• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
• /
• v.50
• /
• pp.61-85
• /
• 2011

The agreement to arbitrate is a central feature of commercial arbitration and the lack of a valid arbitration agreement is recognised as a reason why any arbitral award may not be recognized as binding by the courts or may be set aside. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the China's present arbitration law and practice in respect of determination of the validity of international commercial arbitration agreement. Most arbitration laws only require an arbitration agreement to be "in writing". But the arbitration law of the China require an arbitration agreement shall contain the following: 1. The expression of application for arbitration. 2. Matters for arbitration. 3. The arbitration commission chosen. And China's present arbitration law and practice in respect of determination of the validity of international commercial arbitration agreement are somewhat different from the other nations.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.3-31
• /
• 2014

As all aspects of international activity have kept growing in good transaction, transnational investments, joint ventures, and the licensing of intellectual property, it is inevitable for disputes to increase across national frontiers. International disputes can be settled by arbitration and ADR. In the situation presented in the paper, any dispute shall be finalized by arbitration and conciliation in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex has become the principal method of resolving disputes in trade, commerce, and investment in accordance with the "Agreement on South-North Commercial Dispute Settlement Procedures," "Agreement on Organization and Operation of Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration Committee," and the Annexed Agreement on "Organization and Operation of Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration Committee" (2013). But the follow-up measures of the said agreements have not been fulfilled. Some prerequisite measures of the Inter-Korean commercial arbitration must be satisfied. In order to proceed with arbitration and conciliation in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, we need to ask the following: Does the status of an arbitrational matter? Should an agreement to arbitrate contain a choice of law clause? Should one provide for one arbitrator or three? How should the arbitrators be selected? What is the relation between party-appointed arbitrators and the presiding arbitrator (neutral arbitrator)? Do arbitrators compromise more than the litigation? Can conciliation be combined with arbitration? To execute the enactment of arbitration regulations, the contents of the Arbitration Rules of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (South) and the Korea International Trade Arbitration Committee (North), together with the Korean Arbitration Act and External Arbitration Act of North Korea and the UNCITRAL Model Arbitration Law and UNCITRAL l Arbitration Rules are reflected in the Rules. There are many aspects of the Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration. It is essential to understand key elements; namely, the arbitration agreement, appointment of arbitrator, arbitral proceeding and arbitral award, and enforcement and setting aside of arbitral award. This research deals with five chapters. Chapter 1 provides the introduction. Chapter 2 deals with trade volume between South and North Korea and the kinds of dispute in Gaeseong. Chapter 3 addresses contents and follow-up measures of the agreement on the "South-North Commercial Dispute Settlement Procedures," "Agreement on Organization and Operation of Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration Committee," and the Annexed Agreement on "Organization and Operation of Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration Committee" (2013). Chapter 4 features the problems and tasks of the pertinent agreements. Chapter 5 gives the conclusion. Enabling parties to find an amicable solution to the dispute in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex can lead to a useful and appropriate framework either through direct negotiation or by resorting to conciliation or mediation in accordance with pertinent agreements and follow-up measures contained in the agreements.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.27-47
• /
• 2010

It is well recognized that the availability of prompt, effective and economical means of dispute resolution is an important element in the orderly growth and encouragement of international trade and investment. Increasingly, arbitration, instead of litigation in national courts, has become the preferred means of resolving private international commercial disputes. Under the situation, it will be important thing for arbitral institutions to reach an agreement to promote the dispute settlement of the commercial disputes, for which efforts have been made between the Korean Commercial Arbitral Board(KCAB) and principal arbitration institutions of the foreign countries. Since 1973, the KCAB has entered into many arbitration agreements with well-known foreign institutions of arbitration. If the place of arbitration is not so designated by the parties, it, as a general rule, shall be the country of the respondent(s) under the Korea-Japanese Arbitration Agreement. On the other hand, the U.S.-Korean Commercial Arbitration Agreement maintains 'Joint Arbitration Committee which finally decide the place of arbitration. In 1996, the Korea-Austria Agreement of Cooperation was concluded for the prompt and equitable settlement on an amicable basis of commercial disputes. Under this Agreement, arbitral institutions between Korea and Austria agreed to act as an appointing authority in accordance with the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. It is also very important for Korea and China including North Korea to cooperate each other for the settlement of the commercial disputes within the Pan Yellow Sea Economic Bloc(PYSEB). The PYSEB is quickly becoming a distinctive and crucial region in the world sharing geographical proximity, many common historical experiences, and similar cultural norms and values although they have disparities in stages of development, trade and economic policies, and financial and legal frameworks. Finally, it should be considered to establish a central common system for settlement promotion of the commercial disputes within the PYSEB through the arbitration agreement. Such a dispute resolution system was already introduced and established within the area of the NAFTA, and it is called the Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Center for the Americas(CAMCA).

