EXPLAINING ASSIGNMENTS OF ARBITRATION AGREEMENTS

The case law and literature to date have struggled to locate the rationale for the assignability of arbitration agreements. While different justifications have been proffered, each of them rests on questionable premises. This has given rise to a host of uncertainties over the rules which apply in pr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cambridge law journal 2021-03, Vol.80 (1), p.101-129
Main Author: Liew, Ying Khai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceptance
Agreements
Arbitration
Arbitration agreements, Commercial
Assignment
Assignments (Law)
Breach of contract
Case law
Consent
Contracts
Justification
Remedies (Law)
Trials
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The case law and literature to date have struggled to locate the rationale for the assignability of arbitration agreements. While different justifications have been proffered, each of them rests on questionable premises. This has given rise to a host of uncertainties over the rules which apply in practice. This paper proposes that a satisfactory rationale can be found in the “acceptance principle”. This principle indicates, first, that arbitration agreements which are not actual burdens can be assigned, and second, that the assignability of arbitration agreements is grounded in the assignee's acceptance in the form of non-disclaimer of the assignment. Bringing the acceptance principle to the fore not only provides a theoretically sound justification for the assignability of arbitration agreements; it also suggests how the practical uncertainties in this area of law can be resolved satisfactorily.
ISSN:0008-1973
1469-2139
DOI:10.1017/S0008197321000039