Book Title: Private-Public Arbitration in English Law: The Splendid Isolation of Arbitration from Public Law

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Abstract: The chapter offers a critique of the way in which private-public arbitration is treated under English arbitration law. The chapter’s main thesis is that the private law paradigm upon which English arbitration law is based leaves the public interest unaccounted for in private-public arbitrations. The chapter explains that, unlike the law of other jurisdictions, English law draws no meaningful distinction between purely private arbitrations and private-public arbitrations. Similarly, in reviewing awards, English courts do not distinguish between international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration. This is due not least to the lack in England of a developed administrative law sphere and the tradition of viewing arbitration as an exclusively private mode of dispute resolution. This results in English law ignoring key procedural safeguards for the protection of the public interest, such as transparency and accountability. The chapter therefore calls for reforms to integrate public law values into private-public arbitration.