Arbitration has become the dispute resolution forum of choice in international commerce and trade, often lauded as more efficient and effective than cross-border litigation. In recent years however, studies have increasingly put such assumptions to the test, with mixed results. Concerns are mounting from some end-users of international arbitration's unwholesome tendency of resulting in soaring costs and protracted delays.

This unit examines the legal framework in which international arbitration operates alongside its processes, with a strong focus on the practice of international arbitration including the issues facing international arbitration's continued development as a dispute resolution mechanism of choice. While pertinent developments in the Australian arbitration landscape are analysed, the unit takes a comparative approach in examining legislative and quasi-legislative instruments, scholarship, arbitral decisions and jurisprudence from major arbitration jurisdictions in Asia-Pacific and across the world.

The unit aims to equip students with a practical understanding of international arbitration, including its ostensible benefits over (and interaction with) litigation and other forms of dispute resolution; major transnational arbitration instruments; the arbitration process and procedure; the function of arbitral institutions; the recognition of arbitral awards and enforcement; the role of investor-state arbitration in global trade and commerce; and current practice and ethical issues in international arbitration. Practical skills in drafting basic arbitration agreements and dispute resolution clauses for specific results will be emphasised.