The Colloquium on Arbitration, held in Paris at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Headquarters on 6 November 1992, was the follow-up of an already time-honoured custom of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the International Centre for the Settlement of International Commercial Disputes (ICSID) and the American Arbitration Association (AAA) which endeavour to convene every year a Colloquium in the field of arbitration. The list of these events, which began in 1983, is quite impressive:

lst - 1983 Resolving Commercial and Investment Disputes
ICSID (Washington)

2nd - 1984 Arbitration Laws and International Trade and Investments
AAA (Washington)

3rd - 1985 Resolution of International Business Disputes
ICC (Paris)

4th - 1986 Dispute Resolution in the Asia/Pacific Region
AAA (San Francisco)

5th - 1987 Judicial attitudes towards decisions taken by Arbitration Institutions - National Legislation and the Role of Arbitral Institutions
ICSID (Washington)

6th - 1988 The Arbitral Process and the Independence of Arbitrators
ICC (Paris)

7th - 1989 How to become an active international commercial arbitrator New Legislation impacting upon international arbitration - Streamlining the administration of major arbitration cases
AAA (New York)

8th - 1991 How to Draft an Arbitration Clause - International Arbitration and Developing Countries
ICSID (Washington)

9th - 1992 Conservatory and Provisional Measures in International Arbitration
ICC (Paris)

A look at this list shows that from one year to the next the discussions have become more specific, providing evidence of an increasingly sophisticated knowledge of international arbitration. It started with general subjects on the approach to arbitration in 1983 and now the subject matter is gradually becoming more and more topical and, naturally, increasingly complex.

For this 9th Colloquium it has been found useful to re-open a study undertaken more than ten years ago on conservatory, preparatory, provisional remedies in arbitration proceedings. Arbitration is indeed becoming more elaborate and more complex and this might lead to a slowing down of the arbitral process, providing parties with more and more opportunities to raise procedural and preliminary issues before the arbitrator's final award, as in the case of civil procedure where state courts are faced today with the same phenomenon. But it should be recognized that resorting to provisional measures or measures of conservation is often a necessity. Therefore a study of such measures is a subject of real practical importance. It drew to ICC Headquarters lawyers from forty different countries; far from being of limited value, the question is indeed of interest to all countries for all arbitral tribunals as well as for state courts.

The work of the Colloquium has made it possible to stress the wealth of the subject matter but also the shortcomings of the legal vocabulary covering it, in English as well as in French. Though the word "provisional" underlines the nature of measures of conservation, it does not bring to mind the concept of urgency which almost always accompanies them, while the word "conservatory" seems to qualify far too narrowly the purpose(s) of such measures. Among these, it would be possible to single out at least three categories: measures connected with the merits of the case, e.g. prohibiting some parties from launching an advertising drive; measures pertaining to the preparation of a case and more specifically to the obtaining of evidence; and lastly, measures preparing the enforcement of the award, such as attachments. Each of these types of measures probably calls for a different approach.

Under the chairmanship of Mr Ibrahim Shihata, Vice-President, World Bank, and General Counsel, ICSID, and of Mr Robert Coulson, Chairman, AAA, the sessions of the Colloquium have produced a number of very high level presentations which the ICC is pleased to make available to specialists.

Alain Plantey
Chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration