Rethinking International Commercial Arbitration

Reviews / Votes

'The value of Professor Cuniberti's book is not only in the approach that he takes, namely analysing different models of arbitration, such as foreign investment and domain name arbitrations, and drawing methodological conclusions to lay the foundations for his default arbitration model. The importance of the monograph lies also in asking questions which force us to rethink the role of arbitration in international trade and re-evaluate the benefit it has to the international business community.. . . The book deserves the attention of anyone interested in dispute resolution.' -- Petya Koycheva, International Company and Commercial Law Review 'Arbitration is, for many reasons - one of which is neutrality - a more suitable mode of dispute resolution in an international context than litigation before a State court. Building on his seminal 2009 article, Professor Gilles Cuniberti implacably demonstrates that arbitration should be given the status of default mode, and systematically rebuts the conventional objections against such a revolutionary proposal. He does so with such talent and persuasive power that the initially sceptical, but open-minded, reader, after turning the last page, must honestly admit that Professor Cuniberti might well have convinced him.' -- Pierre Mayer, Emeritus Professor at the University of Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne, France 'Cuniberti's thought-provoking book elaborates on the concept of default arbitration which he was the first to propose in a 2009 article. The idea is that, in the international setting, arbitration should be the default mode of resolution of commercial disputes because it is superior to court litigation, particularly on account of its neutrality and flexibility. This shift of paradigm has been gaining traction, but remains controversial. Cuniberti's well-argued analysis brings a welcome breath of fresh air to the debates on arbitration, which remain extremely deferential to acquired wisdom but often fail duly to consider the evolution in the reality of international commercial relations.' -- Luca G. Radicati di Brozolo, Catholic University of Milan, Italy 'International commercial arbitration has of late attracted vast amounts of commentary, much of it merely advocacy in favor of or against the enterprise, and all too often polemical in nature. What the field has lacked is a truly penetrating and holistic study of the challenges facing the enterprise, both its workings and its connection with other international dispute resolution regimes. Into this gap comes Gilles Cuniberti's masterful work which deserves the attention of anyone wanting to take international commercial arbitration seriously.' -- George A. Bermann, Columbia Law School, US