Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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Recourse to arbitration is commonplace within national legal systems and (even to a greater extent) at the international level. Disputes arising out of trade or industrial relations between companies from different countries are resolved through ad hoc or institutional international arbitration. An arbitration clause is included in the contract or a submission is entered into at the time of the dispute, authorizing a number of arbitrators, the arbitral tribunal, to resolve the dispute.

Arbitration is not a means of adjudication only in capitalist countries. It long has been part of East/West or North/South relations. Arbitral institutions were a traditional part of socialist legal systems.

1.   It is, therefore, curious that the adjudicatory authority of arbitral tribunals is becoming controversial within the European Community. Commentators identified and focused upon the problem rather quickly, but judicial decisions on this subject are relatively rare. At present, the European law of arbitration remains inconclusive on the scope of arbitral authority.

Given its international dimension and central importance to arbitration, this topic appears to be an appropriate tribute to Hans Smit, a specialist in arbitration, whose comparative law expertise extends to the arbitration systems of the United States, Holland, France and the EEC.