Download This PaperNon-Signatories and International Contracts: An Arbitrator's Dilemma
2 Dispute Res. Int'l 84 (2008)
Multiple Party Actions in International Arbitration 3 (Permanent Court of Arbitration, 2009)
Extending the Arbitration Agreement to Non-Signatories, ch. 4 Int’l Commercial Arb. Practice: 21st Century Perspectives (H. Grigera Naón & P. Mason eds. 2010; 2d Ed. 2013)
Adapted from Non-Signatories and International Arbitration, in Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration 707 (L. Newman & R. Hill, 3d Ed. 2014)
Boston Univ. School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 17-27
44 Pages Posted: 16 Aug 2017
Date Written: January 1, 2008
Abstract
Like consummated romance, arbitration rests on consent. An agreement of some sort waives each side’s right to invoke the jurisdiction of otherwise competent courts. Nevertheless, arbitrators do hear cases involving entities and individuals that never signed an arbitration clause. In cross-border arbitration, the genesis of decision-making power derives from no single legal system. Arbitration arises from the parties’ decision that the dispute should not be decided by national courts. Although various countries lend support to the arbitral process (recognizing agreements and awards), the litigants themselves call the arbitrators into existence in that function. When one side balks at going forward based on jurisdictional objections, various questions can face the arbitral tribunal. What is to be done in respect of “less-than-obvious” parties such as corporate affiliates or related state agencies? What role (if any) should be played by transnational norms elaborated in other arbitrations addressing similar questions? The aim of this paper lies in suggesting analytic starting points to explore these and related questions.
Keywords: Non-Signatories, Arbitration, International Arbitration
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation