Originally from European International Arbitration Review

1. Introduction

In recent years, the Portuguese Government has consistently promoted arbitration as an alternative and credible method of dispute resolution. In fact, this pro-arbitration attitude resulted directly from the financial crisis and, particularly, European Union-led recovery efforts in Portugal. As part of these efforts, the Troika1 imposed requirements on Portugal to reduce the considerable backlog of cases before its domestic courts, which it diagnosed as one of the barriers to Portugal’s economic development.2 According to the Troika’s May 2011 memorandum to the Portuguese Government, the latter committed to develop alternative dispute resolution methods, with a special emphasis on arbitration, in order to reduce the cost and length of dispute resolution proceedings.

These requirements have seen a number of pieces of Portuguese legislation intended to develop arbitration, the most relevant of which December 2011 UNCITRAL model law inspired Portuguese Arbitration Law, but also a piece of legislation involving the creation of a Portuguese Court of Arbitration for Sports (“PCAS”), inspired by the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland. The purpose of the PCAS, according to the law project’s written motivation,3 was to provide sport with a fast and specialized alternative dispute resolution mechanism.