On The Theory Of Manifest Disregard Of Law Of International Arbitrations In U.S

Anyone who has walked into a courthouse knows that litigation carries a heavyprice tag. Lawsuits takes a lot of time and cost a lot of money. Rights that aboundin litigation not only protect parties but also burden them. Arbitration is a way outof the courthouse. It is a voluntary method of alternative dispute resolution thatenables the parties to a conflict to avoid the wasteful complexities of judicialsystem. Arbitral award is supposed to be final and binding, but at certaincircumstances, the courts are allowed to review the award, and even vacate it. Ithas been debated whether the court should be allowed to review the arbitralaward based on prior cases.Wilko v. swan was the ifrst case to apply the rule of manifest of disregard ofthe law by the supreme court of United States of America in1953，but it hascaused great controversy since the ifrst day. Some of scholars think the power ofjudicial review is bound by the statute, and section10and11of FAA is’mandatory, so its inappropriate to expand the review reason by any cases. Someof scholars think the doctrine is implied by FAA, so it’s a statutory reason. Whilesome of scholars hold the point that the doctrine is a viable standard whichshould be applied as a non-statutory ground of review, but the Supreme Courtshould clarify the concept and the degree of manifest disregard. However, thisdoctrine has become a very important rule in the arbitration system through oversixty years practice. This thesis starts with the origin of manifest disregard of the law, and focus on the weakness and supported theory of the doctrine. Chapter oneof this thesis introduces the origin and development of the doctrine，then analysisthe concept and argument of manifest disregard of the law. Chapter two discussesthe conflicts and coordination between manifest disregard and essence ofarbitration contractual through arbitration contractual, party autonomy of will,and discretion of arbitrator. This chapter also discusses the relation between thedoctrine of manifest disregard of law with the principle of limited invention bythe court. This chapter also comes to the conclusion that it’s reasonable to supportthe development of manifest disregard of the law in order to protect the justice ofarbitration award. Chapter three introduces the obstacles of applying manifestdisregard of law and the way to overcome these problems. This chapter alsoshows how to coordinate with international arbitration system. Chapter fourexplores current situation of Chinese judicial review on arbitral awards, and givesproposals to reform it in the view of the doctrine of manifest disregard of law.