International Commercial Arbitration in Latin America: Myths and Realities
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International Commercial Arbitration in Latin
America: Myths and Realities
Andr&s JANA L.*
with the collaboration of Elina MEREMINSKAYA
This article addresses the past and present of international commercial arbitration in Latin
America. Dffferentiating between international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration
and reviewing the evolution of international arbitration in the region, it shows that most Latin
American countries have embraced today a modern normative architecture of international
commercial arbitration.A number of countries seem to be successful forerunners on that path.The
legal framework has been adjusted and judicial decisions make an effort to overcome formalistic
and idiosyncratic domestic trends. The author argues that Latin America's negative attitude
towards international commercial arbitration has been rather a myth that has no room in the
today's reality.
1 INTRODUCTION: LATIN AMERICA AS A SINGLE ENTITY
The legal rules, procedures and institutions of Latin American countries have been
influenced by each country's own historical process.' The close affinity among
Latin American legal systems exists 'to the extent that they share a similar
socioeconomic structure, political culture and a common legal heritage.'2 They
share the same legal tradition, known as the civil law tradition. In the nineteenth
century all these countries went through a codification process. It followed the
spirit of the French revolution as embedded in the Napoleonic Code.3 This shaped
Partner at Bofill Mir & Alvarez Jana Abogados (Santiago de Chile), Head of the International
Litigation Group. LL.M. from Harvard University. Professor of law at Universidad de Chile Law
School.Visiting professor on international arbitration at the Institute of International Arbitration of the
University of Miami and the University of Texas at Austin. Chilean delegate before the Working
Group on International Arbitration of UNCITRAL. Member of the London Court of International
Arbitration (LCIA). International arbitrator and lecturer. Vice-president of the Latin American
International Arbitration Association (ALARB).Vice-president of the ITA Americas Initiative.
Jan Kleinheisterkamp, 'Comparative Law in Latin America' in Mathias Reimann and Reinhard
Zimmermann (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Law, pp. 261-301, pp. 263-285 (Oxford
Univ. Press 2008).
2 Alejandro M. Garro, 'Unification and Harmonization of Private Law in Latin America', Am.]. Comp.
L,Vol. 40, Issue 1, pp. 587-616, p. 587 (1992).
Konrad Zweigert and Hein Kdtz, An Introduction to Comparative Law, p. 114 (3rd ed., Clarendon Press;
Oxford Univ. Press 1998); Kenneth L. Karst and Keith S. Rosenn, Law and Development in Latin
America:A Case Book, pp. 47, 49 (Univ. of California Press 1975).
Jana L., Andres. 'International Commercial Arbitration in Latin America: Myths and Realities'. Journal of
International Arbitration 32, no. 4 (2015): 413-446.
0 2015 Kluwer Law International BV, The Netherlands](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.kluwer/jia0032&div=28&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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