Compulsory Consolidation in Arbitral Proceedings

This research is unique in that it examines the consolidation of arbitral proceedings involving multiple parties, particularly compulsory consolidation regimes, in the area of commercial and maritime law. In practice, the same dispute or several closely related disputes may lead to parallel proceedings before different arbitral tribunals, with a resulting risk of inconsistent or conflicting decisions and awards. However, there has been no unanimous solution to this problem. Whilst it has been identified that consolidation of proceedings may be necessary or useful to achieve legal certainty, it typically requires the consent of all parties. Compulsory consolidation may, therefore, be an effective technique to resolve the problems arising in the context of parallel proceedings, as it removes the requirement for agreement(s) to consolidate the arbitral proceedings among multiple parties. As such, this research investigates the pioneering national laws and institutional rules which stipulate compulsory consolidation in arbitral proceedings and evaluates their effects on mitigating the potential for adverse outcomes in parallel proceedings with respect to international commercial maritime disputes.