INTERNATIONAL AND DOMESTIC ARBITRATION IN SWITZERLAND

Chapter 1 Introduction 6 influenced many other legislatures in drafting or revising their laws on arbitration. Switzerland has not followed the Model Law approach, 11 although various provisions of Chap.12 PILA indicate that the spirit of the Model Law has left its mark on it as well. 12 The UNCITRAL Model Law was an ambitious project. The success it has had so far is remarkable. 4. Treaties Arbitration would not be so successful if it were not for an international framework ensuring the cross-border recognition of arbitration proceedings and their results, i.e. arbitral awards. In the course of the 20th century, numerous efforts were made in this area, so that arbitration today is encompassed by a complex system of multi- and bilateral conventions. 13 Above all, the extraordinary success of the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (NYC), which has since been ratified by more than 160 countries, has meant that today arbitral awards rendered abroad sometimes have a better chance of being recognised and enforced than judgments of foreign state courts in civil and commercial matters. III. Ad hoc v. institutional arbitration According to Art.182(1)-(2) PILA and Art.373(1)-(2) CCP, the parties may choose between ad hoc arbitration, where they can fully determine the arbitral procedure themselves, and institutional arbitration, i.e. arbitration administered and supervised by an arbitral institution. 14 The parties may choose one of the two options or a combination of the two, weighing the advantages and disadvantages with regard to the case in dispute or the situation at the time of the conclusion of the arbitration agreement. 15 11 On the reasons for this decision, see BSK-Hochstrasser and Burlet, Introduction N 180 – 188. 12 On the history of Chap.12 PILA, see paras 85 – 119. 13 On the conventions and treaties ratified by Switzerland, see paras 125 – 142. 14 On the freedom to determine the arbitral procedure, see paras 1094 – 1108. 15 See Lalive, Etudes Bellet, 301 – 321; Meyer-Hauser, Ad hoc Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit, 207 – 222; Schlaepfer and Petti, in: Geisinger and Voser (eds), 13 – 24. 21 22