Originally from American Review of International Arbitration - ARIA

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Since the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ("UNCITRAL") adopted
the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration on June 21, 1985 (the "Model Law"), a
number of commentators and practitioners have urged that the United States repeal the Federal
Arbitration Act (the "FAA") for purposes of international arbitration and adopt the Model Law
in its place. In support of their position, Model Law advocates contend that the FAA is
"sketchy" and difficult to use, whereas the Model Law provides a comprehensive body of
international arbitral law. Further, they argue that adopting the Model Law would arm the United
States with a law on international arbitration that would be "immediately recognizable and
familiar" to parties from other countries, thereby making the U.S. more attractive as a situs for
international arbitration. Finally, they contend that adoption of the Model Law by the United
States would be a step towards uniformity or harmonization of national arbitration laws to the 
benefit of the international arbitral regime and to the United States, a central country in that
regime. However, adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law is not only unnecessary to maintain
the United States' leading position in international arbitration, but would be detrimental to the
effectiveness of international arbitration in the United States.