The assistance and supervision of the courts before the final award in international commercial arbitration

By entering into an arbitration agreement parties express their intention that all disputes between them be referred to and settled by arbitration. This choice at the same time manifests a decision against the competence of the state courts. By accepting the party autonomy the level of the court intervention has significantly diminished over the past years. The general trend is towards limiting court intervention to the cases where it is either necessary to support the arbitration process or required by public policy considerations. By finding the arbitration agreement between the parties valid, no court proceedings on the merits of the disputes can be brougt before the courts and all disputes covered by that agreement are referred to arbitration. There are, however, some situations where court intervention and assistance is needed. Courts may be asked to assist with the appointment of arbitrators, and the collective of evidence. They may also be asked to order protective measures where the arbitrators lack coercive power. Courts may also intervene to guarantee that the minimum requirements of precedural fairness by removing an arbitrator for his lack of impartiality. Courts have moved from strong scepticism resulting in extensive judicial intervention in the arbitration precess or the non-enforcement of arbitration agreement to a position in favor of arbitration giving priority to party autonomy and eschewing intervention. Supervisiory court intervention has the potential of disrupting the arbitration process and impeding the parties? quest for a speedy dispute resolution. It is a common feature of recent arbitration legislation to limit the scope for court intervention after the UNCITRAL Model Law Art. 5. The effect has been that the parties and the tribunals are given wider powers especially about the jurisdiction issues. The authority of the courts has been limited in some cases that could be used at the final stage under the listed the reasons. To what extent the courts can at the pre-award stage review the existance of a valid arbitration agreement is one of the main fields that the courts play role. In French law, the arbitrator has a right of first decision and any court review is deferred to the post-award stage. Establishing the arbitral tribunal, ordering protective measures are the topics need the assistance of the courts. Ordering protective measures or helping for their execution and the extending the time-limt of the arbitral jurisdiction are the issues met during the arbitral procedure.