Sovereign immunity and transnational arbitration

Publisher

University of British Columbia

Date Issued

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

Master of Laws - LLM

Program

Law

Description

State participation in the arbitration of transnational commercial disputes is steadily increasing. It is estimated that arbitration of state contract disputes presently constitute one quarter of the disputes submitted to ICC arbitration. Where a state party is involved in an arbitration, the sovereign immunity doctrine - which in some cases exempts foreign states from the jurisdiction of municipal courts - may have adverse effect on the arbitration process. The thesis explores the impact of the immunity doctrine on the arbitration of state contract disputes. State practice in selected jurisdictions is used to illustrate the methods adopted in an effort to mitigate the impact of the immunity doctrine on commercial arbitration. In this respect, focus is placed on both jurisdictional immunity and immunity from execution. The thesis concludes that the private party may avoid unnecessary litigation by requiring the state party to expressly waive its immunity both during the recognition and enforcement stages. The waiver should be included in the arbitration agreement.

Date Available

2010-08-13

Rights

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.

DOI

10.14288/1.0103884

Affiliation

Law, Peter A. Allard School of

ID

1.0103884

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