Electronic Arbitral Awards: Yea or Nay? A Glimpse Inside the Minds of Arbitral Institutions

Abstract

More and more publications address the validity of electronic arbitral awards. The underlying assumptions of such articles are often that (1) the arbitration community does not make use of electronic awards; and (2) that the reason for that is that there may be legal validity issues due to the formal requirements that apply to them. This article verifies whether that is really the case, and does so on the basis of questionnaire data obtained from leading arbitration institutions during Spring and Summer 2022. The data from the questionnaire pertains to (1) how exactly arbitral institutions render arbitral awards in practice; and (2) how they perceive electronic awards (in general and with respect to their desirability and legality). This article finds that, indeed, institutions rarely make use of electronic awards. Their reasons for doing so are both legal and practical in nature. Technology, Digitalization, Procedure, Arbitral Awards, Electronic Awards, Award Formalities, Arbitral Institutions, Article IV NYC, UNCITRAL Model Law, Institutional rules