The Law Applicable to the Arbitration Agreement:Towards Transnational Principles

AbstractThis article examines the problem of the law governing the validity of the arbitration agreement. The cases ofSulaméricain the English Court of Appeal and ofFirstLinkin the High Court of Singapore demonstrate that leading arbitration jurisdictions around the world can come to diametrically opposite results. In particular, there are currently diverging views as to whether the law applicable to the arbitration agreement should be the law chosen by the parties to govern their substantive legal relationship or the law of the seat of the arbitration. The issue is unlikely to be settled soon at international level. However, without embracing extreme approaches that purport to determine the validity of the arbitration agreement without reference to any national legal system, a more ‘transnational’ approach should be encouraged. This may emerge, based on three structured principles which would be desirable for international convergence, namely the non-discrimination principle, the estoppel principle and the validation principle. These principles can be developed without conflicting with the conventional conflicts-of-laws approach which was adopted by the English Court of Appeal inSulamérica.</jats:p

Concurrent proceedings in competition law: procedure, evidence and remedies

The book contains a full and up-to-date account of the implications of concurrent enforcement of EC and UK competition law. It addresses the interaction of criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings in the UK and the EU as regards procedure, evidence, and remedies. The volume contains an in-depth examination of the principles regulating concurrent proceedings and explains in detail the practical solutions following from the construction of EU and UK legislation.Concurrent Proceedings in Competition Law offers a thorough review of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as analysing the English authorities in the area of procedure and evidence insofar as relevant to the interplay between criminal, civil and administrative proceedings in competition law. The main focus is on stays, binding effect of administrative decisions and judgments, and disclosure and admissibility of evidence in English law and its relationship with Community Law and Human Rights standards.The analysis expands to the practical consequences of case allocation within the European Competition Network, choice of forum within the EU, litigation in the US, and leniency applications in multiple jurisdictions. The impact of Council Regulation 1/2003 and the Commission Notices on cooperation within the Network of Competition Authorities and on cooperation with the courts of EU member states is fully explored.Criminalization of cartels in the UK adds a further dimension to the interplay of concurrent proceedings. Issues of stays, binding effect of administrative decisions and disclosure and admissibility of evidence are also studied when they arise in a dispute that is being decided by an arbitral tribunal