Competition between Cross-Border Dispute Settlement Mechanisms : Domestic Courts, Arbitration and International Commercial Courts - Procedural and Substantive Options for Litigants

This paper is based on the proposition that dispute settlement mechanisms are what determines the rights and obligations of the parties to any transaction. An efficient and trustworthy system for the settlement of international commercial disputes is crucial to international business. The New York Convention of 1958 gave rise to a truly transnational system of adjudication as an alternative to the fragmented and parochial regime of domestic jurisdictions. It is essential for litigants to have an option between alternative dispute settlement mechanisms. The recent establishment of international commercial courts in several jurisdictions is not yet a game-changer because such courts do not offer the same advantages in terms of neutrality and suitability to deal with transnational commercial disputes as international arbitration