Part I The Consensual Nature of Arbitration, 3 Capacity, Restrictions, and Limitations to Consent to Arbitration

3.01 This chapter examines the capacity and the restrictions and limitations to consent to arbitration. Party autonomy, with respect to arbitration, is not unlimited. Arbitration agreements are contracts, and the parties are required to have the capacity to enter them. However, the distinctiveness of arbitration agreements is that they are contracts which also have a jurisdictional character. Here the capacity to act as a party in arbitral proceedings comes into play. How far can States themselves enter into arbitration agreements, ie enter contracts which oust...