Introduction

For years States, like litigants, have recognized the fundamental role of arbitration for the settlement of commercial disputes and more generally for the promotion of international commerce. The position of States is evidenced first of all by the fact that the principal instrument dealing with arbitration in international commercial relations, the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, has been ratified by more States than almost any other international convention. The support of arbitration by States, and their trust in it, are ...