• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.45-80
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• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to make research on the method of arbitration agreement, the adoption and contents of the Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts, and the standpoint and problem with reference to the new Convention's application to the method of arbitration agreement in New York Convention. Last year the UN General Assembly and UNCITRAL adopted a new Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts that makes agreements by electronic communications enforceable, including arbitration agreements under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral A wards (New York Convention). Aimed at enhancing legal certainty and commercial predictability where electronic communications are used in relation to international contracts, the provisions of the Convention deal with, among other things, determining a party's location in an electronic environment; the time and place of dispatch and receipt of electronic communications; and the use of automated message systems for contract formation. Under the New York Convention, arbitration agreements in international contracts must be reduced to writing before they can be enforced. But under the new Convention, an arbitration agreement made entirely in electronic form would be enforceable. The working group expressed overall support in favor of the inclusion of a reference to the New York Convention in the new Convention. However, one proposal was that the exclusions provided under article 2 of the new Convention might be too broadly worded to adequately accommodate the New York Convention. In conclusion, Korea's government authorities should take prompt measures to sign and ratify the new Convention, and declare on the scope of its application. Also Korea's arbitration institute should make preparation for the amendment of the arbitration act and arbitration rules in accordance with the new Convention.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.85-109
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• 2014

Mediation and Arbitration are two distinct ADR processes. Their dissimilarity lies in the principle that in mediation the parties themselves decide what the resolution to the problem is, whereas in arbitration the arbitrator makes that determination. Med-Arb, hybrid of the two methods, is a fairly new ADR process dating back to the 1970s. Med-Arb capitalizes on the advantages of both mediation and arbitration, while eliminating many of their disadvantages. Mediation has the advantage of allowing for resolutions rather than decisions. Arbitration has the advantage of guaranteeing that the matter will be resolved when the procedure is over. In Med-Arb, the participants agree to be parties to mediation, and if the mediation comes to an impasse, a final settlement will be reached through arbitration. This study first explicates the origin and the development of Med-Arb in the United States. This study shows that the emergence of Med-Arb is benefited from the fact that arbitration has lost its own advantages ie, speed, cost-saving, and maintenance of an ongoing relationship between the disputants. Second, this study analyzes four cases in which Med-Arb is applied to various kinds of disputes as a tool of dispute resolution: labor disputes, entertainment disputes, will disputes, and international commercial disputes, consecutively. All those case studies show the generality of Med-Arb as a dispute resolution channel. Third, this study compares the advantages and disadvantages of Med-Arb. Finally, this study discusses the implications of Med-Arb. In particular it provides the universality of this hybrid form of dispute resolution in the East and West. For example, we show that China has its own distinctive Med-Arb system, where it has developed from ancient Confucian philosophy. Japan also emphasizes the role of an arbitrator who settles the disputes in the course of arbitration. The domestic arbitration rules of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) have a similar process in that arbitration contains an element of conciliation. With regard to the universal characteristics of Med-Arb, it is necessary to analyze the pros and cons of Med-Arb at a deeper level in the future. One caveat is that it is necessary to handle the issues of the neutrality of the mediator-arbitrator.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.39-66
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• 2020

Under the doctrine of separability, if the party did not specifically challenge the validity of the arbitration clause, then it is presumed valid, and arbitrators would still have authority to adjudicate disputes within the scope of the arbitration clause. Further, the Primerica and Spahr decisions address whether a court or an arbitrator should adjudicate a claim that a contract containing an arbitration clause is void ab initio due to mental incapacity. If the arbitration agreement is separable, as was found in Primerica, then the "making" of the agreement is not at issue when the challenge is directed at the entire contract and arbitrators may exercise authority. If an arbitration provision is not separable from the underlying contract, as in Spahr, a defense of mental incapacity necessarily goes against both the entire contract and the arbitration agreement, so the "making" of the agreement to arbitrate is at issue, and the claim is for courts to decide. Although no bright line rule can be established to deal with challenges of lack of mental capacity to an arbitration agreement, the rule in Prima Paint should not be extended to this defense. Extending the rule in Prima Paint would force an individual with a mental incapacity to elect between challenging the entire contract and challenging arbitration. Accordingly, there should be a special set of rules outside of the context of Prima Paint to address the situation of status-based defenses, specifically mental capacity defenses, to contracts containing arbitration provisions.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.3-20
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• 2011

