The Need to utilize International Arbitration

I have been asked to discuss how to convince United States businessmen of the need for utilizing international arbitration. Basically, however, there is a realistic need for this well recognized form of alternative dispute settlement. Primarily, international arbitration affords companies the ability to avoid the uncertainties and complexities of foreign litigation. I found it interesting that Professor Vagts used the word "paradox" in referring to the existence of both the lack of effective treaties on the enforcement of foreign judgments and the host of treaties on the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

Why is it a paradox? International arbitration was used prior to the establishment of courts, judges, over two hundred law schools, and the training of thirty thousand lawyers a year. We are merely returning to our antecedents and using what the business community has used for centuries. Let me first define the differences between public arbitration, private arbitration, and the Hague Tribunal.