Enforcing Class Arbitration in the International Sphere: Due Process and Public Policy Concerns

This article appears to be the first to address the unique issues relating to international class arbitration and to discuss the status of class arbitration in other countries. To date, the only published articles on class arbitration - a dispute resolution mechanism that has been in existence in the United States since the early 1980s - have focused on domestic arbitration. However, with a number of known international class arbitrations in progress, all seated in the United States, questions concerning the transnational legitimacy of the class arbitration process and the ability to enforce class awards under the New York Convention - the primary international enforcement mechanism for arbitral awards - will soon arise. This article takes the view that awards arising out of properly conducted class arbitrations should be treated no differently than those arising out of other sorts of arbitration and argues that the presumption of enforceability under the New York Convention should be applied to class awards to the same extent as it is applied to bilateral awards