Hot-Button Issues in International Arbitration: A Survey Among Arbitrators

Abstract

International Arbitration has been in the focus of public attention following the fierce debate on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). A broad public has questioned whether arbitral tribunals should be entrusted with issues of public interest. Some of these issues are particularly controversial. These ‘hot-button’ issues include international sanctions, corruption, money laundering and, to a somewhat lesser extent, antitrust law. The authors wanted to know how arbitrators deal with these issues, should they come up in an arbitration. They set up a survey in the form of a short online questionnaire and invited more than 2,500 arbitrators, listed as members of different European arbitral institutions, to participate. The participants were asked whether they have already encountered hot-button issues in an arbitration, whether they felt prepared to deal with them and whether they have been approached by parties who wanted a hot-button issue to be disregarded in the arbitration. Further questions addressed possible proactive measures to prevent public policy violations, such as a cooperation with public authorities and state courts. The authors compare the results of their survey with recent developments in International Arbitration. Public interest, Public policy, Competition law, International sanctions, Corruption, Money laundering, Enforceability, Survey, Practice, Cooperation