L'HARMONISATION DU DROIT CANADIEN DE L'ARBITRAGE COMMERCIAL INTERNATIONAL ET LA COORDINATION DES DECISIONS ETATIQUES EN MATIERE D'ARBITRAGE DANS LE CONTEXTE FEDERAL CANADIEN

Abstract

Due to its federal structure, Canada's adhesion in 1986 to the New York Convention of 1958 on the Recognition and Execution of Foreign Awards, as well as the reform of Canadian law on international commercial arbitration could not have taken place without an effort of cooperation between the federal and the provincial governments. This effort resulted in multiple legislations which are all based on the model law proposed by the Commission of the United Nations for the Commercial International Law (UNCITRAL). Common background notwithstanding, this plurality of legislations could hamper one of the most important purposes of the reform : the harmonisation of the rules applicable to this matter. Given the possibility of having contradictory court decisions on international arbitration in the different Canadian jurisdictions, it is important, in the interest of the certainty of the law, to examine if, in which cases, and to what extent could some coordination of these decisions be arrived at.