Comparison of Arbitral Institutions - Assignment Example

Running Head: COMPARISON OF ARBITRAL INSTITUTIONS Comparison of Arbitral Institutions Introduction: Arbitration processes nowadays are becoming consistent. . Institutions such as the International Chamber of Commerce, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the American Arbitration Association Center for International Dispute Resolution have comprehensive conditions for managing arbitration proceedings. The consistent nature of arbitration can lead parties to view arbitration much like court proceedings. An arbitration institution is specified by parties in an agreement that would administer the arbitration till time of awards. It is up to the institution that it administers according to its own rules or the rules of any other institution.1 An arbitral institution differs in its specific role from the other. The institution itself will never hear or decide the argument. An arbitral institute manages the organizational features of the arbitration and lends a hand for certain procedural issues. All major institutions are well esteemed and award rendered under their sponsorship tend to be willingly imposed by courts in the absence of intended fulfillment.1 Institutional arbitration is generally preferable to ad hoc arbitration because the institution can arbitrate and assist the parties if the process is somewhere in danger due to certain circumstances. Although the parties have to pay administrative fees to the institution.2 Arbitral institutions provide many advantages such as 1. Previously established rules are available for the institutions. 2. If an institution has secretariat or court of arbitration it can get directorial support 3. Support in encouraging unwilling parties to carry on with arbitration 4. Arbitrators are appointed. Some disadvantages of arbitral institution are also there. Such as; High costs and delays in addition to the legal fees. Expenses may be high in arguments over large period of time. Postponement costs may be endorsed by Institution's administration. Parties’ response may be required in a very short period of time.2 Some of the well known arbitral institutions are: AAA: (American Arbitration Association), CCIG: (Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Geneva), DIS: (German Institution for Arbitration), EDF: (European Development Fund), HCC: (Court of Arbitration attached to the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce), ICC: (International Chamber of Commerce), JCAC: (Japan Commercial Arbitration Commission), LCIA: (London Court of International Arbitration), NAI: (Netherlands Arbitration Institute), PCA: (Permanent Court of Arbitration).3 Major Research in the Area: One of the major researches done in this area is by, Peter Sherwin, Ana Vermal, Elizabeth Figueira. In their research they have given a comparison of different major arbitral institutes. They have done the comparison and conflict of different institutes such as American Arbitration Association, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Geneva, International Chamber of Commerce, London court of International Arbitration, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, The Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission, World Intellectual Property Organization.2 They have described different arbitral rules of these institutions. They have also compared that about how many cases they file every year, according to Peter Sherwin, Ana Vermal, Elizabeth Figueira, American Arbitration Association receives up to 500 new international Arbitrations per year, International Chamber of Commerce receives up to 500 new cases every year from over 100 countries, London court of International Arbitration receives over 100 new cases every year, receives between 50 and 100 new cases per year and So far World.3 Intellectual Property Organization has received 73 requests for arbitration. They found out that most of them used almost same rules for certain conditions, such as American Arbitration Association, London court of International Arbitrations, World Intellectual Property Organization and many other are using a rule according to which The number of the arbitrators is decided by the parties, but if there is no agreement between the arbitrators the rules put a preference for the sole arbitrator unless a favorable three-member committee is available. Another rule found similar in all these institutes is that, they also provide rules for advanced arbitrations measures.3 In this research fee calculation method for arbiter and institutes by every arbitral institution is also defined. According to which, for AAA Charges for the administration by AAA depend upon the amount of dispute, for ICC, The administrative costs and the arbitrators’ fees both are calculated by the amount in dispute pursuant to a scale setting onward assortment of costs and fees per amount in dispute, for LCIA, Arbitrators’ fees are calculated at an hourly rate, The LCIA calculates its fees on the basis of the time spent by its staff pursuant to its hourly fee, SSC Arbitration Rules include a table according to which arbitrators’ and administrators’ fee is set, For WIPO, The administrators’ and arbitrators’ fee is set according to schedule of fee after conference with the parties.3 In this research it is also mentioned that what are the logics/proceedings for which the respective institutes have been build, it states that International arbitrations according to the “International Arbitration Rules” of the AAA are administered by American Arbitration Association’s International center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR) which is located in New York City, The institution is more in American style and less international often. For International Chamber of Commerce, The proceedings are held under the patronage of the ICC, when an arbitration agreement is provided according to the ICC Rules of Arbitration.2 The International Court of Arbitration itself or its secretariat supervise certain features of the arbitral proceedings. London court of International Arbitration administers international arbitrations according to LCIA arbitration rules. London court of International Arbitration has reputed as the primarily English arbitral body. In Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, All parties from Eastern Europe, Russia and China select the SCC Arbitration Rules, and World Intellectual Property Organization’s arbitration rules are standardized according to the issues related to rational property disputes.5 According to this research the similarity in all institutes is that, parties can decide a method for selecting arbitrator or other wise the sole arbiter steps in if no agreement has