International arbitration law is an eclectic body of law, composed of decisions rendered by international arbitration courts and arbitration tribunals, domestic court judgments, restatements, domestic arbitration laws, international treaties and awards of supranational institutions. Arbitration doctrine by respected commentators also plays a role in establishing the relevant legal norms to be applied in international arbitrations and is persuasive. While technically non-binding, except between the parties to a particular arbitration agreement, arbitration case law and doctrine is nevertheless persuasive and typically followed by arbitrators, although arbitrators can also be requested to rule ex aequo et bono (Latin for “from equity and conscience“).
Many free online resources exist to research issues pertinent to international commercial arbitration law and investment treaty arbitrations, including doctrine, caselaw, commentary, restatements and even audiovisual materials. A convenient way to research international arbitration law is provided on this website, by way of the IAR’s international arbitration search engine. This meta-search engine indexes and searches 67 leading international arbitration law resources automatically, including all of the relevant legal resources listed below.
Below, you can access the majority of useful online international arbitration research tools available today:
- (I) free online tools to research international commercial arbitration law;
- (II) free online tools to research investment treaty arbitration law; and
- (III) the leading subscription-only online international arbitration resources.
I. Free Online Tools To Research Commercial International Arbitration Law
Below are listed, in alphabetical order, free online tools available to perform research on international commercial arbitration. Three of the most useful free resources are the International Arbitration Search Engine, Trans-Lex and the UNCITRAL’s website.
Association for International Arbitration (AIA)
The AIA has collected some arbitration case law and doctrine that is available to the general public, primarily in the form of links. Little information is included that is not already available here, but it could prove to be a useful resource in due course. As of June 2014, this resource is not worth visiting.
Audiovisual Library Of International Law
This resource, which is provided by the United Nations, contains free online lectures on international commercial arbitration in a variety of languages, as well as access to documents such as the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in a variety of languages. It also provides a number of resources and lectures that are relevant to public international law.
CISG Database
Parties involved in an international arbitration concerning the the international sale of goods involving the 80 countries that have ratified the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods are in luck, since Pace Law School’s Institute of International Commercial Law runs an excellent CISG Database with over 10,000 bibliography citations, 3,000 cases and 1,600 full texts of commentaries on the CISG and related topics.
GAR Know-How
This clever resource, known as a filter, provides free cross-jurisdictional information with respect to international commercial arbitration in a number of jurisdictions. While wholly unsuitable for academics, it can be useful for swift knowledge about arbitration in a number of jurisdictions.
International Arbitration Case Law
International Arbitration Case Law is a database created by academics in collaboration with Queen Mary School of International Arbitration. Here, International awards (primarily ICSID and other investor-State disputes) are available in numerous languages, including Chinese.
International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)
While much of ICCA’s content is subscription-only, some of it is not. For instance, it provides a handful of articles published on international arbitration in leading journals, useful consolidated lists of noteworthy court decisions and arbitral awards and a free, clear and concise guide to the interpretation and application of the New York Convention.
Japan Shipping Exchange (JSE) and the Tokyo Maritime Arbitration Commission (TOMAC)
JSE and TOMAC are the main bodies in Japan dealing with arbitral matters in the shipping industry. They offer free access to their arbitral awards, which involve shipping disputes and other maritime law-related matters.
Kluwer Arbitration Blog
The Kluwer Arbitration blog is freely accessible and contains often excellent analyses provided by highly-qualified arbitration practitioners including Members of the IAA Network. The blog is freely-searchable and covers manner issues related to international commercial arbitration.
Trans-Lex
Professor Dr. Klaus Peter Berger’s excellent Trans-Lex bills itself as a “free research and codification platform for transnational law.” It contains numerous articles on international arbitration by leading international arbitration practitioners and academics on a host of subjects, as well as other arbitration-related resources. It is one of the most useful free resources for researching doctrine on international commercial arbitration, and it includes a fair amount of commentary regarding construction disputes.
