In many parts of the world, arbitration, as one form of ADR, has long been recognised by international business parties as the preferred method of dispute resolution. The selection of arbitration is advocated on the basis that it enables at least one of the parties to the “international” contract to avoid the uncertainties and risks of exposure to the courts of a foreign jurisdiction. The selection is also advocated on the basis that, generally, it provides a speedier, more efficient and less costly means than the courts for resolving disputes.

The widespread international acceptance of arbitration is clear endorsement of the benefits arbitration can provide. Perhaps the strongest factor influencing the preference for arbitration is that arbitration decisions are internationally enforceable under the terms of the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”).

As a preferred alternative to protracted and expensive litigation, arbitration has also made significant inroads in terms of domestic contracts between nationals of the same country.

But arbitration alone has not been sufficient to satisfy the concerns of disappointed disputants whose experience has inspired them to seek out and develop other forms of ADR in the hope of avoiding, or at least reducing the likelihood of, time-consuming, disruptive and costly dispute resolution. This has been particularly evident on complex infrastructure projects involving a significant number of participants and a significant number of contractual arrangements. In this pursuit of measures intended to avoid, reduce, or shorten disputes, a variety of other ADR approaches has developed and has gained remarkable momentum, a momentum that in some cases has somewhat surprisingly spread into other jurisdictions. Support for these pre-arbitral ADR concepts has also, in some cases, spread into jurisdictions well beyond their points of origin. The international interest in ADR is obvious. Much is currently happening in the development of international ADR, and there will undoubtedly be much more to come in the years ahead.