The Growing Autonomy of International Commercial Arbitration

This study argues that the growing autonomy of international commercial arbitration constitutes the leitmotiv of virtually all recent legislative and doctrinal developments in this field.

On the basis of an interest-analysis, it first establishes the legitimacy of this trend. The study then examines the various levels and dimensions of the increasing autonomy of international commercial arbitration. In this context, particular emphasis is laid on the doctrine of lex mercatoria, the internationalisation of court review of arbitral awards, and the decreasing significance of the concept of the arbitral "seat".