Arbitration is central to the settlement of transnational commercial disputes. This dissertation discusses arbitration as an alternative method of dispute settlement as opposed to litigation. The work surveys the difficulties relating to international commercial arbitration and the enforcement of awards, and efforts made to overcome them. The research is divided into four chapters. The first chapter introduces the reader to the work. It gives a general background to international commercial arbitration and briefly explains what the dissertation is all about. Chapter two is definitional. It examines some of the definitions of international commercial arbitration and contains the author's thoughts on this issue. The author is of the view that the traditional definitions do not properly address the concept. It is concluded that the question whether an arbitration is international should largely depend on whether international norms are used to resolve the dispute rather than by reference to geographical considerations. This chapter also weighs the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration as against litigation. Chapter three deals with recognition and enforcement of awards. This is considered crucial since at the end of the day, parties to arbitration would want to enforce their awards in a court of law, in the event of non-compliance. Since the award might be made in a foreign country, enforcement may be problematic. The chapter examines efforts made in intemational and domestic law to overcome such problems and achieve enforceable awards. A selection of multi-lateral, regional and domestic laws is examined. This chapter also discusses problems of enforcing awards against states and steps taken to overcome them. The final chapter deals with general conclusion and suggestions. It is suggested that efforts should be made to harmonise international commercial arbitration. This can be achieved both in domestic and international law. / Jurisprudence / LL.M. (Jurisprudence)

This thesis explores problems regarding the reception the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (ML) in Canada, Hong Kong and Russia. Focusing on the relationship between national courts and arbitrators, it argues that the ML fosters gradual harmonization of law on international arbitration, while accommodating the particular needs of the legal cultures and traditions of Canada, Hong Kong and Russia. The importance of this study derives from the fact that the experience of these three countries has been, and it still is, a guide for a number of other countries considering the adoption of the ML and modification of their arbitration laws. First, the thesis explores the implementation of the ML at the national level, in each of the countries of adoption in order determine, the legal changes, if any, brought about by the adoption. The hypothesis is that legal borrowing can lead to different results in countries with different legal traditions, different levels of economic development and different political structures. At this level the analysis focuses on statutory frameworks and judicial practice in these countries. Second, the thesis compares the results from the study at the national level in order to explore the ways in which the same pattern (that is, the ML) has been modified to reflect the socio-economic environment and principles of old systems, and to determine changes to the original model. The hypothesis is that arbitral tribunals are promoters of a new "internationalized" legal culture and that national judges and courts, in comparison, are more likely to reflect local or national legal cultures. The thesis concludes that variations in the application and interpretation of the M L in the three countries does not mean that the ML cannot bring about the harmonization of laws. However, the ML is not a transplantation or duplication of foreign law, but a project of reception. In that way, the ML serves as a basis for creativity, rather than representing the imposition of a new, and perhaps, inappropriate; legal culture. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

LL.M. (International Commercial Law) / This essay seeks to look at the role of express submission to jurisdictjon under the Brussels I Regulation,lthe Brussels I (recast) Regulation2 and the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements.3 The express submission to jurisdiction under the three instruments mentioned in the previous sentence refers to the situation in which parties to an international commercial contract include in their contract a court of their choice to govern any disputes that may arise between them. This designated court may or may not be situated in a country that is a member of the three instruments mentioned above. The purpose of this thesis is to determine what will occur when the court chosen is from a country that is not a member of either of the three instruments mentioned. We will first look at express submission and the role it plays in determining which court has jurisdiction. This section on express submission will provide the definition of express submission in the context of a contract which incorporates a choice-of-forum agreement between the parties who are engaged in an international commercial transaction. The thesis will view the role of submission in a common-law and civil-law country in light of express submission by contract. Finally, a distinction will be made between an exclusive and non-exclusive jurisdiction clause. A brief discussion ofthe Brussels Convention4 (The Convention) will be provided in order to present the fact that the Convention only applies when a choice-of-forum agreement in a contract has assoned thejurisdiction to a court of a country which is a member of the Convention. The Convention would not apply when a choice-of-forum agreement in a contract has assigned jurisdiction to the court of a country which is not a member to the Convention. ln order to determine whether the position has changed since the enactment of the Brussels I Regulation (Regulation) with regard to choice-of-forum agreements that designate jurisdiction to the court of a country in a nonmember state of the Regulation, provisions relating to express submission clauses will be discussed. A further discussion will be provided to ascertain whether the enactment of the Council Regulation (EC) No 4412001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement ofjudgments in civil and commercial matters.