The Application of EU Law to Arbitration in the UK: A Study on Practice and Procedure

Abstract:

The following study deals with the application of EU law to arbitration in the UK , and in particular with points of practice and procedure that arbitrators and arbitrating parties are required to take into account in the application of EU law in UK arbitration. The role played by EU law in arbitration is often overlooked given the prevailing confidential nature of arbitration as a private dispute resolution mechanism in its own right. Arbitration finds wide application in the resolution of disputes arising from licensing, franchising, supply and distribution and other commercial agreements across the European Union. The framework of EU law is inescapable in the implementation of those agreements due to their cross-border nature and/or the cross-border effects they may produce in relevant product markets throughout the internal market.

To date, to the best of this author's knowledge, there has been little (if any) systematic research on the application of EU law in any particular jurisdiction within the EU, exploring requirements of practice and procedure of relevance to the conduct of arbitration in light of EU law requirements bearing on that jurisdiction. The present study is an attempt to provide such research with respect to the application of EU law in arbitrations seated in the UK more specifically. It is reproduced here in the hope that it may inspire other research projects along similar lines in relation to the practice and procedure of the application of EU law in arbitrations seated elsewhere in the EU.