The early disposition of certain or part of some disputes in the context of international arbitration has been subject to debate for quite some time. Practitioners worldwide have discussed the authority of arbitrators to decide, hear and/or grant these requests, their purported virtues and advantages, their misuse and whether or not they may create some kind of risk for the enforcement or recognition of international awards.
The International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the international division of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), introduced a new article in the 2021 version of the International Dispute Resolution Procedures in response to an increasing use of these tools as well as to relieve the concerns classically associated with these mechanisms by international practitioners. The most recent version of the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Arbitration Rules have also been amended in this regard. The purpose of this article is to analyze these amendments implemented in the AAA and ICDR Arbitration Rules and to suggest a series of best practices for their successful implementation.
BCDR International Arbitration Review