An arbitrator is an impartial person chosen to decide the issue between parties engaged in a dispute. But the arbitrator appointed by a party or arbitration institution shall be impartial or independent and should disclose to the administrator any circumstances likely to give rise to justifiable doubts as to his impartiality or independence. If, at any stage during the arbitration, new circumstances arise that may give rise to such doubts, the arbitrator shall promptly disclose such circumstances to the parties and to the administrator. Upon receipt of such information from an arbitrator or a party, an party must challenge any arbitrator whenever circumstances exist that give rise to justifiable doubts as to arbitrator's impartiality or independence. Under these circumstance, there were two cases declared by the Korean Supreme Court in relation to the cancellation of the arbitration award. One arbitral case was cancelled for the reason of the having been arbitral procedure without disclosure arbitrator's impartiality, and the other case was refused to cancel the ward for the reason of the having been arbitral procedure without challenge an arbitrator. There are not, however, the standard to decide what is definitely the arbitrator's impartiality or independence and the difference on qualification between arbitrator chosen by an party and neutral arbitrator in korean arbitration law and rules. Nevertheless, korean court require arbitrator to be impartial and independent and the arbitration parties to challenge arbitrator' impartiality or independence.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.32
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• pp.93-111
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• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the composition of the arbitration costs in ICC Rule of Arbitration and to examine how each item of the costs is determined. Furthermore this author tired to find the principles or criteria deciding which of the party should bear them or in what proportion they shall be home by the parties in Article 31. Thus this author could find three common approaches. First, all of the costs are home by the losing party, or Second, all of the costs are allocated in proportion to the result of award in each case. Third, all of the costs determined by the Court as shared equally by the parties and both parties bear their own costs. But, both parties may include their intention in accordance with the principle of party autonomy. For example if the parties with to ensure that the arbitration costs be shared equally and that the arbitrator make no allocation of costs and fees, the following sentence could be added to the arbitration clause. "All costs and expenses of the arbitrators (and the arbitral institution) shall be home by the parties equally; each party shall bear the costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees, of its own counsel, experts, witnesses and preparation and presentation of its case."

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.121-143
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• 2007

The law of Jus Rerem of China enacted on March 16, 2007 came into force from October 1st, 2007. China has enacted the law of Jus Rerem. This means that all three nations of Northeast Asia have formally and substantially similar legal terms and conceptions. Therefore, they will be reciprocally influenced on the legal matters related Jus Rerem. In the year 1949 when China, as a communist country, was originally established without the private ownership system, the law of Jus Rerem was not introduced. Since the reform and the open-economy policy in the year 1978 came into force, it has become important that newly acknowledged private property has been stipulated by the law of Jus Rerem. Arbitration Law of China is enacted on August 31th, 1994 and came into force from September 1st, 1995. It is a basic law which rules Chinese arbitration system. China has enacted the law of Jus Rerem, "conformed with the 21st century", by solving a lot of issues in dispute. A socialistic idea, a traditional Chinese idea and realistic conditions of the market economy were integrated into the law of Jus Rerem. It would have a very good effect on the growth and prosperity of China.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.3-26
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• 2016

The preferential Rules of Origin (RoO) govern tariff preferences that are given in accordance with the FTA. However, relatively few studies have been devoted to the procedures in settling disputes that are relevant to RoO under the FTA. This study is a first attempt at analyzing the applicability and the potential improvement in dispute settlement procedures in FTAs targeted at the preferential RoO. By exploring three dispute cases involving the preferential RoO, it is suggested that restrictiveness, complexity, and uncertainty that are inherent in the preferential RoO may trigger political tension and dispute. Forming a panel that is capable of mitigating political tension, facilitating participation and early cooperation of experts and stakeholders, and establishing a well-structured enforcement procedure are essential in dispute settlement procedures to resolve disputes involving cases on RoO. Furthermore, the current dispute settlement procedure that hinders the private sector's access should be changed to one that is more open to private sector entities, such as companies, to facilitate the enforcement of the decision. Given that more improved FTA dispute settlement procedure may guarantee the enforcement and application of the FTA preferential treatment in relation with more politically powerful states and foster genuine free trades, more in-depth studies must be conducted on this topic.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.3-25
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• 2005

