Several decades ago, a typical arbitration would involve one claimant against one respondent. Over the years, more and more cases involve several claimants against several respondents. Today, one third of all international ICC arbitrations seem to involve multiparty cases, multi-contract cases involving multiple contracts, multiple parties. The evolution has continued and the debate today is whether it would be possible for a class of people in the same situation or a group of citizens having the same interest to start one single arbitration procedure as a group or as a class. This publication examines the complex issues involved in class or group arbitration on a comparative law basis. Is there a place for such proceedings within the framework of the arbitration process? Class action procedures, as developed in the United States court system and more recently in Canada, are almost nonexistent in Europe. The European Commission has advocated collective redress as an important means of access to justice but class actions have found little enthusiasm in the Members States. The book highlights the lessons which have been learned from the experience of cases in the US and in Europe. What does the future hold for class, collective and mass arbitrations? Are they a marginal phenomenon or has their potential yet to be realized? What are possible solutions to the issues that have been encountered? Can we expect to see more of such arbitrations in the future? Written by arbitrators, academics and practitioners, this Dossier will provide the answers to these questions and many more.

International Commercial Arbitration is an authoritative 4,250 page treatise, in three volumes, providing the most comprehensive commentary and analysis, on all aspects of the international commercial arbitration process that is available. The Third Edition of International Commercial Arbitration has been comprehensively revised, expanded and updated, To include all legislative, judicial and arbitral authorities, and other materials in the field of international arbitration prior to June 2020. It also includes expanded treatment of annulment, recognition of awards, counsel ethics, arbitrator independence and impartiality and applicable law. The revised 4,250 page text contains references to more than 20,000 cases, awards and other authorities and will enhance the treatise’s position as the world’s leading work on international arbitration. The first and second editions of International Commercial Arbitration have been routinely relied on by courts and arbitral tribunals around the world ((including the highest courts of the United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, India, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands and Canada) and international arbitral tribunals (including ICC, SIAC, LCIA, AAA, ICSID, SCC and PCA), e.g.: U.S. Supreme Court – GE Energy Power Conversion France SAS, Corp. v. Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, 590 U.S. - (U.S. S.Ct. 2020); BG Group plc v. Republic of Argentina, 572 U.S. 25 (U.S. S.Ct. 2014); Canadian Supreme Court – Uber v. Heller, 2020 SCC 16 (Canadian S.Ct.); Yugraneft Corp. v. Rexx Mgt Corp., [2010] 1 R.C.S. 649, 661 (Canadian S.Ct.); U.K. Supreme Court – Jivraj v. Hashwani [2011] UKSC 40, ¶78 (U.K. S.Ct.); Dallah Real Estate & Tourism Holding Co. v. Ministry of Religious Affairs, Gov’t of Pakistan [2010] UKSC 46 (U.K. S.Ct.); Swiss Federal Tribunal – Judgment of 25 September 2014, DFT 5A_165/2014 (Swiss Fed. Trib.); Indian Supreme Court – Bharat Aluminium v. Kaiser Aluminium, C.A. No. 7019/2005, ¶¶138-39, 142, 148-49 (Indian S.Ct. 2012); Singapore Court of Appeal – Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Ltd v. Avant Garde Maritime Servs. Ltd, [2019] 2 SLR 131 (Singapore Ct. App.); PT Perusahaan Gas Negara (Persero) TBK v. CRW Joint Operation, [2015] SGCA 30 (Singapore Ct. App.); Larsen Oil & Gas Pte Ltd v. Petroprod Ltd, [2011] SGCA 21, ¶19 (Singapore Ct. App.); Australian Federal Court – Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd v. Rinehart, [2017] FCAFC 170 (Australian Fed. Ct.); Hague Court of Appeal – Judgment of 18 February 2020, Case No. 200.197.079/01 (Hague Gerechtshof); Arbitral Tribunals – Lao Holdings NV v. Lao People's Democratic Republic I, Award in ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/12/6, 6 August 2019; Gold Reserve Inc. v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Decision regarding the Claimant’s and the Respondent’s Requests for Corrections, ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/09/1, 15 December 2014; Total SA v. The Argentine Republic, Decision on Stay of Enforcement of the Award, ICSID Case No. ARB/04/01, 4 December 2014; Millicom Int'l Operations B.V. v. Republic of Senegal, Decision on Jurisdiction of the Arbitral Tribunal, ICSID Case No. ARB/08/20, 16 July 2010; Lemire v. Ukraine, Dissenting Opinion of Jürgen Voss, ICSID Case No. ARB/06/18, 1 March 2011.

This is a leading manual for practitioners and gives an update on the interface between class actions and arbitration in every EU Member State that provides access to a form of collective redress. It enhances the use of arbitration in relation to collective redress mechanisms.

This seventh volume in the Swedish Studies in European Law series brings together some of the most prominent scholars working within the fast-evolving field of EU civil justice. Civil justice has an impact on matters involving, inter alia, family relationships, consumers, entrepreneurs, employees, small and medium-sized businesses and large multinational corporations. It therefore has great power and potential. Over the past 15 years a wealth of EU measures have been enacted in this field. Issues arising from the implementation thereof and practice in relation to these measures are now emerging. Hence, this volume will explore the benefits as well as the challenges of these measures. The particular themes covered include forum shopping, alternative dispute resolution, simplified procedures and debt collection, family matters and collective redress. In addition, the deepening of the field that continues post-Lisbon has occasioned a new level of regulatory and policy challenges. These are discussed in the final part of the volume which focuses on mutual recognition also in the broader European law context of integration in the area of freedom, security and justice.

