If you have a citation, go to the source for the citation:
Matermaco SA v. PPM Cranes Inc., Legris Industries SA, Tribunal de Commerce [Court of First Instance], Brussels, 20 September 1999, 25 Y.B. Comm. Arb. 673 (2000).
The source is the Yearbook, Commercial Arbitration (available in print and electronic).
Or, if you know the arbitral body, you can try the body’s website or a collection of awards.
M.C.I. Power Group L.C. et al. v. Ecuador, ICSID Case No. ARB/03/6, Decision on Annulment (Oct. 19, 2009).
Start with the ICSID website. Using “Search ICSID Cases” -- you can search by claimant, respondent, or case number.
If you don’t have a citation, use the databases in the next column to search by name of the award. If you know the name of the arbitral body (UNCITRAL, NAFTA, etc.), try searching the websites of these bodies. If you don’t have a citation or know the arbitral body, try searching Kluwer Arbitration or Investment Treaty Arbitration.
If you have the following citation: S.D. Myers, Inc. v. Canada, Partial Award on the Merits (NAFTA Ch. 11 Arb. Trib. Nov. 13, 2000), you should start with Investor-State LawGuide.
If you have this citation: Himpurna California Energy Ltd. v. PT. (Persero) Persusahaan Listruik Negara (Indonesia), Final Award (May 4, 1999), you should start with one of the databases or websites that allow for searching by claimant or defendant.
Here are some print sources that contain awards and decisions. To locate more sources for awards, search LawCat using the subject: international commercial arbitration -- cases (or use these words as keywords).
Digests are useful tools when researching case law. Many allow you to research by an article of convention, topic, or case name.
UNCITRAL Digest of Case Law on the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) .
Digest of ICSID Awards and Decisions, 1974-2002 and 2003-2007.
While there are a variety of print and electronic sources for awards, not all awards are published due to confidentiality issues. To complicate matters even further, there is no one source for locating all awards and decisions.
"Although published awards have no formal precedential value and are not binding on anyone other than the parties to whom the award was issued, arbit al awards constitute highly persuasive forms of authority, particularly with respect to procedural matters that are not typically discussed in judicial opinions. Thus, experienced advocates and arbitrators look to published awards for guidance concerning issues such as the interpretation of arbitral rules, the challenge of arbitrators, permissible procedures in hearings and the like." S.I. Strong, Research in International Commercial Arbitration: Special Skills, Special Sources, 29 Am. Rev. Int’l Arb. 119, 143 (2009).
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