ABSTRACT
This chapter is divided into two sections in which the (1) juridical and (2) relationship theories are examined as they affect the formation and performance of the arbitrator’s contract in the international arbitral reference. The juridical theories analyse and try to explain the legal nature of (international commercial) arbitration and to determine its connection with any given well-defined legal system or national legal order. The proponents of the various juridical theories seek to elucidate what (if any) legal regulatory regime (international commercial) arbitration is subject to, whether a national law, international law, both or none, in any defined legal system.1 The relationship theories on the other hand analyse the legal nature of the relationships between the disputing parties and arbitrators, arbitrators and the arbitration institutions, and the disputing parties and arbitration institutions.2 These theories are applied in examining these relationships as they exist to determine their effects on each of the parties involved in the various relationships.
