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

Franz T. Schwarz

As a matter of form, arbitration requires written consent. Yet as a matter of substance, consent to arbitrate can often be implied by a party’s conduct or role in a transaction. This contribution charts Austrian law on this issue of extending an arbitration agreement to so-called non-signatory parties.

I. Indroduction

Günther Horvath has for many decades been a leading light in my chosen field of practice, when specialisation on arbitration was limited to a handful of law firms. Perhaps even more impressively, he has been a mentor and friend to generations of arbitration lawyers, always allowing junior colleagues a seat at the table and promoting diversity and inclusion long before these important concepts entered the mainstream. To this day, Günther Horvath remains, as he has always been, a skilled counsellor and advocate, full of energy and passion. For all these reasons, and many more, it is a privilege to contribute to this editio amicorum.

During Günther Horvath’s storied career, international arbitration has progressed from a niche field to a multi-billion dollar industry; from a discipline hardly ever mentioned in law school to an area saturated with academic wr...