How to assess the res judicata effects of international arbitral awards: giving concreteness to an autonomous approach

The article seeks to demonstrate the inadequacy of the ‘conflict-of-laws’ approach to determine the res judicata effects of international arbitral awards. Demystifying the erroneous assumption that the rules on the scope of res judicata are per se a matter of public policy, the authors defend an ‘autonomous’ approach, which dispenses with domestic law and confers broad preclusive effects on awards, with a view to avoiding the re-litigation of a dispute that is, in essence, the same as one already decided by a prior award. The legal bases for such an approach are party autonomy and the inherent powers of arbitrators. Building on the ILA Recommendations and recording the evolution of the conception of res judicata in certain civil law jurisdictions, the article proposes the elements of an arbitration-specific notion of the subject matter scope of the res judicata of awards with respect to issues of substantive law, addressing the situation of the res judicata of an award relied upon in further arbitral proceedings. The authors urge soft-law-making bodies and arbitral institutions to tackle arbitral res judicata proactively and contribute to the development of rules to give secure guidance to arbitrators and courts in determining its proper contours.