The Global Legal Post today launches an online comparative jurisdictional guide to arbitration which charts the increasingly pro-arbitration orientation of laws in numerous jurisdictions, according to its editors.

The Law Over Borders online Arbitration guide sets out to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current complexities of international arbitration across a range of jurisdictions from established arbitral seats to emerging players.

It is jointly edited by Carmen Martinez Lopez and Liz Snodgrass, partners at specialist arbitration firm Three Crowns, and features contributors from an array of leading firms across the world.

The easy-to-use digital format allows readers to quickly assess the arbitration regimes of different jurisdictions by comparing contributing authors’ answers to a series of carefully framed questions. It aims to assist readers when considering whether to agree to arbitrate in a particular jurisdiction and guide them through the course of an arbitration seated in a given jurisdiction.

In their introduction, Martinez Lopez and Snodgrass strike an optimistic note, writing that the guide ‘confirms the impression that arbitration can be expected to continue to grow, and improve, as a practice worldwide’.

They note: ‘The increasingly pro-arbitration orientation of arbitration laws in numerous jurisdictions shifts the focus away from what the law says, to how it actually operates in practice. Going forward, the main deciding factors in choosing a seat may be the efficiency of local courts and their familiarity with arbitration, the costs for the parties to request assistance from local courts or to challenge or enforce an award, the availability of arbitral institutions with modern rules and adequate resources, and the current market practice with respect to third-party funding – all topics on which the guide provides insight.’

Contributing firms include: Corrs Chambers Westgarth (Australia), MAMG Advogados (Brazil), Adell & Merizalde (Colombia), TADIR Dispute Resolution (Ecuador), Osborne Clarke (England and Wales), Le 16 Law (France), Gilt Chambers (Hong Kong), Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (India), ArbLit – Radicati di Brozolo Sabatini Benedettelli Torsello (Italy), Templars (Nigeria), Abdulaziz H. AlFahad & Partners (Saudi Arabia), WongPartnership LLP (Singapore), Bowmans (South Africa), Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (South Korea), LALIVE (Switzerland) and Herbert Smith Freehills (US).

Trends highlighted in the guide include the proliferation of new arbitral institutions and the fact that courts in most jurisdictions are adopting a pro-arbitration stance.

‘There is every reason for optimism that greater experience with arbitration will increase the efficiency of courts when dealing with arbitration issues and also contribute to more jurisdictions emerging as reliable seats for international arbitration,’ Martinez Lopez and Snodgrass write in their introduction.

However, they note the underdeveloped framework for third-party funding in many jurisdictions.

The print version of the guide will be available in May and be officially launched at Luxury Law Summit London, which takes place at the British Museum on 13 June.

Click here to read the guide online or here to purchase print or pdf versions.

The guide is the eighth in the Law Over Borders series, following the launches of ESG, Private Client, Artificial Intelligence, Luxury Law, Fashion Law, FDI and Anti-counterfeiting guides. Forthcoming additions to the series include Family Asset Protection, Commercial Litigation and Crossborder Enforcement and Cryptoassets. 

For further information about the Global Legal Post Law Over Border guides email associate publisher claudiatan@globalcitymedia.com.