Commercial Arbitration

This course will analyze the institution of arbitration in its various aspects, both in its local and international commercial perspective, as well as through the various arbitration mechanisms established in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The analysis will be conducted with a focus on international business (cross-border transactions) carried out within and through the North American Free Trade Zone, taking into consideration, among other provisions, what is established in Article 31.22 titled "Alternative Dispute Resolution" of Section B: Domestic Proceedings and Private Commercial Dispute Settlement of the USMCA.

That provision establishes a commitment to promote, facilitate, and encourage, through education, the use of arbitration, mediation, online dispute resolution, and other procedures for the prevention and resolution of international commercial disputes among private parties in the free trade zone. This is achieved through appropriate procedures that ensure compliance with arbitration agreements and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards and conciliation arrangements in those disputes. It also aims to facilitate and promote mediation procedures, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, done at New York on June 10, 1958, or the Inter-American Convention on International Commercial Arbitration, done at Panama on January 30, 1975.

Comparative law, case law, empirical experiences, artificial intelligence, law & economics, and relevant doctrinal studies shall be the ingredients of the methodology for this course. Assessments will include class participation, one or more graded simulation exercises, and a scheduled final examination.

The course will be taught by Dr. Miguel Marmolejo of Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, as part of the inaugural Fulbright-García Robles COMEXUS Mexico Studies Visiting Chair program.