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
The UNCITRAL maintains a useful database (“Case Law on UNCITRAL Texts” or “CLOUT”) of court decisions and arbitral awards involving issues related to UNCITRAL treaties and model laws, which includes abstracts of numerous decisions. The UNCITRAL website also includes many reports, training guides on international arbitration and webcasts of lectures on international arbitration.
United States Supreme Court Arbitration Decisions
Cornell’s Legal Information Institute has access to the dozens of U.S. decisions on arbitration-related matters, and State court materials can also be accessed with respect to arbitration and international arbitration. It can be a useful resource for U.S. arbitration law research.
II. Free Online Tools To Research Investment Treaty Arbitration Law
There are a number of free online resources concerning investment treaty arbitrations, many of which are excellent. In particular, the Investment Treaty Arbitration database is used frequently by arbitration practitioners, and we highly recommend it.
International Arbitration Case Law
International Arbitration Case Law is a database created by academics in collaboration with Queen Mary School of International Arbitration. Here, International awards (primarily ICSID and other investor-State disputes) are available in numerous languages, including Chinese.
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)
ICSID is the leading arbitral institution involved in the administration of investment treaty arbitration and makes available on its website ICSID awards as well as updates on investment treaty laws. This information is also available on the Investment Treaty Arbitration website.
Investment Treaty Arbitration (ITA)
Created by a Canadian professor teaching at the University of Victoria, ITA is an outstanding free resource for researching investment treaty law and doctrine. It includes nearly all publicly available investment treaty arbitral awards, as well as the decisions of annulment committees, case law on enforcement proceedings throughout the world and access to doctrine and many other materials relevant to investment treaty arbitrations.
III. Subscription-only Resources To Research International Arbitration Law
As would be expected, some of the most powerful online tools require a subscription. The best-known is Kluwer Arbitration, a historic leader in terms of international arbitration legal resources. Specialized international arbitration lawyers should have access to these subscription-only resources, which include the following:
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
Based in London, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators maintains three major resources. The Resolver is published every quarter and gives updates on dispute resolution issues worldwide. The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management, also published every 3 months, focuses on arbitration in a couple of countries per year, with case notes and commentaries. The Linex Alerter, a newsletter of Linex Legal and the CiArb, informs members on a weekly basis of the latest developments in alternative dispute resolutions methods.
Global Arbitration Review (GAR)
GAR is a major international arbitration review. It provides its readers with featured news, a know-how section drafted by practitioners from leading law firms, and non-academic articles. GAR also publishes yearly reviews on the state of arbitration in the Americas, the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, examining arbitral developments in each country.
Investment Claims
Oxford University Press is behind this useful database that includes primary materials in investment treaty arbitration as well as analysis and commentary on international investment law and arbitration. A subscription is required to access the material, which includes awards, bilateral investment treaties, institution rules, and national arbitration laws as well as analysis and commentary from Oxford University Press monographs and journals.
Kluwer Arbitration
Kluwer Arbitration is the most renowned and comprehensive arbitration resource available today. It is also the best. Its available materials include arbitration awards from most leading arbitral institutions, articles, and commentaries on commercial, investment and construction arbitrations. It also publishes the well-respected Journal of International Arbitration and provides access to numerous arbitration bulletins, journals and leading books on international arbitration. Searching is free but one needs a subscription to retrieve the full text of these documents. Many students and academics have access to this indispensable arbitration resource.
Although care is taken to ensure the integrity, quality and availability of information on this website, it is intended for educational purposes only and should not replace legal or professional advice. If you require legal counsel with respect to an issue concerning international arbitration law, please do not hesitate to contact the members of the IAA Network.
WESTLAW Arbitration Databases
Westlaw is one of the most renowned legal resources used by professionals. It provides a wealth of articles and cases, including LCIA and ICC awards. The International Commercial Arbitration – All (database identifier ICA-ALL) combines all of Westlaw’s databases into one database, which is convenient.