been done by the parties. This research also shows that how the courts have been developed for each institute that provides hearing to the cases.4 Another search on the topic is done by Levine and Judith in 2006. In their research they have basically focused on the conflicts for these arbitral institutions. According to this research, they are considering the efforts made by the International Bar Association and established arbitral institutions for the arbitrator’s duty, to provide him with detailed directions and advice to not to be dependent on authority o control and treating all alike and unprejudiced.6 This research revealed that these efforts are highly enlightening the arbitrator’s duties in respect to his acquaintances and relationships with parties and consultations for advice. But they are not much detailed about the arbitrator’s duties with respect to his relationship with the theme matter of the dispute. They have also mentioned that this leads to be an insufficient guidance as this type of relationship, can involve arbitrator’s earlier statements about any issue in the dispute. And this is becoming a matter of great prolonged argument for the last many years.4 In addition to the above mentioned researches there are also many researches found that describe the comparison and conflicts of the arbitral institutions. One of these kinds of research has been published in 1994 and has been found in from the 'Lectric Law Library's stacks as an article named as Use of Arbitration in International Business Disputes. This article has a very deep study in arbitrational institutes, narrating its advantages, disadvantages, uses and a comparison between different well known arbitral institutes. This article mentions the rules of the institutes and also the development of these institutes. According to this research, AAA performs arbitration services for International arguments, under the rules chosen by the parties. The particular rules under which AAA performs its services are AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for International Disputes and AAA’s International Arbitration rules or UNICETRAL rules.5 The research also shows some rule for ICC that ICC supervises system of separate courts comprised of 1 or 3 arbitrators, and does not settle the dispute. ICC decides challenges to the arbitrator’s appointments.4 It only administers arbitration under its own rules. According to this research, SSC has been functioning as an international arbitration institution predominantly in agreements dealing with East-West business. About the research of ICAC, the article reveals that ICAC Rules are almost identical to UNICITRAL Rules. Parties are bound by the awards to the only level for which they have been agreed by a private agreement that assigns them to arbitration. Aim of the Research This research is intended to be done in the various aspects for comparison and conflicts of arbitral institutions. This research is will be meant to discuss the above mentioned topic according to the present day features. It will be helpful in finding out the structure and rules of the institutions that would be studying in detail as to how these institutions are build, what is the aim of these institutes and what benefit they are providing in the present day status. This research will be different from the previously done researches as it will not only confined to the rules and development of the institutes but will also reveal that in which part of the world they are most helpful and what are the deficiencies and weaknesses of the institutes. And it will also focus on the areas where these institutes are not providing their help, rather it is needed there. It will not only be a structural research but will also revealing the true functions and the comparison and conflicts of these institutes will be done critically. Study will be done to reveal how these institutes work and upto which degree they have given the output. A comparison will be made in the rules and strategies of all these institutes to understand the effectiveness and the drawbacks of these strategies for every institute. It will analyze to what extent these institutes are similar and hat are the differences of these institutes and will also focus on the reason that why the institutes opted for adapting such strategies and what are the plus points of acclimatizing different rules. Why is it Important to Research in this Area? Comparison and conflicts of arbitral institution is one of the very important topics of today’s age. As we have seen that a lot of people have done research in the specified areas and the areas related to it. Some of the researches have been mentioned above and explain the importance of arbitral institutions and the importance to have knowledge of this study. The topic is quite vast and we have found that almost everyone has done almost similar research in this area. The characteristics and traits of these institutes are defined & the effects of some of the rules have defined. However, a critical comparison of these institutions is needed according to the present day perspective. A research is needed that will not only compare the structure and rules of these institutions but also reveals the impact of these institutes, explaining the advantages & drawbacks of rules specified and the areas in which they are proved to be successful. This research is intended to provide a detailed study of those institutes that will be different from the other researches. How This Research Will Be Different? This research will be different in a number of means. This will not only discuss the characteristics and strategies of arbitral institutes, but will also discuss the advantages of the strategies adapted by one institute, over other. And will also cover the drawbacks of any rules in the specified area. This research will also reveal that how the arbitral institutions are going successful and what is the reason behind it. The research will also be done to study the regions in which a particular institution is working. The commitments of these institutes will be considered and will also focus onto the competition between these institutions. This research will be done according to the present day perspective; will include the need and importance of the arbitral institutions and the role these institutions are playing. Conclusion Study the comparison and conflicts of the arbitral institutions in detail as to how these institutions are build, what is the aim of these institutes and what benefit they are providing in the present day status. Study of the structure and rules of the institutions according to the present day status. Comparing the similarities and conflicts of strategies of these institutions. Read More