LAWS GOVERNING ARBITRATION

The flexibility, simplicity and swiftness, that parties attribute to the arbitral process must not hide conditions of form or substance imposed by legislation, under the risk of annulment, due to the arbitration clause, the organization of the procedure or the debate or furthermore the effectiveness of the awards.

FRENCH LAWS

French Arbitration Laws are to be found in three separate Codes. Prohibited by the Civil Code, arbitration is allowed by the Code of Commerce and organised by the New Code of Civil Procedure (N.C.P.C).

The Arbitration Chamber of Paris had asked the French Garde des Sceaux (Ministry of Justice) to edict laws more legible and less restrictive towards a dispute resolution method, which is satisfactory to many companies.

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS

At International Law level, the main conventions applied to arbitration are the Convention on the recognition and enforcement of foreign awards (New York, 1958) and the European Convention on International Commercial Arbitration (Geneva, 1961). France has ratified both.