Procedures and Practices under the UNCITRAL Rules

Abstract

Arbitration rules for use in international trade exist by the dozens. Most apply to a specific branch of international trade, but there are rules which are generally available, such as those of the American Arbitration Association, the International Chamber of Commerce, the Indian Council of Arbitration and the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association. There are also important regional rules like the Uniform Rules of Procedure of 1974 for arbitration in the Arbitration Courts of the C.M.E.A. countries.1 The United Nations has also been active in the regional field. The arbitration rules of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (ECE-Rules) and the arbitration rules of the U.N. Economic Commission for Asia and the FarEast (ECAFE-Rules) were adopted in 1966; a new set of UN/ECE Arbitration Rules for Certain Categories of Perishable Agricultural Products is in a late stage of preparation. The special contribution of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules is their appropriateness for worldwide use. They offer a well balanced and modern set of arbitration rules, prepared with the assistance of arbitration experts from all parts of the world. They may also be particularly welcomed by developing countries, who were vigorously represented in the drafting and strongly supported the preparation of such rules by an organ of the U.N. Thus, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee at its session in 1976 at Kuala Lumpur recommended use of the Rules in the context of international commercial transactions. This Committee also included in its Standard Form FOB Contract an arbitration clause that invokes the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.2 Furthermore, the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission (IACAC), in a recent revision of its arbitration rules, substantially incorporated the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.3