The companies' management strategies of the electronic commerce market are different from those of the traditional market. The main difference between the electronic commerce market and the traditional market is an IT network system which is a companies' management strategies in the electronic commerce market. This study focuses on the examination and analysis of the companies' management strategies which are constituted through influence on the effectiveness of the IT network system in the electronic commerce market and Promoting Arbitration System in The Era of Digital Economy this study is to introduce several alternative policies of the Government and companies to such formated IT network system of the electronic commerce market in the future. It's also suggested that the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) fully cover consideration and arbitration, while KCAB for Electronic Commerce activates its proper role of consulting and ad hoc arbitration by using electronic information. E-commerce sets up the probability that its merchants and customers will not exist in the same legal jurisdictions. The confusing application of laws and wide geographical dispersion of these parties will necessitate a faster and cheaper dispute resolution methodology. Therefore, online ADR may be effective for e-commerce dispute resolution. The examples of online ADR operation are the cyber mediation of Electronic Transaction Dispute Resolution Committee, the cyber mediation of Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, the cyber mediation of Click N Settle, the online ADR of BBB online, and the cyber arbitration of virtual Magistrate. The paper points out the last one as the most desired practice. This study results are how to minimize the disputes and the method of dispute settlement. Therefore, a role of arbitration proposed and emphasized. To protect the dispute in advance, it's suggested to revise rules timely following on technical changes, and emphasized that the dispute has to lead to arbitration settlement not for consuming unnecessary time and finance for enterprises and consumers.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.108-121
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• 2021

Purpose - This paper studies whether the CISG is applicable to the arbitration agreement when the validity of the arbitration agreement becomes an issue. To make the study clear, it limits the cases assuming that the governing law of the main contract is the CISG and the arbitration agreement is inserted in the main contract as a clause. Also, this paper discusses only substantive and formal validity of the arbitration agreement because the CISG does not cover the questions of the parties' capacity and arbitrability of the dispute. Design/methodology - This paper is based on scholarly writings and cases focusing on the principle of party autonomy, formation of contract and the doctrine of separability to discuss characteristic of arbitration agreement. In analyzing the cases, it concentrates on the facts and reasonings that show how the relative regulations and rules are interpreted and applied. Findings - The findings of this paper are; regarding substantive validity of arbitration agreement, the courts and arbitral tribunals consider general principles of law for the contract and the governing law for the main contract. In relation to formal validity of arbitration agreement, the law at the seat of arbitration or the law of the enforcing country are considered as the governing law in preference to the CISG because of the recognition and enforcement issues. Originality/value - This paper attempts to find the correlation between the CISG and the arbitration agreement. It studies scholars' writing and cases which have meaningful implication on this issue. By doing so, it can provide contracting parties and practitioners with some practical guidelines about the governing law for the arbitration agreement. Furthermore, it can help them to reduce unpredictability that they may confront regarding this issue in the future.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.41
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• pp.135-165
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• 2009

It is not difficult to understand from laws and practices in arbitration area that arbitrators appointed have as many rights as their duties to do their performing duties especially to participate in the proceeding and deliberations of the arbitral process. However, sometimes can be happened that an arbitrator who was appointed by a party, refuses to participate in the proceeding or resign during the arbitral process. Generally, in the case, it is provided that the arbitrator who fails to act can be replaced by a substitute arbitrator. When it is decided to change an arbitrator, the appointment of an substitute arbitrator is likely to cause time delay, high cost with inconvenience. And also it is to be considered for additional cost and delay from possible need for repeating the hearings that were held at former arbitral tribunal. Sometimes, a party want to delay intentionally the arbitration process by using right for challenging arbitrator or designing with an arbitrator who was appointed by the party. That is why the reason it has been discussed for allowing the truncated tribunal that the remaining arbitrators that is named as truncated tribunal are permitted to complete the proceeding and issue decisions or arbitral awards. Unfortunately there are uncertain views on the validity of arbitral proceeding or recognitions and enforcement of truncated tribunal decisions in international commercial arbitration. In this article it is focusing on discussing truncated tribunal's benefits or barriers and problems through comparing with famous arbitral rules of international arbitral institutes including rules of UNCITRAL, LCIA, KCAB and the revising draft arbitration rule of UNCITRAL.