The fundamental procedural guarantees, such as the right to a court, the right to an independent, impartial and lawful judge, the right to a public trial and the right to a trial within reasonable time, are rights guaranteed at the constitutional and international level, which provide individuals with procedural protection vis-à-vis national authorities. The arbitration cannot be considered as a state body, since it is an alternative dispute settlement mechanism whereby, by concluding an arbitration agreement, the parties agree to submit a dispute to an arbitration tribunal composed of experts chosen by the parties themselves. Considering the “private” nature of arbitration proceedings, the question arises as to whether constitutional procedural guarantees must also be respected in arbitration.
This master thesis answers the aforementioned question by presenting the relevant case-law of the European Commission of Human Rights and the European Court of Human Rights which was developed in connection with the application of Article 6 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights in arbitration proceedings, and notes that arbitration is admissible in the light of the aforementioned Convention. Moreover, it also points out yet unanswered questions and offers answers by presenting the view of the legal theory and the relevant legal rules. For this purpose, this master thesis explains why the fundamental procedural guarantees are even relevant in arbitration proceedings. Furthermore, it explains the relationship between the right to a court and the arbitral proceedings, focusing on the question of whether the consequence of the conclusion of an arbitration agreement, that is the exclusion of the possibility for the courts to decide on the dispute, violates the right to a court. The next part of the master thesis explains whether the conclusion of an arbitration agreement means that the parties waived their procedural guarantees enshrined in Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and examines whether the arbitration tribunal has any obligation to provide procedural guarantees. In the last part, the thesis analyses the existing practice regarding state’s responsibility for the supervision of arbitration proceedings and presents the legal remedies available to the parties in case of violations of the fundamental procedural guarantees.
|