In a major international commercial arbitration, there are specific steps in the dispute-resolving process that are reasonably well defined. First, the claimant must submit a notice of arbitration, to which the respondent answers. Depending upon the relevant rules, the notice and response may include detailed pleadings. Other times the notice may be quite succinct, and written submissions constituting the pleadings will be provided at a later point. Next, the arbitrators are appointed, generally according to party agreement, or pursuant to the rules the parties have chosen. Normally, some kind of organizational meeting will follow, to discuss how the arbitration will proceed. Subsequently, there may be further written submissions, and prehearing disclosure will begin, including exchanges of documentary evidence and witness statements, all in preparation for the oral hearings.
The oral hearings may take place in one meeting that lasts several days, or in a number of multi-day hearings that may occur over weeks or months. At the hearing, there may be short opening statements, followed by oral testimony, submission of documentary evidence, and perhaps legal argument on certain points, if requested by the tribunal. At the end of the hearing, there may be short closing statements, and the arbitrators may request post-hearing submissions. After the arbitrators review the post-hearing submissions, they deliberate and render a decision in the form of a final award. This is the basic process, of which there are many variations. This chapter will focus on the various elements of the arbitral proceedings, and some of the ways a tribunal may conduct the proceedings.
Because international arbitration often involves parties and arbitrators from different legal systems, the procedures used in the arbitration may tend to reflect one system somewhat more than another, usually influenced by the background of the presiding arbitrator. Increasingly, however, the international arbitration process is becoming more of a standardized, hybrid process, taking elements from both civil and common law traditions. Lawyers from both systems are becoming more accustomed to this hybrid procedure, and are adapting their methods of practice accordingly.