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.157-181
• /
• 2007

The commercial relationship between South and North Korea is defined under the concept of economic relation and cooperation. To resolve any dispute that can arise from the trade and investment relations between South and North Korea, 'Agreement on the Procedures to Resolve Commercial Arbitration of South-North Korea' came into force in August 2003. Commercial Arbitration Committee of South-North Korea will be organized as the member lists of the committee were exchanged in July 2006 between South and North Korea. This committee must become a central system to settle the trade and investment disputes between South and North Korea. North Korea's Foreign Economic Arbitration Act was enacted to provide the foreign investors with the safe measures in their investments such as dispute resolution. But this Act can not dispute the trade and investment disputes between South and North Korea. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the activation of arbitration between South and North Korea by studying Commercial Arbitration Committee of South-North Korea introduced by Agreement on the Procedures to Resolve Commercial Arbitration of South-North Korea and Agreement on the Construction and Operation of Commercial Arbitration Committee of South-North Korea and finding the problems and solutions of Commercial Arbitration Committee of South-North Korea.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.3-31
• /
• 2019

In order to achieve full-scale economic cooperation between North Korea and South Korea, the Gaesong Industrial Complex should reopen first. In this case, the Inter-Korean commercial arbitration system should be clearly established to effectively resolve the disputes arising in the special economic zones of the Gaesong Industrial Complex. Even though the Inter-Korean Investment Security Agreement, the Agreement on the Resolution of Commercial Disputes between North Korea and South Korea, the Agreement on the Formation and Operation of the Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration Committee, and the Agreement on the Formation and Operation of the Inter-Korean Commercial Arbitration Committee in the Gaesong Industrial District are in place, specific arbitration procedure is not concretely agreed upon and realized between the two Koreas. Therefore, the realization of commercial arbitration between them led by the Ministry of Unification or the government should be accomplished. In addition, it is necessary to consider the administrative trial or administrative litigation system in order to deal with administrative disputes that are not subject to commercial arbitration. Lastly, discussions on legal integration between the two Koreas should continue, focusing on the special economic zone of the Gaesong Industrial Complex, in order to prevent integration from being hindered by a different culture for a long time.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.121-143
• /
• 2001

Arbitration agreement is an agreement by the parties to submit to arbitration all or certain disputes which have arisen or which may arise between them in respect of defined legal relationship, whether contractual or not. Arbitration has become increasingly popular in settling international and domestic commercial disputes nowadays. The importance of arbitration agreement cannot be overemphasized. It is the most reasonable way to settle commercial disputes. There are two types in arbitration agreement. one is arbitration clause, the other is submission agreement. The arbitration agreement must be made in writing, in addition, other communication instruments shall be considered as effective arbitration agreement if they are properly documented. Over the past few decades, a considerable number of studies have been conducted on the legal property of arbitration agreement in Germany and Japan. Its legal property is aspect of substantial law contract. The basis of arbitration agreement is the principle of party autonomy. The important effect of arbitration agreement is to preclude jurisdiction from national court. The respondent shall raise a plea not later than when submitting his first defense on the merits of the action. As positive effect of arbitration agreement, the court must support the conduct of arbitral proceedings and arbitrator can be appointed upon request of a party.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.3-49
• /
• 2006

The purpose of this paper is to make research on the settlement mechanism of the commercial disputes between the South and the North of Korea. Also, this paper is to make research on the south-north Korea's cooperative tasks to promote the disputes settlement, including the operation and management of the South-North Arbitration Commission as well as the enactment of the South-North Arbitration Rules. To realize the spirit of the South-North Joint Declaration of June 15, 2000, the Authorities concerned of the South and the North of Korea have reached an agreement titled 'Agreement on Settlement Procedure of Commercial Disputes' on December of the same year. As the follow-up measures of the said Agreement, the South-North Authorities have signed an another agreement called 'Agreement on Organization and Administration of the South-North Arbitration Commission' on October, 2003, which is becoming vital importance for settlement of the commercial disputes between south and north Korea including the Gaeseong Industrial Complex. Gaeseong, a city surrounded by the North Korean military and a symbol of inter-Korean tensions, is now turning into a peace zone where thousands of North and South Koreans are working side by side. The Gaeseong Industrial Complex project, driven by the logic and economic necessity of cooperation, has been steadily moving forward since the North designated it as a special economic zone and has enacted related laws and regulations for its development. Under the situation, the matter of primary concern is how to organize and conduct the Arbitration Commission for the prompt and effective settlement of the south-north commercial disputes. First of all, the South-North Authorities should recognize that the availability of prompt, effective and economical means of dispute resolution such as arbitration and mediation to be made by the Arbitration Commission would promote the orderly growth and encouragement of the south-north trade and investment. In this connection, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board(KCAB) should be designated as the arbitral institution of the south Korean side under the Agreement on Organization and Administration of the South-North Arbitration Commission. The KCAB is the only authorized arbitral organization in South Korea to settle all kinds of commercial disputes at home and abroad.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.85-108
• /
• 2023

