Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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I. INTRODUCTION – THE CONTEXT OF THE SURVEY
Disputes are an inevitable occurrence in many international commercial
transactions and a consequence of increased globalization and further market
liberalization. Different commercial and legal expectations, cultural approaches,
political ramifications and geographic situations are all sources for disagreement
and dispute between contracting parties. Genuine differences can concern the
meaning of contract terms, the legal implications for a contract, and the respective
rights and obligations of the parties. Sometimes parties agree to perform a contract
where performance is just not possible. Extraneous factors and human frailties,
whether through mismanagement or over-expectation, will also interfere with
contractual performance. A major area of dispute is the failure to pay money due
under a contract; this may be because of an inability to pay or a wish not to pay
and therefore one party is seeking an excuse or a justification to refuse to pay all
or part of the contract price.
Where these disputes arise and they cannot be resolved by direct negotiation,
they will need to be resolved in accordance with a legal process. This process
should have the confidence of the parties or at least be in a forum that is
acceptable to the parties. In these circumstances, the perception is that parties to
international commercial contracts frequently look to arbitration as a private,
independent and neutral system. There is, however, very little empirical evidence
to substantiate this and other perceptions associated with international arbitration.
In the last 25 years most countries in the world have adopted new or
modernized their legislation in respect of international commercial arbitration. As
a result of law reforms and, of course, as a result of the increase of international
trade relations, the number of international arbitrations has increased significantly;
in the last five years most major international arbitration institutions combined
administered more than 5,000 – 6,000 cases. Here are some recent statistics of
eleven selected major institutions: