Introduction

International commercial arbitration is a means of resolving disputes arising under international commercial agreements. This guide introduces researchers to the primary sources for international commercial arbitration research - treaties, arbitral awards, court decisions and arbitration rules. Also included are secondary sources crucial to thorough research - treatises, periodical literature, current awareness tools and web links.

Two databases that are often important starting points for international commercial arbitration research are Kluwer Arbitration and TDM Transnational Dispute Management.

• Kluwer Arbitration Database (Georgetown Law Only)
  This database contains the text of major international agreements, rules, and information about the key arbitration organizations. It includes national laws, national rules, case law of awards, and even some submissions or interim orders under various arbitral regimes. This database also links to the Kluwer Arbitration Blog. The blog can be sorted by category and has archived the past year's entries.
• TDM Transnational Dispute Management (Georgetown Law Only)
  TDM focuses on recent developments in the area of arbitration and dispute management. It offers a journal, newsletter, legal and regulatory materials, bibliography, and a newsgroup discussion group on oil/gas/energy investment disputes (OGEMID).

Background Sources

The law library has many materials on international commercial arbitration and the titles below are meant only as a starting point. To locate more resources, search the online catalog (or try our NEW catalog interface) using keywords to narrow your search results. For example, you can use < arbitration transnational > or < arbitration court >.

• Domke on Commercial Arbitration [updated regularly]
  This treatise is available in print (updated regularly) and electronically (Georgetown Law Only). Outlined in this treatise is the process of commercial arbitration, covering from the beginning to arbitrability to enforcement, using both domestic and foreign examples. The appendix has some of the major arbitration rules and procedures.
• Due Process in International Commercial Arbitration INTL K2400 .K87 2010
  This publication outlines a universal procedural code for international commercial arbitration. It has detailed practitioner information but is still accessible to those who are new to the subject. The appendix has many of the major rules and guidelines, including the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration from 2006.
  
• Handbook on International Arbitration and ADR INTL K2400.H363 2006
  This book gathered, and when needed had the authors update, previously published articles. The book has organized these articles under several general headings. These headings range from international arbitrators and institutions to international arbitration proceedings to trade arbitration and mediation.
• International Commercial Arbitration [updated regularly] INTL K2400.A475 N81 1980
  This resources has gathered, and keeps current, all of the relevant multilateral international conventions and instruments. It also has translations of national rules and enactments from around the world.
• International Commercial Arbitration and Conciliation in UNCITRAL Model Law Jurisdictions (3rd edition) INTL K2400. B56 2010
  This book has commentary on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation. This book also has information on the history and creation of these model laws. There is also information on over fifty national adoptions of these model laws.
• International Commercial Arbitration and the Courts (4th edition) INTL K2400.I588 2004
  This work is a bibliography of national legislation, decisions of national and international courts, and legal literature on this topic. This is an excellent place to start researching how a nation has addressed this topic in either their courts or legislation. It also a useful tool for locating commentary this topic.
• International Commercial Arbitration: Commentary and Materials (2nd edition)
  This is available in print and online (Georgetown Law Only) with most of the materials in the print version reproduced. To access the online version once you are in KluwerArbitration.com, click on the "Books" tab, then scroll down to select "International Commercial Arbitration: Commentary and Materials, Born (2001)." This treatise is divided into three parts, which are international arbitration agreements, international arbitral procedures, and international arbitration awards. There is commentary on seminal cases, international and other national arbitration legislation, and all leading institutional arbitration rules.
• Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration (5th edition)
  This is available in print and online (Georgetown Law Only) with most of the materials in the print version reproduced. To access the online version once you are in KluwerArbitration.com, click on the "Books" tab and then scroll down to select "Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration, Blackaby, Partasides, et al. (2009)." This is the newest edition of this seminal commentary; it covers from the drafting of the arbitration agreement to the enforcement of arbitral awards. This updated edition includes a more in-depth analysis of investment treaty arbitration and international arbitration. This edition also has more information on the law and practice of international arbitration in the United States, Latin America, China and India, along with its coverage of the U.K. and EU.

Treaties and International Agreements

While no list can be comprehensive, the resources listed below have gathered most of the seminal treaties and agreements. Keep in mind there could be other treaty obligations depending on other legal issues (e.g. Article 85 of the EC Treaty, which relates to competition laws). In order to locate official copies of the treaties and agreements listed please see the Treaty Research Guide. In addition, Kluwer Arbitration Database (Georgetown Law Only) has links to BITs, conventions and legislation from around the world.

• International Arbitration Treaties (2nd edition) INTL K2400.A35 S63 2005
  Along with the text of twelve major international conventions, there is a bibliography. The bibliography has select books and journal articles, in both English and in other languages, on this topic.
• International Commercial Arbitration (updated regularly) INTL K2400.A475 N81 1980
  This seven-volume set has the text of multilateral international conventions and instruments; regional international conventions and instruments; international chambers of commerce and arbitration associations conventions. There are also translations of many national rules and enactments for this subject.
• International Commercial Arbitration (EISIL)
  This resource is hosted by the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and provides links to the major international and national conventions on commercial arbitration. Click on the "more information" below the title of the convention, to see if there is information for correct bluebook citation of these conventions.
• International Economic Law Documents (ASIL)
  In this guide, hosted by ASIL, there is the subheading of Private International Law and under that heading is International Commercial Arbitration. This section has links to major treaties and links to other specialized resources on this topic.
• World Arbitration Reporter: International Encyclopaedia of Arbitration Law and Practice INTL K2400 .W67 2010
  This four-volume set is organized under four major topics; national reports; national arbitration institutions; international arbitration institutions; treaties and bilateral and regional agreements. The national reports not only have translations of relevant laws, but also include a brief legal history and overview of this topic for each jurisdiction.

Arbitral Awards and Court Decisions

A major problem in locating awards and decisions is the fact that many awards are not published, due to confidentiality reasons. When they are published, they are often anonymous or permission from the parties must be obtained. Below are several key sources for locating the text of arbitral awards and court decisions.

• Arbitral Awards of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration INTL K2400 .A54 2000
  The cases are topically organized; these topics range from maritime contracts to interpretation of contract to commercial agency contracts. This book includes summaries of cases, translations of arbitral awards, commentary, and sometimes information on relevant laws and legislation.
• Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts (CLOUT)
  CLOUT contains selected abstracts of court decisions and arbitral awards relating to the Conventions and Model Laws that have emanated from the work of UNCITRAL (U.N. Commission on International Trade Law). This resource also includes case law relating to the CISG (U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods). See also this Index of CLOUT for case abstracts and indexing of cases that relate to the Model Arbitration Law. The UNCITRAL Digest of case law and the 2008 revision are efficient ways to locate cases by topic or by CISG article number.
• CISG Database (Pace Law School)
  This is another source for CISG (U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods) jurisprudence. It also includes the full text of the CISG treaty along with a collection of materials on the legislative history. You can also browse by country for arbitral cases.
• Collection of ICC Arbitral Awards: 1974-1985; 1986-1990; 1991-1995; 1996-2000; 2001-2007 (INTL K 2400.A495 C65)
  These are collection of extracts of both published and unpublished arbitral cases, along with notes and commentaries on cases handled by the ICC Court of Arbitration. . This is also available in Westlaw ICC-AWARDS database (Georgetown Law Only) 1975-2004. There is also a chronological index and analytical table, which allow you to browse by either date or topic, respectively.
• ICSID Cases
  This free online resource from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has information on pending cases and some full-text decisions of concluded cases that you can browse. If you want to search for information about a particular case, you can limit by date as well as respondent or claimant.
• International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration
  This is referred to in the Yearbook: Commercial Arbitration as a companion text for locating current information on arbitration law and practice for many countries. It is available in print [updated regularly] and online (Georgetown Law Only) with most of the materials in the print version reproduce. To access the online version once you are in KluwerArbitration.com, click on the "Books" tab and then scroll down to select "International Handbook on Commercial Arbitration, Paulsson (ed) (1984)."
  
• ICSID Reports
  According to this publication's editor's note, these reports "contain decisions rendered by arbitral tribunals and ad hoc committees set up within the framework of the Centre established pursuant to the ICSID Convention." These reports are available in print [updated regularly] for all the decisions, since 1972. The online (Georgetown Law Only) version is only volume 6 of this multi-volume set. Please keep in mind that the parties must agree to allow these decisions and related materials to be published.
  
• ICSID Review [updated regularly]INTL K9.C55
  This journal is published twice a year. There are scholarly articles, comments, bibliographies, and book reviews that focus on foreign investment law and international investment dispute settlement. In addition, there is a brief introduction and overview about the cases chosen for publication in this journal.
• Iran-United States Claims Tribunal Reports INTL KZ238.I7 I73
  In 1981, the Algiers Accords created the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal; the accords also ended the Iran-United States hostage crisis. This tribunal was designed to resolve claims by both private parties and intern-governmental between Iran and the United. New claims had to be filed by January 19, 1982, though cases filed by that date may be on going. New litigation can be brought, if it is about the nature of the Algiers accords. These reports of the tribunal are available in print [updated irregularly], and through Westlaw [INT-IRAN database] (Georgetown Law Only).
• Mealey's International Arbitration Report
  This continues International Arbitration Report (available in print only). Mealey's is available in print [updated regularly] and, unlike the online version, has more complete coverage of cases and related documents. You can search online the print version for free. Before you do a search, be sure to change in the drop down menu the "Select a Publication to Search" to "Mealey's International Arbitration Report." This monthly publication has commentary and notes about recent cases with selected texts of arbitration awards and judicial decisions.
  This publication is also available on Lexis [Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > Alternative Dispute Resolution > Legal News > International Arbitration: Mealey's Litigation Report: Discovery NewsBrief] (Georgetown Law Only). Mealey's Litigation Report: Discovery NewsBrief has some of the commentary and notes, but not as complete coverage of cases as the print version.
• Reports of International Arbitral Awards
  This is available in print [updated regularly] and online (Georgetown Law Only). RIAA, as originally envisaged, was designed to fill a gap by publishing an organized reporter of arbitral awards and similar decisions from around the world. RIAA still fills that gap and is generally an excellent place to look for translations of arbitration cases.
• World Trade and Arbitration Materials
  This publication is available in print [updated regularly] and online (Georgetown Law Only). This source reprints selective arbitral awards and court decisions, information about pending legislation and new statutes.
• Yearbook: Commercial Arbitration INTL K2400.A53 Y4
  This publication has national reports, arbitral awards and court decisions from around the world. The majority of this publication is made up of extracts of decisions relating to the New York Convention. In recent years, this yearbook has shifted away from reporting CLOUT and ICSID decisions as they have become more readily available online.

Arbitration Rules

The texts of many arbitration rules are available online, generally through the relevant arbitral bodies and institution's web site. Below is also a select list of resources that provide either commentary or other useful materials.

• Comparison of International Arbitration Rules (3rd edition) INTL K2400 .C663 2008
  This book has a chart with side-by-side comparisons of provisions from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association/International Center for Dispute Resolution (AAA/ICDR), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) and International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). The provisions are arranged topically; some examples of the topics are number of arbitrators, experts, and recourse against awards. The international arbitration rules of the Center for Public Resources ("CPR") and United Nations Commission on International Trade (UNICTAL) are included as well.
  
• International Arbitration Rules: A Comparative Guide INTL K2400.I582 2000
  This work is divided into seven chapters that go through the process of arbitration from beginning to end. There is commentary on how various associations' rules can be applied in each part of the process.
• ICC Rules of Arbitration
  These are the most current rules and are in PDF format in various languages.
• ICSID Rules
  These are PDF's of the text of the rules and include the text of ICSID Convention and the Report of the World Bank Executive Directors on the Convention. The Additional Facility Rules address arbitration, fact-finding and conciliation.
• Permanent Court of Arbitration, Rules of Procedure
  The texts of these rules are available in PDF. There is also available the Other PCA Rules and Procedures in PDF format.
  
• World Arbitration Reporter: International Encyclopaedia of Arbitration Law and Practice INTL K2400 .W67 2010
  This four-volume set is organized under four major topics; national reports; national arbitration institutions; international arbitration institutions; treaties and bilateral and regional agreements. Volume 2 contains national arbitration institutions and volume 3 has international arbitration institution. In both of these volumes, there is a history and background for each entry as well as text of the relevant rules.

Arbitral Bodies and Institutions

Below is a list of key international arbitral institutions. Jean Wenger's LLRX guide on international commercial arbitration has a good list of national institutions.

General Arbitration Web Sites

• Juris International, Arbitration and Mediation Centres
  This site includes information on commercial arbitration, mediation, conciliation, expertise centers, and other alternative dispute resolution centers or services, including the full text of their rules and model clauses from around the world.
• T.M.C. Asser Institute, International Commercial Arbitration
  You will find major treaties and conventions, arbitration rules, Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) rule and other links.
• Commercial Arbitration - OAS Foreign Trade Information System
  Materials covered include the Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Centre for the Americas, the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission, ICSID, ICC, UNCITRAL and WIPO. They also have brief introductions on the history and formation of the various arbitral institutions and organizations.
• International Council for Commercial Arbitration
  This is an NGO. This web site has links to the arbitration laws from many countries as well as a listing of other arbitration online resources.

Journal Articles

Journal articles are a quick and efficient way to obtain background information, locate the text of a foreign law or locate current information about a topic. Westlaw and Lexis provide excellent coverage of U.S. law reviews; however, by including foreign journals and indexes, your journal research will be more comprehensive and global in its coverage.

For best results, you may need to search both full text databases as well as periodical indexes. We have two additional research guides, Locating Journal Articles: Foreign & International and Using Articles for Legal & Non-Legal Research, which may be of interest to you.

If you already have a citation and would like to read the article, simply type the journal name as a title search in the library catalog. The results will tell you if we have print, electronic, or both. Be sure to check coverage dates or volume numbers to determine if your particular volume or issue is available. If the library does not have the journal article, you may request the article through interlibrary loan and we will ask another library to make a photocopy.

Below are listed a few of the most commonly used journal and index databases for international commercial arbitration legal research.

• Cambridge Journals Online (Georgetown Law only)
  This full-text database offers both legal and non-legal journals published by Cambridge University. We suggest using advanced searching.
• Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals (Georgetown Law only)
  You can use English keyword searching of over 450 foreign law journals. There is no full-text, but you can email the citations to yourself and then search the library catalog for the journal title. This is the best resource to search for foreign language legal journal articles.
• Kluwer Law International Journals (Georgetown Law only)
  Full-text journals (from the mid-1990s forward) with a business and trade focus are available here. Older issues of these titles are available on HeinOnline. Click here for a complete list.
• Legal Journals Index (Georgetown Law only)
  This resource indexes over 320 journal article from the United Kingdom and Europe. It is not full-text. LJI is also on Westlaw (LJI), which will provide links to the full text if that particular journal is available on Westlaw.
• Legal Periodicals and Books (Georgetown Law only)
  This has comprehensive citation coverage of nearly 1000 English language law reviews and books from 1982 to the present. For older articles, try Legal Periodicals and Books Retrospective (1918-1981).
• LegalTrac (Georgetown Law only)
  This is a similar index to Legal Periodicals and Books. Coverage begins in 1981 and indexes articles from about 875 publications and law related articles from 1,000 business and general interest periodicals. Again, Westlaw and Lexis do not usually provide access to articles prior to the early 1990s.
• Oxford Journals Online (Georgetown Law only)
  This is a full-text database of both legal and non-legal journals published by Oxford University. You can limit to a particular journal or to the subject law.

Below is a sampling of some of the journals, which focus on International Commercial Arbitration. For back issues, search in the library catalog using the title of the journal. Print versions are often available in the Wolff library.

• The American Review of International Arbitration
  This journal is available in print and online (Georgetown Law Only). This quarterly publication has scholarly articles, commentaries on recent developments and case notes on arbitration throughout the world.
• Arbitration International
  This journal is available in print (up to 2009) and online (Georgetown Law Only) with full text access to current issues. This journal analyzes such topics as the international application of arbitration law, as well as how nations apply this type of law.
  
• International Arbitration Law Review INTL K9.N7525
  Although this journal is only available in print, it is indexed online through; Legal Journals Index (Georgetown Law only), Westlaw LJI (Georgetown Law Only), and Current Legal Information (Georgetown Law Only). This journal has summaries of cases from around the world, expert commentary and news on legislation and decisions.
• Journal of International Arbitration
  This journal is available in print (up to 2009) and online (Georgetown Law Only) with full text access to current issues. In this journal, there is a focus on the economic impacts that arise from disputes between private corporations, state controlled entities and states, from around the world. There is a new section, Notes and Current Developments, which contains brief commentary on recent developments and trends.
• The Journal of World Investment & Trade INTL K10 .O8997
  Although this journal is only available in print, it is indexed by Index to Foreign Legal Periodicals and the publisher's web site has abstracts. This journal covers foreign direct investment issues, e.g. bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, and WTO trade issues. There is also commentary on arbitral dispute settlement.
• World Trade and Arbitration Materials
  This journal is available in print [updated regularly] and online (Georgetown Law Only). This journal reports on pending legislation and newly passed laws in the field of arbitration. In addition, there is information on policy statements, position papers, proposals, and reports concerning trade negotiations.
• Yearbook: Commercial Arbitration INTL K2400.A53 Y4
  This text is only available in print and has the full text of international arbitration awards and court decision for each year. There is also an annotated bibliography with information on books, journal articles, and other relevant resources on international arbitration.

Current Awareness

In addition to keeping you up-to-date with international commercial arbitration, current awareness tools are helpful for identifying paper topics.

Bibliographies and Other Resources

Bibliographies

Bibliographies do some of your research for you! They are usually a list of articles and books on a specific topic. They can save you a lot of time in your research.

• International Commercial Arbitration: Resources in Print and Electronic Format
  Though it is from 2003, this is an excellent resource for locating relevant, print and electronic, resources. Though most of the materials listed are primarily in English, there are references to resources in other languages.
• The Pechota Bibliography on Arbitration INTL K2400.A12 C66 1999 [updated regularly]
  This continues Commercial Arbitration: An International Bibliography available only in print. This publication follows the previous edition's general categorization of topics using the scheme of UNCITRAL; the newer edition has added the topics of class actions and the WTO. The second part of the publication is organized by country with bibliographies of publications that are in both English and other languages.
  

Other Resources

• International Commercial Arbitration: A Guide for U.S. Judges. A useful guide directed to judges, but which is also useful for students, academics, and practitioners.
• Lexis (Georgetown Law Only)
  From the main page on the left click on Add/Edit Subtabs> Practice Areas> click on the box next to International Arbitration>click Next >click Set.
  This section aggregates the books, treatise and handbooks within Lexis on International Arbitration.
• Westlaw (Georgetown Law Only)
  Click on Add a Tab (located on the far right)> Click on Add Westlaw Tabs> scroll down to Westlaw International > International Arbitration International Arbitration. This section aggregates the materials in Westlaw, which focus on this topic. These resources include secondary sources (newsletters, law journals and analytical materials) and primary sources (case law, conventions, legislation and model laws).

Research Guides

Want more information about international commercial arbitration? These other research guides may help.

• Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: International Commercial Arbitration
  This guide is hosted by ASIL, and has a section on Internet Domain Name Disputes.
• Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: International Economic Law.
  This guide is hosted by ASIL, and has as a section on international commercial arbitration.
• Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law: Private International Law
  This guide is hosted by ASIL, and has as a section on international commercial arbitration.
  
• International Commercial Arbitration: Locating the Resources (LLRX)
  Thought this is from 2004, it is an in-depth overview of the topic and has many citations to other relevant resources.
• International Commercial Arbitration in International Lawyer's Deskbook (2nd edition) K48.I57 2003.
  This is book is primarily designed with the U.S. practitioners as main audience. This book has a chapter that focuses on this topic and includes reference to other relevant resources and materials.
• A Selective Guide to Online International Arbitration Resources (LLRX)
  Though this is from 2004, it is good place to start for both a brief list of online resources and for background information on this topic.