International arbitration law

Cross-border trade provides new opportunities to the firms and new opportunities bring with them new risks. Business dealings naturally give rise to disputes, but when they are international, there are added difficulties. Different legal traditions and procedures, different languages are main difficulties of international trade and these difficulties sometimes cause commercial disputes.There are several forms of resolution for international commercial disputes. International commercial arbitration is one of these dispute resolution methods. Arbitration is a process where parties submit their commercial disputes to the decision of one or more independent people. These independent people are called as arbitrator. While being a private procedure, arbitration has the force of law and generally an arbitrator?s decision, called as award, can be enforced in the courts just as a judgment of the court. Arbitration may take place in any country, in any language and with arbitrators of any nationality.Arbitration is often selected for the reasons of confidentiality, speed, enforceability of arbitral awards and to eliminate the uncertainties in the choice of arbitrator and forum. Arbitration offers the parties more control over how proceedings will be conducted. Arbitral awards enjoy much greater international recognition than judgements of national courts. 135 countries have signed the 1958 United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, known as the "New York Convention". The Convention facilitates enforcement of awards in all contracting states. There are several other multilateral and bilateral arbitration conventions that may also help enforcement. Turkey became a signatory to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitration Awards on October 1, 1992. The constitutional changes in 1999 have eliminated concerns over the legality and enforceability of international arbitration decisions in Turkey. Also ?International Arbitration Law? has come into force in 2001. The procedural rules regarding international arbitration are set forth in the International Arbitration Law.The main aim of this study is the examination of arbitration procedures as a dispute resolution method. The main institutions in the resolution of international business disputes, the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, the arbitration procedures in Turkey are examined. In this study, arbitration is regarded as an important tool for the settlement of international commercial disputes faced by Turkish companies.