Precedent in International Arbitration

IAI Series No. 5 The International Arbitration Institute (IAI) series on international arbitration is a new periodic series of publications that will focus on cutting edge issues and developments in international arbitration. About the IAI: The International Arbitration Institute (IAI), an organization created under the auspices of the Comite Francais de l'Arbitrage (CFA), was created to promote exchanges international arbitration. The IAI is designed to promote exchanges on current issues in the field of international commercial arbitration. Its activities include the regular organization of international conferences, colloquiums, as well as conducting various research projects. About the book: Arbitrators routinely refer in their decisions to awards rendered by other arbitral tribunals that deal with the same issues. However natural it may seem to arbitrators and to parties who will refer to arbitral precedents in an attempt to support their position, such an approach raises many practical and theoretical questions: Is there such a thing as arbitral precedent? What weight should arbitrators give to decisions previously rendered by other arbitral tribunals? Can arbitral "case law" exist without consistency? Does such consistency exist? Is it necessary or simply desirable? What is the respective weight to be given to arbitral and national case law when arbitrators have to decide a case in accordance with a given law? These are some of the questions that this book explores, in the context of both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration.