International Approaches to Court Ordered Consolidation of Arbitral Proceedings* – Vol. 4 No. 4


AuthorMarc F. Guarin**

Published: December 1993

Jurisdictions:
Hong Kong
The Netherlands
Canada
United States
Topics:
Judicial Consolidation of Arbitral Proceedings
Consolidation of Proceedings

Description: The court ordered consolidation of separate but related arbitral proceedings is a topic that has received an increasing amount of attention over the past two decades. The growing complexity of modern commercial contracts and business relationships has given rise to multi-party disputes apparently incapable of satisfactory resolution under the traditional arbitral mechanism.

When something “goes wrong” with a contract, there are typically several parties either affected by, or ultimately responsible for, the mishap. Where the contract or contracts call for disputes arising under them to be arbitrated (as is increasingly becoming the case), the most logical and efficient solution would appear to be — in theory, at least — to have a single tribunal review all the relevant facts, evidence and testimony. The practical dilemma, however, arises where one party is unwilling, for whatever reason, to have his arbitration joined with another. Because the concept of consent is central to arbitration, convenience must be weighed against preservation of party autonomy.

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*Notes and Comments
**J.D. Candidate, Columbia University School of Law, 1995.