International Arbitration: Three Salient Problems by Stephen M. Schwebel

Abstract

International Arbitration: Three Salient Problems by Stephen M. Schwebel Published by Grotius Publications Ltd, Cambridge (1987, xviii and 303 pp., incl. Index and Table of Cases ). Price £33, $59(U.S.). Hardback . This precious and beautifully written (and printed) book by a distinguished and renowned Judge of the International Court of Justice sets forth in edited and expanded form the three inaugural Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures delivered at Cambridge University in 1983. Their publication unfortunately has been delayed because of the author's intervening, extensive and stringent judicial and arbitral obligations. The lectures deal with several distinct problems, all of which relate to an ultimate issue: the vitality – or, alternatively, vitiation – of the international arbitral process. The three topics are defined as follows in the Preface: > The first is that of the severability of the arbitral clause of a contract. The question addressed is whether the invalidity, termination, nullification or suspension of the contract affects the obligation of the parties to arbitrate disputes arising under it. The second question is whether refusal by a State to arbitrate pursuant to a clause in a contract with an alien which provides that arbitration between them shall be the exclusive remedy for settlement of disputes arising under that contract constitutes a denial of justice under international law. The third question is whether a truncated international arbitral tribunal – a tribunal which lacks the participation of a member – is empowered to proceed and to render a valid judgment binding under international law or the system of law governing the arbitration.' The lectures on severability (a term used here as synonymous with separability) and denial of justice are of almost equal length, 60 and 80 pages, respectively, while the chapter on truncated international arbitral tribunals – which has been in preparation for many years – is twice as long (150 pages). Judge Schwebel's analysis of the doctrine of separability is the most eloquent, well documented and persuasive exposition yet published of a seemingly simple but …