ABSTRACT
In response to rapid development of international trade in East Asia beginning in the early 1980s, new nonstate organizations such as regional arbitral institutions were developed to facilitate the resolution of economic disputes. In East Asia, regional arbitration institutions include the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), the Singapore International Arbitration Center, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, which will be examined in greater detail below. During this same time period, international harmonization bodies such as the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) began a process of coordinating arbitration laws and rules. Both the harmonizing impact of UNCITRAL model laws and rules as well as the unique structural arrangements and institutional practices of arbitral institutions in East Asia will be examined below.
