International Arbitration has grown in leaps and bounds and has become usual in handling most disputes that involve two or more jurisdictions. In countries like the United States, Australia, Germany, Sweden, France, and a host of others, international arbitration has been used to settle different cases, with the outcome being successful in most cases.
The success of international arbitration and its efforts in limiting how many cases go to court highlights its preference in handling disputes and ensuring a speedy process compared to law courts. Also, it operates more of a mediation system and disputing the parties the need for action and promoting neutrality before judgment is passed.
However, while there are a lot of gains with international arbitration and how it is one of the best options for International commercial dispute resolution, there have been calls on reforms in its procedures and processes. These calls have further triggered some sections of practitioners advocating for international arbitration innovation.
Certainly, innovation in international arbitration is a great and powerful force that has driven the sustenance and progress of the system. There have been a lot of changes to certain ways of carrying out proceedings that have made the process of arbitrary rulings go on smoothly and efficiently. As it stands, certain innovations and reforms have been put in place, but there is a general belief that more should.
The need for reforms in international arbitration innovation has increasingly become a growing subject of interest, with the Covid-19 triggering a surge in demand such that arbitration control bodies have decided to look for how to make certain areas of arbitrary proceedings better.
Reforms in Arbitration: Areas That Have Received the Biggest Spotlight
With the calls for reforms in International arbitration innovation, some areas have received the most attention. These areas are extremely delicate and play key roles in how users view the system regarding security, fairness, and practitioners’ objectivity.
Technology
The whole essence of technology is to drive efficiency and save cost, and the belief among arbitration reformers is that these benefits can be channeled and use to vast effect in arbitration. The belief is that with technology, international arbitration can be brief and less time-wasting. Technology has so far been employed in several instances where arbitrary courts set up databases that allow parties in disputes to upload relevant documents that help drive a solution.
Technology has also made cases much simpler as practitioners can arrange different cases and refer to them with just a click when dealing with new cases that have familiar learning.
Cybersecurity
As arbitrators accept the use of technology to help drive quick and fair resolution, hackers and data thieves have also presented a challenge to the system. There have been several instances of data theft and the compromise of arbitration sites by hackers. These situations, which are extremely disturbing, have triggered a mass demand among practitioners for lasting solutions to be effected such that easy loopholes in systems are fixed.
The present solutions for no are judges giving charges to disputing parties and practitioners to prioritize protecting information. There are currently some voices that are asking for judges to criminalize actions of deliberate data compromise by active parties in a case.
Liability of Arbitrators
Arbitrators are more personal with reforms in this area because they express how much safety and rights they have after issuing awards. There have been unfortunate instances where arbitrators have been jailed for not ruling in favor of state powers. Such situation is an encroachment on the rights of arbitrators and could affect the willingness of professionals to preside over cases concerning states.
Managing of People
Despite the landmarks that have been achieved through arbitration, there is still an air of uncertainty among parties who seek to settle disputes, and reform seekers believe that this is due to a lack of simplification in procedures. Reformers believe that by simplifying the rules, institutions and parties will be more willing to choose arbitration as a trustworthy source for settling disputes.
Are The Reforms Needed?
Innovation and international arbitration cannot be separated from each other, and the former has been the driving force of the other. Since the advent of the coronavirus, many practitioners and active parties of arbitration have cited the need for more reforms to enhance international arbitration innovation already in place.
The truth is that there is almost a unanimous agreement among every stakeholder on the need to reform certain areas of the arbitrary process to drive efficiency and focus on dispute resolution. However, the question is how can these reforms be effected and how can technology be harnessed so that processes would be more seamless and focus?
There have been suggestions, and there have undoubtedly been vast improvements in the system like the improvement in cybersecurity to ensure data safety. Transparency and simplification of the dispute processes are still in process, and hopefully, sequential presentation of pleas, if deemed unnecessary, can also be slashed out.
All of these areas are either receiving a level of innovative changes or are still in the process, but the truth is that there is more to do and how long it takes for things to change can only be revealed in the future.
Conclusion
With reforms expected in the future, several are already proactive enough to begin innovation in dispute resolution while ensuring their activities are in check with the law guiding mediation and dispute settlement. These firms all have a common characteristic of skillful practitioners with vast experience in settling disputes.
One of the firms that have stood out in employing innovative processes in international and domestic arbitrary proceedings is Rattsakuten. The firm comprises top arbitrators and practitioners with vast experience in settling disputes and ensuring full neutrality in issuing awards. You can reach the firm management here for any mediation and dispute resolution process.
About Rattsakuten
Rattsakuten is a leading law firm focused on Commercial Arbitration and Dispute Resolution. Based in Sweden, Rattsakuten handles dispute resolution and Arbitration matters before the SCC (Swedish Chamber of Commerce), ICC, HKIAC, and several other Arbitration tribunals.