INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC ARBITRATION IN SWITZERLAND

Chapter 1 Introduction 4 Commerce in Paris, the London Court of International Arbitration, the American Arbitration Association, the Swiss Arbitration Centre, the German Institute for Arbitration, the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center in Geneva, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and many others (see paras 25 – 33). The current versions of the arbitration rules of these institutions show a clear trend towards international convergence. In particular, the concepts developed under the auspices of UNCITRAL have left their mark on almost all arbitration rules (see para.15). There is intense competition between the numerous organisations offering arbitration services. There are many different reasons why one institution is preferred over another. Decisive factors include the location, local tradition, reputation, experience and specialisation of an organisation or the estimated level of ar bitrators’ fees, registration and administrative costs. There are also model arbitration rules for ad hoc arbitration. The best known and most important are the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules of 15 December 1976 (revised on 25 June 2010). In many respects, they have successfully harmonised the principles and methods of different legal systems. This success explains why the UNCITRAL Rules are increasingly used in international ad hoc arbitration, especially in cases under the auspices of the PCA such as ad hoc investment arbitrations. 8 Some arbitral institutions have adopted the UNCITRAL Rules as their own with few modifications. 9 However, parties who prefer ad hoc arbitration sometimes also agree that the rules of a particular institution ( e.g. the ICC or LCIA Rules) shall be applied by analogy, i.e. without submitting the case to the institution. 3. National law Arbitration, particularly international arbitration, has developed into an independent, largely self-sufficient procedure. In some key respects, however, arbitration still relies on national or local law. The interaction between party autonomy and national law is well expressed in Art.182(1)-(3) PILA: 8 The most prominent example of the application of the UNCITRAL Rules remains the proceedings under the auspices of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, where a rich and publicly accessible body of case law has been created. See e.g. Stewart A. Baker, The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules in practice: the experience of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, Deventer 1992. 9 See e.g. the first edition of the Swiss Rules in 2004. 15 16