Originally from Practitioner's Handbook On International Arbitration And Mediation- 3rd Edition

France, the most popular site for ICC arbitrations and a party to the New York convention, has a modern set of laws governing international arbitration. International arbitrations in France are specifically governed by articles 1504 to 1527 of the Code of Civil Procedure, supplemented by the general provisions in the civil code and the code of judicial organization. Under French law, there is no obligation for the parties in arbitration proceedings to be represented by a lawyer. And like many jurisdictions with modern arbitration laws, French law considers the arbitration agreement to be separate from the contract in which it is contained, and recognizes the arbitral tribunal’s authority to decide upon its own jurisdiction. Further, French law has narrowed the scope of non-arbitrable disputes, barring arbitration of only certain disputes concerning employment contracts, the validity of intellectual property rights, competition law, and bankruptcy.

French law imposes no restrictions on the method of appointment or the identity of arbitrators, but looks to the arbitrators’ national law to determine the arbitrators’ capacity to serve. French law also affords considerable latitude in determining the scope of admissible evidence and the manner in which it can be presented at the hearing. In another feature common to modern arbitral venues, the fact that an arbitration proceeding is pending does not preclude application to the French courts for conservatory measures. And in emergencies, before the arbitral tribunal is seized, a party may apply to a court to order a party to perform its obligations under the contract. Finally, enforcement of an arbitral award rendered in France may be resisted on any or all of five narrow grounds.

§ 5.01 Introduction and Definitions

France has chosen to be at the forefront in its support for arbitration as a means of resolving disputes related to international commerce. The French legislature has enacted a set of laws specifically pertaining to international arbitration and the interpretation of those and other applicable laws by France’s judiciary. The impact of those laws is to limit the scope of judicial interference in international arbitration, while not only complying with French and international public policy, but also demonstrating France’s respect for parties’ intent to remove resolution of a dispute from the purview of state judicial system.

[1] Distinction between Domestic Arbitration and International Arbitration

As early as 1980 and 1981, France enacted a modern set of laws governing arbitration. In January 2011, this law was reformed to enhance its clarity and increase its efficiency. The primary feature of the French statutory regime is the distinction made between domestic and international arbitration. The new law confirms this distinction and codifies the traditional broad definition of an international arbitration as one “which implicates interests of international commerce” (new Article 1504). The law allows the parties and/or the arbitrators to remove an international arbitration from the ambit of French law applicable to domestic arbitrations, entitles the parties to waive at any time their right to challenge the award by way of annulment and limits the scope of review of international arbitration awards.

[2] Statistics

We cannot assess the exact number of arbitral proceedings that take place in France each year since arbitration proceedings are confidential. But, according to the statistics of the International Chamber of Commerce (the ICC), France is a popular site for international arbitrations in general and the most favored site for ICC arbitrations. Indeed, France was chosen as the site for 412 of the 2099 awards scrutinized by the Court of the ICC between 2006 and 2009, with Switzerland coming in second with 394 arbitrations during the same period.