Arbitration - Abbreviations and Terms

Abbreviations and Terms - Arbitration

• AAA stands for American Arbitration Association
• AADR stands for Africa Alternative Dispute Resolution
• ABA stands for American Bar Association
• ACA stands for Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Nigeria)
• ACICA stands for Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration
• ADCCAC stands for Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre
• ADR stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution
• AFSA stands for Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa
• ARIAS (UK) is The Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society
• BGH refers to Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice, Germany)
• BIT stands for Bilateral Investment Treaty
• CAJAC stands for China Africa Joint Arbitration Centre
• CCJA refers to Cour Commune de Justice et d’Arbitrage (Africa)
• CIArb refers to Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK)
• CIETAC stands for Chinese International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission
• CIMAR stands for Construction Industry Model Arbitration Rules (UK)
• CISG refers to The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods
• (Cth) appears in (brackets) after an Australian Act to indicate Commonwealth (Cth) and that the Act is valid for the whole country (Commonwealth of Australia)
• CPR stands for Civil Procedure Rules (UK)
• CPR also stands for International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution
• DAB refers to Dispute Avoidance Board or Dispute Adjudication Board
• DAC means Departmental Advisory Committee
• DIAC stands for Dubai International Arbitration Centre (Dubai, UAE)
• DIFC stands for Dubai International Financial Centre
• DRB is the Dispute Resolution Board
• DTI refers to Department of Trade and Industry (UK), replaced in 2007 by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
• EGBGB refers to Einführung sgesetz zum Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuche (Introductory Act to the Civil Code - Germany)
• EU stands for European Union
• FAA stands for Federal Arbitration Act; there are multiple versions including those for the USA and Australia
• FIDIC refers to International Federation of Consulting Engineers, acronym from the French Fédération Internationale des Ingénieurs Conseils
• FTA stands for Free Trade Agreement
• GA stands for General Assembly of the United Nations
• GAFTA stands for Grain and Feed Trade Association
• HKIAC stands for Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre
• HKMC stands for Hong Kong Mediation Centre
• IAA stands for International Arbitration Act
• IAMA stands for Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators Australia
• IBA stands for International Bar Association
• ICC stands for International Chamber of Commerce (Paris)
• ICDR stands for International Centre for Dispute Resolution (USA)
• ICSID stands for International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes
• JCAA stands for Japan Commercial Arbitration Association
• KCAB stands for Korean Commercial Arbitration Board
• KIAC stands for Kigali International Centre of Arbitration
• KLRCA stands for Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration
• LCA stands for Lagos Court of Arbitration
• LCIA stands for London Court of International Arbitration
• LCRICA stands for Lagos Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration
• NCIA stands for Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration
• NHBC stands for National House Building Council (UK)
• NSW stands for New South Wales (Australia)
• NYC refers to The New York Convention, also known as The United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards 1958
• OHADA refers to Organisation pour l'harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires (Organisation for the Harmonisation of Business Law in Africa)
• PRC stands for People's Republic of China
• SCC stands for Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (Sweden)
• SIAC stands for Singapore International Arbitration Centre
• SICC stands for Singapore International Commercial Court
• SIMC stands for Singapore International Mediation Centre
• SIMI stands for Singapore International Mediation Institute
• TCC stands for Technology and Construction Court (E&W)
• UNIDROIT stands for The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law
• UNCITRAL stands for United Nations Commission on International Trade Law
• WIPO stands for World Intellectual Property Organisation

Abbreviations - Adjudication

• ANB means Adjudicator Nominating Body
• CEDR means Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution
• ClArb means Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• CIC stands for Construction Industry Council
• DTI refers to Department of Trade and Industry (UK); replaced in 2007 by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS), and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR)
• ECHR means European Court of Human Rights
• HGCRA refers to Housing Grants, Construction, and Regeneration Act 1996
• HRA refers to the Human Rights Act 1998
• IChemE means Institution of Chemical Engineers
• ICE stands for Institution of Civil Engineers
• JCT means Joint Contracts Tribunal
• KLRCA refers to Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration
• LDEDCA refers to Local Democracy Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
• NEC means New Engineering Contract
• RICS means Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
• The Act in construction adjudication refers to the Housing Grants, Construction, and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA)
• The Scheme in construction adjudication refers to Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998
• TCC stands for Technology and Construction Court (England and Wales)
• TeCbar stands for Technology and Construction Bar Association
• TECSA stands for Technology and Construction Solicitors Association

Terms

• Amiable compositeur refers to an arbitrator asked to decide a dispute based on fairness and equity, dispensing with strict legal considerations
• Appel means appeal
• Arbitral Tribunal is made up of one or more individuals, usually an uneven number that are appointed to settle a dispute by way of arbitration
• Claim is a legal demand or assertion of a right based on facts that create a legally enforceable right or judicial action
• Clause compromissoire is French for an arbitration clause that contractually requires parties to resolve disputes through arbitration
• Compromis refers to a submission agreement
• Consideration is the bargain of the contract; a contract is based on an exchange of promises where each party is a promisor and a promisee, receiving a benefit and suffering a detriment
• Contract is a written or oral agreement with specific terms between two or more people, involving a promise for a valuable benefit known as consideration
• Contra Proferentem is a rule of contractual interpretation stating that ambiguous promises or terms should be interpreted against the interests of the party who provided the wording
• Counterclaim is a claim presented by a responding party against a referring party's claim or a cross-claim asserting an independent cause of action, not just a defense
• Curial Law is the law governing arbitration proceedings between the parties to the dispute
• De bene esse is a phrase for proceedings taken ex parte or provisionally, allowed to temporarily stand as 'well done' but subject to future challenge based on intrinsic merit
• Double exequatur requires an award to be granted exequatur at the seat of arbitration before recognition and enforcement in other countries
• Ejusdem generis is a rule where general words following specific words are treated as referring to matters of the same class
• Ex aequo et bono means according to fair, equitable, and moral principles, not necessarily within the rules of law
• Ex parte means with one party alone
• Estoppel prevents a person from making assertions contradictory to their prior position before the court
• Express term is a term specified and written into a contract, expressly agreed to by parties and stated in the contract
• Functus officio means "he has discharged his office" in Latin, meaning no longer has power to act
• Implied terms are words or provisions a court assumes were intended in a contract to give effect to the obvious intentions of the parties
• In camera means in private or literally in the chamber, often used to describe a state court sitting in private, not in public
• In caucus means a meeting in private, not necessarily of a court
• In personam is a Latin phrase meaning "directed against a particular person," where a judgment can be enforced against the person wherever they are
• Inter partes in Latin means "between the parties"
• In Terrorem in Latin means "into/about fear," a legal threat to compel someone to act without resorting to a lawsuit or criminal prosecution
• Iuro novit curia a Latin maxim where 'the court knows the law' means parties need not plead it or call evidence to prove it
• Kompetenz-kompetenz is the tribunal's power to rule on its own jurisdiction before intervention by national courts
• Law Merchant refers to lex mercatoria
• Lex arbitri means the law of the seat of arbitration
• Lex fori refers to the law of the jurisdiction in which the legal action is brought
• Lex mercatoria is a body of trading principles used by merchants through Europe and means “merchant law" or sometimes known in English as the Law Merchant.
• Lien is a right to keep possession of property belonging to another person until a debt owed by that person is discharged
• Mareva Injunction is a freezing order an interim injunction that restrains a party from disposing of or dealing with their assets
• Obiter Dicta refers to remarks ‘by the way’ in judgments, not binding upon others, but are highly persuasive and may be helpful to the adjudicator when dealing with precedent
• Pathological clause is one that fails to cover the disputes for arbitration, fails to identify the appropriate 'seat', or the correct rules/institution, when deviating from mandatory consequences, interventions of state courts, powers to arbitrators, and procedure leading to an enforceable award
• Pleadings are statements describing a party's causes of action or defenses, including statements of claim, answers, counterclaims, cross-claims, third-party claims, and replies
• Pourvoi en cassation refers to annulment proceedings
• Privilege in common law jurisdictions, refers to legal professional privilege protects communications between a legal adviser and their clients from being disclosed without the client's permission
• Quantum means a specified amount or portion
• Quantum meruit defines the amount earned or the amount due/deserved when assessing liabilities or damages
• Ratio decidendi is 'the reason for the decision’ and principle upon which the decision in a specific case is founded
• Rebuttal is evidence introduced to counter, disprove, or contradict the opposing party's evidence, a presumption, or responsive legal argument
• Redfern Schedule is a collaborative document (originally from Alan Redfern), used by the claimant, respondent, and tribunal, with columns to list requested documents, reasons for each request, objections to production, with the decision of the tribunal
• Rejoinder in pleading, is the answer made by a defendant to the plaintiff’s reply
• Rescission is the act of rescinding which is to annul or repeal
• Res Judicata (Latin for 'matter has already been adjudged') applies to preclude re-litigation of a matter or issue already determined by a competent court/tribunal, and it applies across common and civil law jurisdictions
• Scott Schedule is used at the hearing of the case, sets out in tabular form the positions of the respective parties on each item in dispute
• Set-off is an equitable defense, which, if successful, will defeat or diminish the referring party's claim
• Surrebuttal is the response to the opposing party's rebuttal
• Surrejoinder in pleading, is a plaintiff's reply to the defendant's rejoinder
• Term refers to any of the clauses that form part of a contract
• Tort is a legal wrong done by one party to another, which entitles that other to bring a claim for legal redress.