In international commercial arbitrations that arise from an international commercial contract, arbitral tribunals ruling on the merits of the arbitration apply the law governing the contract. The parties to contract are free to designate the law under the principle of parties autonomy. This paper examines this principle under the Korean Arbitration Act, and makes some legislative suggestions. For this purpose, this paper first discusses what is the scope of matters covered by the law governing the contract, what are the rules of conflict-of-laws for determining the law governing the contract, and what happens when the arbitral tribunal incorrectly applies the law governing the contract? Then, this paper further goes to examine issues such as the form of choice-of-law agreement, the explicit or implicit choice of law, the parties' ability to choose the rules of law including lex mercatoria, the change of choice-of-law agreement, the independence of choice-of-law clause.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.3-26
• /
• 2005

Since the Agreement on Commercial Arbitration was signed by the Governments of South and North Korea last year, there has been quite a few discussions on the way for implementing the Agreement in both public and private sectors. The Department of Justice of South Korea was quite active in making the draft of arbitration rules representing the South Korean views in alliance with the Department of Reunification of South Korea and recently held an informal seminar to preview their draft. On the other hand, the Korea Arbitration Association, a main body of commercial arbitration which are composed of professors and lawyers, were carefully watching the steps and the draft made by the Department of Justice. The reasons are to assure that not only shall the commercial arbitration rules comply with comment norms of international arbitration but shall it be made to meet the needs of enterprises investing in the Special Economic District of Kaesung City in North Korea. The concerns of the Korea Arbitration Association can be accomplished if the Department of Justice would modify the provisions pointed out in the seminars. Five general principles shall be brought into the attention in promulgating the commercial arbitration rules. First, it should comply with the Agreement on Commercial Arbitration signed by South and North Korea. Second, it should accept common rules contained in UNCITRAL arbitration rules. Third, it should boost the promptness of proceedings when a case was filed. Fourth, it should feature unique aspects of trade between South Korea and Korea by differentiating it from purely international trade between a country and a country. Lastly, it should combine the respective rules of both South and North Korea, currently in effect. With the above five principles accomplished, it should be noted that the Agreement on Commercial Arbitration the upper authority of arbitration rules, mandates the following features. It declared that arbitration be processed by three arbitrators. Single arbitrator is not permitted. Arbitration can be adopted even if an arbitration clause does not exist in an agreement by the parties, provided that the dispute arose out of the scope of the Agreement on investment Guarantee signed by South Korea and North Korea. It excluded quick and simplified procedures even if the amount of claim in arbitration is minimal. All the procedures should take a formal procedure. It let the double administration offices operate. One is to sit in Seoul of South Korea and the other is to sit in Pyongyang of North Korea. This would intimidate the fastness of procedures. With the above principles and the features considered, each provision in the draft by the Department of Justice should be reviewed and suggested for change.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.53-89
• /
• 2006

At its thirty-second session(Vienna, 17 May-4 June 1999), the UNCITRAL decided that the priority items for the Working Group(Arbitration and Conciliation) should include enforceability of interim measures and the requirement of written (on for the arbitration agreement. The Working Group, at its forty-third session(Vienna, 3-7 October 2005), it had undertaken a detailed review of the text of the revised article 17 of UNCTTRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, and it had resumed discussions on a draft model legislative provision revising article 7, paragraph (2) of UNCITRAL Model Law. The purpose of this paper is to make research on the contents and issues of the draft legislative provisions on interim measures and preliminary orders, and on the form of arbitration agreement which the Working Group discussed and adopted at its forth-fourth session(New York, 23-27 January 2006). The draft legislative provisions on interim measures and preliminary orders are composed of the following provisions : Article 17-power of arbitral tribunal to order interim measures; article 17 bis-conditions for granting interim measures; article 17 ter-applications for preliminary orders and conditions for granting preliminary orders; article 17 quater-specific regime for preliminary orders; article 17 quinquies- modification, suspension, termination; article 17 sexies-provision of security; article 17 septies-disclosure; article 17 octies-costs and damages; article 17 novies recognition and enforcements; article 17 decies-grounds for refusing recognition or enforcement; article 17 undecies-court-ordered interim measures. There are the following issues in the draft legislative provisions on interim measures and preliminary orders : form of issuance of an interim measures in article 17(2); conditions for granting interim measures in article 17 bis; purpose, function and legal regime of preliminary orders in article 17 ter; obligation of arbitral tribunal to give notice, and non-enforceability of preliminary orders in article 17 quater; burden of proof, interplay between article 17 decies and article 34, and decision on the recognition and enforcement of the interim measures in article 17 decies; placement of article 17 undecies; amendment of scope exception of application in article 1(2). The draft legislative provisions on the form of arbitration agreement are composed of the following provisions : article 7(1) definition of arbitration agreement; article 7(2) arbitration agreement in writing; article 7(3) arbitration agreement if its terms(content) are (is) recorded in any form; article 7(4) arbitration agreement by an electronic communication; article 7(5) arbitration agreement in an exchange of statements of claim and defence; article 7(6) reference to any document containing an arbitration clause. There are the following issues in the draft legislative provisions on the form of arbitration agreement : arbitration agreement in writing in article 7(2); terms or contents of arbitration agreement in article 7(3); arbitration agreement by electronic communication in article 7(4); existence of arbitration agreement in article 7(5); reference to any document containing an arbitration clause in article 7(6); the alternative proposal on article 7; amendment to article 35(2).