Arbitration and Competition

The use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, including arbitration and mediation, to resolve commercial disputes with a competition component has increased exponentially in recent years. This interplay between arbitration and competition law has stimulated a lively debate amongst academics and practitioners and has led to interesting jurisprudential developments. Arbitration and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms are comparable processes. The recourse to this so-called ‘extra-judicial’ methods of resolving disputes is based on the willingness of the parties to defer the adjudication of the dispute to a third party, i.e. an arbitrator, mediator, or an expert, rather than to a court. Working Party N. 3 discussed advantages and disadvantages of arbitration compared to litigation before national courts