Originally from: Precedent in International Arbitration

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The case for the publication of arbitration awards was made twenty-five years ago by Julian D.M. Lew.1 The conclusion reached by the author was that:

[t]he publication of arbitration awards would . . . identify the real advantages of arbitration: specialist and expertarbitrators operating on the international level. The development of an arbitral case law would give to arbitration a greater certainty than that presently existing, with respect to the probable attitude of the arbitrators, and would facilitate the commercial world’s knowledge and acceptance of the lex mercatoria. This would almost certainly obviate many recurring problems presented to arbitrators and would influence the negotiating attitudes and commercial decisions of businessmen. Above all, the systematic publication of arbitration awards would show that not only is arbitration an alternative to national courts as a system of dispute settlement, but it would prove conclusively that arbitration is the most appropriate forum in which to resolve disputes arising out of international commerce.