GesRZ-Spezial Aktuelle Praxisthemen im Unternehmensrecht und im Schiedsverfahren - Festheft für Günther Horvath

A Road to Greater Efficiency

Christoph Liebscher

Given Günther Horvath’s outstanding career in private practice, arbitration, and in the business world, I hope that he will find this topic of some interest. The few lines that follow invite you on a little intellectual journey into a new landscape; parts of it may be familiar to you. The thoughts will be limited to the area of international commercial arbitration. However, they may well be of interest beyond. This look at a management toolbox in no way ignores the adversarial nature of a dispute. The road to more efficiency would benefit the parties within the legal framework of fair trial.

I. Where are we?

“Arbitration should be easier, faster, cheaper.” The chorus singing this song has many members. They have been singing for quite some time. Different arbitration institutions and arbitration practitioners have been listening, and have not remained idle. They replied for years using an array of legal instruments. Has the chorus stopped? No. Why is this so?

Efficient procedures to keep time and costs at bay are not core legal issues. This article suggest they are largely management issues. If this is the case, it is not surprising that ...