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American Law Institute Council approves draft chapter of Restatement on international arbitration


UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Council of the American Law Institute (ALI) overwhelmingly approved Chapter 2 of the Restatement, Third, of the U.S. Law of International Commercial Arbitration on Jan. 16. Catherine Rogers, professor of law and Paul and Marjorie Price Faculty Scholar at Penn State Law, is one of four reporters for the international arbitration Restatement, and has been working on the project for approximately six years.

Having been approved by the Council, the draft will now be presented for discussion and potential approval at the ALI Annual Meeting in May.

Restatements are a revered feature in U.S. law. The ALI selects areas of law that are distilled or “restated” by leading scholars to provide guidance to courts and practitioners in the relevant field. In form, a Restatement is a series of “black letter” rules and related commentary with “Reporters’ Notes” that explain and analyze the underlying case law. In making a Restatement, selected legal scholars, called reporters, produce a draft, which is then extensively vetted by a range of carefully selected advisers and consultants and ultimately approved through ALI processes, including the Council and full membership.

Chapter 2 of the international arbitration Restatement deals with arbitration agreements and, in particular, their enforcement and the allocation of authority between courts and arbitral tribunals when questions are raised regarding their enforceability. The project began with chapter 4, regarding arbitral awards, and chapter 1, which is comprised of approximately 30 technical definitions of arbitration terms. Both of these earlier chapters have already been approved by the ALI. When completed, the Restatement will include a total of five chapters.

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