In numerous fields of law, ranging from family law to company law, private actors increasingly set their own rules, revert to private enforcement of those rules and choose the applicable law. Within each field this tendency has already been scrutinised. Until now, however, few attempts have been made to look at these phenomena together with a view to arriving at conclusions that go beyond one specific field. This book is a first attempt to fill this gap. It is relevant for scholars and practitioners working in the individual fields of law covered (private international law, company law, family law, consumer law and commercial law) as well as for scholars and policy makers trying to grasp the overall nature of the increasing privatisation of the law.

This book offers a series of commentaries on noteworthy arbitral awards and court decisions on arbitration. All contributions focus on the practice of arbitration. Influential authors with proven arbitration experience share their insights on celebrated and less well-known cases, drawn from various countries, various arbitration institutions and including both commercial and investment arbitration. This collection of essays celebrates the work and scholarship of Hans van Houtte, who has been a professor of international commercial arbitration at the University of Leuven for more than 20 years. In addition to his widely -praised contribution to the theory of arbitration, Professor Van Houtte has built a long career in the practice of arbitration, presiding over a vast array of arbitral tribunals and holding appointments to international tribunals, most recently as president of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal. Hans van Houtte has always been concerned with the practical usefulness of scholarly writings, and this book respects this approach. This volume will prove essential for all arbitration practitioners and will also be of great interest also to academics and research students with an interest in international arbitration.