This text provides a concise overview of arbitration and offers guidance on the most important legal and practical questions which face the practitioner involved in an arbitration. The book includes:- the applicability of the laws of individual countries; international conventions and bilateral treaties and their relevance to the arbitral process; the arbitration agreement and how an enforceable agreement can be created and enforced, with reference to both institutional arbitration, such as governed by AAA, ICC and LCIA and ad-hoc arbitration; and the arbitral process, from appointment of the tribunal to the award and its enforcement. The jurisdiction, powers and obligations of the tribunal are also examined in detail. The book also examines the role of UNCITRAL in overcoming the lack of unformity in the laws and rule relating to international commercial arbitration.