Introduction

This article aims to summarise the extensive body of commentary that has developed on this theme and, having done so, will argue that international arbitration has an important role to play both in upholding and developing the international rule of law. However, to enable it to continue to do so, it is imperative that concerns raised by those within the arbitration community and outside of it are given due attention and engagement. That said, in pursuing reform, we must be wary of destroying the good in pursuit of the perfect - occasionally, it is necessary to recognise that a system, while not perfect, is the best available option. It is also important to recognise that a criticism that is weighty in the context of, say, investment-treaty arbitration, may have less force in the context of commercial arbitration. Similarly, a trait that is attractive in a private commercial dispute resolution process may be unwelcome in the context of an investor-State or State-to-State dispute.