Course | Columbia Law School

This course will provide course participants with the understanding of international commercial arbitration needed to be able to actively take part in arbitral proceedings. This is why the course will first focus on more general issues, such as the various types of international commercial arbitration and the advantages (and disadvantages) of arbitral proceedings compared to proceedings initiated before state courts. The course will then focus on more specific issues, such as the drafting of a proper arbitration clause; the form of the arbitral agreement; the place of arbitration; the composition of the arbitral tribunal; the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal; the conduct of arbitral proceedings; the making of an arbitral award; as well as the recognition, enforcement and setting aside of such awards. When examining the aforementioned issues, constant reference will be made to various sets of arbitration rules (such as those of the International Chamber of Commerce, the American Arbitration Association and UNCITRAL) and statutes (such as the English Arbitration Act and the German Arbitration Act).