[Ecommerce] corporate disputes arbitration

[Takeshi Muramoto]

info

http://www.asahi.com/english/national/K2002042400435.html

Asahi Shinbun 4/24/02

A new Internet-based system will make arbitration between companies in
different parts of the world faster and cheaper.
International corporate disputes could be resolved quicker in future, thanks
to the world's first Internet arbitration system, just introduced by a
Japanese-led group of international lawyers.
The Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) upstaged governments currently
discussing the amendment of international rules to pave the way for the
creation of just such a system with its launch of I-CASS-the IPBA Cyber
Arbitration Service System.
Unlike local disputes, where arbitration between two parties can save the
time and trouble involved in a full-blown lawsuit, international disputes
present their own additional problems. One of the parties must travel to the
other's home country, and bring along an arbitrator from a third country,
making international arbitration an expensive proposition.
Companies wishing to make use of I-CASS, which was set up as a nonprofit
organization based in the United States, must first register on the
service's Web site. A claim for arbitration is then automatically mailed to
the other party to the dispute, and arbitration procedures can then begin,
through televised Internet conferences, once both parties agree on their
terms.
Each party would endorse its own arbitrator, and both would agree on another
from a third country. They would be able to choose from about 200 IPBA
attorneys from 40 countries who are already registered with the system and
who specialize in finance, patent and joint venture contract law.
Although the negotiations would normally be conducted in English, the
parties would also be able to conduct arbitrations in other, mutually
agreed-upon languages. The two parties would also decide which national laws
to apply in their particular dispute settlement.
The parties to the dispute, however, would not have to leave their
respective countries, and documents could be exchanged quickly and
inexpensively, via e-mail.
``The demand for international arbitration is especially high, as the
economy is globalizing and courts take too long to resolve disputes,'' said
I-CASS board member Nobuo Miyake. ``We focused especially on security and
spent four years in developing the system.''

Takeshi Muramoto
Consumer Law News Network
musan@mba.sphere.ne.jp