Originally from The Law and Practice of International Arbitration: Essays in Honor of John Fellas – Preview Page

The topic of efficiency is a perennial darling in international arbitration, discussed ad nauseam in literature and at conferences. The industry has become mildly obsessed with how to grapple with a growing sense of user discontent at the burgeoning time and costs required to resolve disputes. These concerns are not without merit, as they strike at the very identity and legitimacy of international arbitration, which has long touted itself as a more efficient means of commercial dispute resolution.  

It is not in great debate that the pursuit of efficiency is one of the key objectives of arbitration.2 One of the key objectives of greater efficiency is to reduce the costs of arbitration proceedings. After all, the parties are in essence fighting over commercial interests. Therefore, the more money that is funnelled from the parties to third parties (be it counsel, arbitrators, experts or institutions), the more the parties are undermining the very purpose of the arbitration. While it is possible for the costs of the arbitration to be allocated in such a way as to address the issue, at least in part, this cannot always adequately compensate for all costs associated with a delay to the resolution of proceedings. 3 

There are two easily identified culprits for our seeming inability to slow the rising tide of time and costs: the ever-present spectre of due process, and the increase in the size and complexity of disputes. With respect to the latter, this would appear to be a byproduct of the natural increase in legal and factual complexity of commercial relationships that occurs with time and progress, as well as the digital nature of commercial operations accompanied by ever-increasing virtual records. Highlighting the concerns with this issue, one author has referred to the “inconvenient truth” that the rapidly increasing complexity of disputes is that we have reached the “limit of justice and litigability.”4 While the topic of increasing complexity is ripe for discussion, including whether AI will compound or help solve the issue, this essay will focus on the other culprit—due process.