International Arbitration (LAWS0256)

This module offers the fundamentals of international commercial and investment arbitration both from comparative and practical perspectives.

This module is divided in two parts. The first part, roughly two thirds of the module, concerns international commercial arbitration. The remaining one third concerns international investment arbitration. 

Various cross-border commercial disputes, such as those arising under contracts for the international sale of goods, insurance and reinsurance and carriage of goods by sea, are frequently resolved by arbitration, often with its seat in London. The first part of this module offers the fundamentals of international commercial arbitration, the most important dispute resolution mechanism for cross-border commercial disputes. This part of the module begins with the legal framework of international commercial arbitration. It then deals with the jurisdiction of arbitration tribunals and certain procedural issues arising in arbitration practice. It ends with the setting aside and recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards. This part of the module focuses mainly on the English law of arbitration which is put in comparative perspective and compared and contrasted especially with the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. 

International arbitration on the basis of investment protection treaties borrows quite heavily from the law and practice of international commercial arbitration, but it also partly raises qualitatively different challenges, addressed in the second part of this module with particular focus on the ICSID Convention, ICSID Arbitration Rules and UNCITRAL Rules of Arbitration. This part of the module deals with the jurisdiction of investment arbitration tribunals, certain procedural issues arising in the practice of investment arbitration tribunals and challenges against, and enforcement of, investment arbitral awards.

Module Aims

• to ensure that students develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of the core principles, elements and rules of international commercial and investment arbitration; 

• to ensure that students develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of the most important instruments forming the legal framework of international commercial and investment arbitration, in particular the English Arbitration Act, the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, the New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards and the ICSID Convention. Students will be encouraged to critically analyse and evaluate English and relevant foreign and international cases; 

• to enable students to appreciate similarities and differences between arbitration procedures under major international arbitration rules used in practice (especially ICC and LCIA rules); as well as between international commercial arbitration and international investment arbitration (especially ICSID Convention, ICSID Arbitration Rules and UNCITRAL Rules); 

• to enable students to discuss critically the effectiveness of the current regimes of international commercial and investment arbitration; and 

• to develop students’ ability to identify and resolve main issues arising in arbitration practice.

Module Syllabus

• Introduction to International Arbitration 

• Part I: International Commercial Arbitration: 

• Sources of the law of arbitration 

• Formation, validity and interpretation of arbitration agreements 

• Deciding on arbitral jurisdiction; enforcing and resisting the enforcement of arbitration agreements 

• Selected procedural issues in international commercial arbitration 

• Laws and rules applicable to the merits 

• Arbitral awards 

• Recourses against arbitral awards 

• Recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards 

• Part II: International Investment Arbitration: 

• Basic elements of international investment arbitration 

• Jurisdiction of investment arbitration tribunals 

• Selected procedural issues in investment arbitration 

• Recourses against arbitral awards; recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards

Recommended Materials

• N. Blackaby, C. Partasides and A. Redfern, Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration (OUP, 7th edn, 2022) 

• G. Born, International Arbitration: Law and Practice (Kluwer, 3rd edn, 2021) 

• R. Dolzer, U. Kriebaum C. Schreuer, Principles of International Investment Law (OUP, 3rd edn, 2022) 

• Z. Douglas, The International Law of Investment Claims (CUP, 2009) 

• C.L. Lim, J. Ho and M. Paparinskis, International Investment Law and Arbitration: Commentary, Awards and other Materials (CUP, 2nd edn, 2021) 

• M. Moses, The Principles and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration (CUP, 4th edn, 2024) 

Module reading lists and other module materials will be provided via online module pages, once students have made their module selections upon enrolment.

Preliminary Reading

• N. Blackaby, C. Partasides and A. Redfern, Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration (OUP, 7th edn, 2022), Chapter 1 

• G. Born, International Arbitration: Law and Practice (Kluwer, 3rd edn, 2021), Chapter 1 

• M. Moses, The Principles and Practice of International Commercial Arbitration (CUP, 4th edn, 2024), Chapter 1 

Key information