ABSTRACT
Fundamentally, an arbitral award is just a statement by one or more private individuals on how a dispute between two or more other private individuals should be resolved. The award delivered at the end of an arbitration, finally resolving the entire dispute, is called the “final award”. While technically arbitrators can draft an award in any form acceptable to the parties, in reality parties want to be able to have their award enforced in court if this turns out to be necessary. While a payment of money is by far the most common remedy in international commercial arbitration, other remedies are available. An arbitral award will often specify how the parties are to split the costs of the arbitration, including the fees of the parties’ lawyers, or even state that one party must pay everything. The lex arbitri will also normally set forth requirements for the validity of an arbitral award, although these vary from one jurisdiction to another.
