Arbitration is a helpful technique for solving disputes in case when parties do not wish to apply to court. Under the arbitration law, disputes refer to a neutral party or arbitrator which has to make a binding decision. Arbitration is frequently used for a settlement of commercial, labor or international disputes. An arbitrator may be a single person, however, it is most common to call an arbitration board which consists of three members.
Commercial arbitration in the US is performed according to the Uniform Arbitration Act of 1955. According to the document, existing and future commercial disputes undergo arbitration the agreement of which is no longer revocable. The document also specifies that any court action which intervenes with the voluntary arbitration agreement shall be suspended. Irrevocability of arbitration and enforceability of awards are the basic concepts of the present-day arbitration law and they are valid for the arbitration statutes of most countries.
International commercial arbitration is a suitable means of settling trade disagreements out of court. It is governed by the uniform legislation prepared by the UN and the Council of Europe together with the Inter-American Juridical Committee. The procedure of international commercial arbitration does not differ from that of a commercial arbitration in general. A particular problem of this branch is the enforcement of foreign awards as parties are uncertain about how the enforcement procedure is carried in a different country.
Labor arbitration deals with the disputes between management and labor unions. In this case, arbitration is a substitution for an ordinary court procedure. Labor arbitration is divided into arbitration of rights and arbitration of interests. The first one solves disputes arising over the application of the existing labor contract while the second one settles inconsistencies over a new contract.