The key question facing European policy-makers is how to enable collective redress proceedings without producing the undesirable consequences that are associated with the U.S. class action model. How is it possible to find the balance between providing compensation for legitimate claims and preventing unmeritorious claims? If the system encourages the vast majority of claims to be settled, how can it avoid the ‘blackmail effect’, which means it will be cheaper for defendants to settle unmeritorious claims than to fight them? How is it possible to avoid excessive transactional costs? etc. In this report, it is considered that one of the of the important safeguards against the abuses of the U.S. class action system could be the active role of the court in collective redress litigation. Research is needed to see what concrete judicial powers are the most important in that respect. This report tries to achieve this challenge. The first part of the report consists in a comparative analysis of national rules and case law in six Member States (United Kingdom (England & Wales), Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden) to identify which powers of the court in a collective redress trial ensure fair proceedings for both parties and act as safeguards against potential abuses of the system. Cases have been selected to illustrate the issues that arise and some of the creative solutions that have been applied so far by the courts at each stage of a collective redress procedure. The second part of this report aims at looking ahead to ways in which recommendations for an optimal balanced framework for a European collective redress mechanism would be formulated. The result of the case analyses set out in this report attempts to demonstrate whether the European Union might be able to introduce an attractive approach towards collective redress which builds on previous knowledge by fusing different national approaches and provides benefits to consumers, competitors and the economy, without harmful risks.

The Law and Practice of Arbitration is a comprehensive treatise about the development and practice of arbitration law in the United States. It addresses in detail the recourse to arbitration in domestic matters -- employment, labor, consumer transactions, and business -- and its use in the resolution of international commercial claims. It covers all of the major subject areas in the field and provides practical advice as well as an easy-to-read, clear discussion of the relevant case law. It represents a masterful synthesis of the entire body of arbitration law. It discusses basic concepts and doctrines, the FAA, freedom of contract in arbitration, arbitrability, the enforcement of awards, the use of arbitration in consumer and employment matters, institutional arbitration, and the drafting of arbitration agreements. It speaks of the federalization of the law and growing judicial objections to the use of adhesionary arbitration agreements in the consumer context, The volume represents the author's continuing in-depth reflection on the practical and systemic consequences of United States Supreme Court's decisional law on arbitration -- a process that is instrumental to the operation of the United States legal system as well as international business. The work continues its tradition of being the best statement on U.S. arbitration law and practice. The Law and Practice of Arbitration is a handy reference for all who have an interest in arbitration law and practice. The new Fifth Edition of Carbonneau’s treatise is built upon a comprehensive update of the federal circuit and U.S. Supreme Court cases on arbitration. The Introduction has been rewritten to take into account AT & T Mobility v. Concepcion and the American Express Merchants’ Litigation in the development of U.S. arbitration law. These decisions represent landmark USSC pronouncements on adhesive arbitration. The Introduction also contains a new section on the foundational legitimacy of arbitration in the U.S. legal system. The two landmark decisions are also incorporated into the text of Chapter 8 on the topic of adhesive arbitration. Chapter 9 on the award enforcement assesses the standing of Stolt-Nielsen in light of the Court’s recent decision in Sutter, asking whether this re-evaluation might be a de facto reversal of the earlier and highly unusual opinion. The assessment takes into account Justice Alito’s concurring opinion in Sutter. Chapter 10 on International Commercial Arbitration has undergone substantial rewriting and makes its various points more lucidly and effectively. This is also true of chapters 2, 3, and 5. Many footnotes have been perfected in form and content. The per curiam opinions---KPMG LLP v. Cocchi, Marmet Health Care v. Brown, and Nitro-Lift v. Howard---are all integrated into the text and fully assessed. The USSC’s decision in CompuCredit v. Greenwood is evaluated for its significance on the issue of Congressional intent to preclude arbitration. There are updates on how the courts define arbitration, the waiver of the right to arbitrate (in particular, the Ninth Circuit opinion in Richards v. Ernst & Young), the enforcement of arbitration agreement, with emphasis upon the curious Third Circuit decision on the matter in Guidotti, the latest adherents to the ill-conceived RUAA, the Ninth Circuit’s favorable response to AT&T Mobilty in Mortensen and Murphy, and an assessment of recent developments on the judicial imposition of penalties for frivolous vacatur actions. The treatise continues to be a highly contemporary and complete statement on the law of arbitration.

This book traces the evolution of transnational legal authority in the course of globalization. Representative case studies buttress its conclusion that today transnational authority is multifaceted, a phenomenon that renders unreliable the concepts of territoriality/extraterritoriality as global governance markers.

This book offers an analysis of the current trends and developments in Nordic civil litigation and is divided into four main parts. In the first part a picture of the current civil litigation landscape is provided by focusing on whether there is a truly Nordic form of civil litigation, the current state of Nordic civil litigation, the recent major reforms of civil procedure legislation and the effects of Europeanization. In the second part, the way rules on court-connected mediation have been implemented and practiced in the Nordic countries is discussed. The authors offer their insights on why court-connected mediation has not been fully embraced by Nordic lawyers and the Nordic approach to this type of mediation is contrasted with the Austrian and German approaches. In the third part, recent developments affecting access to justice in the Nordic countries are discussed. Among the topics are changes in legal aid schemes, the impact of recent civil procedure law reforms, hindrances for larger companies to use litigation as a method of dispute resolution and differences in costs and delays. Additionally, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Class or Group Actions are explored as methods to enhance access to justice. The potential adverse effects of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Group Actions are also examined, both in a Nordic and European context. In the final part, conclusions are drawn from both historical and future-oriented perspectives.