Author: Homayoon Arfazadeh*
Published: December 2003
| Jurisdiction: International |
Topics: Public Policy Favoring Arbitration |
Description:
I. THE “UNRULY” ALLIANCE
“Public policy” has always been a source of concern for international lawyers. According to an old English dictum, public policy is “… a very unruly horse, and once you get astride it you never know where it will carry you. It may lead you from sound law.” The common-law tradition continues to cherish the “unruly horse” metaphor, convinced that public policy can at any time carry the courts to unpredictable destinations. The civil-law tradition regards the more or less analogous notion of ordre public as an inveterate “chameleon,” and thus, no less a threat to legal certainty and predictability.
*NYU School of Law, New York. Attorney at law, Python, Schifferli, Peter & Partners, Geneva.