French International Arbitration Law Reports: 1963-2007 (English and French Edition)

The French law of international arbitration has a beginning (1963) and a culminating point (2007), but fortunately it does not have an ending. Indeed, it does not cease to evolve, to improve, to perfect itself. Thus it invites one to carefully observe it. But before undertaking this careful observation by annually identifying the most important decisions, as this collection has been doing since 2008, it is important to recall the origins of French law on international arbitration, how it was built, and in so doing, predict where it is heading. Looking into the past to anticipate the future, that is also the interest of a book like the present one. This selection, necessarily subjective, is also shaped by the advantages that a retrospective look offers. The benefit of hindsight allows one to confidently distinguish between the decisions that deserve mention and those which did not make it into history. Only the former are printed in the following pages, but all of such decisions are included. Conversely, all decisions from 2008 onwards will be methodically published in the annual reports of this collection, of which two editions have already been released for the years 2008 and 2009. Aimed for practitioners and academics alike, the knowledge of French case law is indispensable to understanding international arbitration and its important influence around the world.