special Issue featured:
- Editors of the special issue, Dr. Monique Sasson, Dr. Crina Baltag, Professor Roger Alford
- General Editor of the Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration, Professor Dr. Maxi Scherer
- Dr. Ioana Knoll-Tudor, Partner, Jeantet
- Dr. Cecilia Carrara, Partner, Legance
- Dr. Elina Mereminskaya, Partner, Wagemann
View a recording of the discussion.