Articles 51 and 54 of the Jordanian Arbitration Act

Pages103-114
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/JITLP-01-2018-0006
Date24 September 2018
Published date24 September 2018
AuthorKamal Jamal Alawamleh,Ali Mohamed Aldabbas,Omar Husain Qouteshat
Subject MatterInternational economics,Economics,Strategy,International trade,International business
Articles 51 and 54 of the
Jordanian Arbitration Act
Kamal Jamal Alawamleh and Ali Mohamed Aldabbas
Faculty of Law, University of Petra, Amman, Jordan, and
Omar Husain Qouteshat
Lancashire School of Law, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK
Abstract
Purpose On two different occasions,the Jordanian Constitutional Court has ruledthat Articles 51 and 54
of the Jordanian Arbitration Act no. 31 of the year 2001 are unconstitutional and null. In view of this, this
paper aims to attempt to give the reader a brief preview of the Jordanian Arbitration Act, the Jordanian
Constitution and the Jordanian ConstitutionalCourt. It also highlights and critically analyzes the Jordanian
ConstitutionalCourt two decisions pertaining to the Arbitration Act and its specialimplications in this regard
from the perspectiveof arbitration law and the distinct characteristics embeddedin it.
Design/methodology/approach To examine how effective is the approach followed by the
Constitutional Court in rulingthe unconstitutionality of the aforementioned Articles, this workmakes use of
the primaryand secondary data available in this regard as themain method to complete such an examination.
By critically analyzing and comparing the various data contained inthese sources, this work identif‌ies the
problemsassociated with such decisions.
Findings This work submits that while the Constitutional Court has rested its rulings largely on
constitutional principles, concerns arising from the Arbitration Act perspective have not been dealt with
adequatelyby the Court. Furthermore, it argues that while the principles of the constitutionshall be respected,
the distinct characteristicsof the arbitration law warrant a more careful approach thanactually followed by
the Court.
Originality/value Taking into consideration the importance of arbitration as an alternative mean for
dispute resolution, the Jordanian legislatorhas addressed the application of arbitration as early as the year
1953. However, while the ConstitutionalCourts questionable approach to the aforementionedarticles would
necessarily hinder the use of arbitration, no comprehensive scholarly work has either examined such
approach or addressed its implications.Accordingly, this work derives its originality and value from being
the f‌irst of its kindto examine and address such a matter.
Keywords Arbitration, Constitutional court, Jordanian Arbitration Act, Jordanian constitution,
Jordanian law
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In an international commercialcontext, the different parties have various choices for settling
their own disputes, and thisincludes litigation, arbitration, mediation, negotiationand other
different mechanisms.Yet, it is well-known that arbitration is one of the most important and
successful methods of alternative disputes resolution. Arbitration is able to overcome a
number of limitations that are attributed to the traditional litigation including the lengthy
procedures, issues of applicable law, high costs and the enforceability of thef‌inal award at
the internationallevel (Born, 2009)(Rana, 2009).
While arbitration has been mainly established to settle disputes of an international
nature, different local legislatorshave enacted legal rules to address the application of such
a dispute resolution method in national contexts (Robin, 2014). By the same token, the
Jordanian
Arbitration
Act
103
Received30 January 2018
Revised30 January 2018
Accepted12 July 2018
Journalof International Trade
Lawand Policy
Vol.17 No. 3, 2018
pp. 103-114
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-0024
DOI 10.1108/JITLP-01-2018-0006
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-0024.htm

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