Who Decides Who Decides? ECJ Rules On The "Kompetenz-Kompetenz" Of Arbitral Tribunals

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The so-called "Kompetenz-Kompetenz" principle in essence provides that an arbitral tribunal decides itself whether it has jurisdiction to decide a dispute brought before it¹. That means that, in principle, a state court has no role to play in a decision of an arbitral tribunal on its own competence.

Introduction

This principle, however, has never been implemented in its purest form. How far its implementation reaches within the realm of Regulation 44/2001² (the Regulation) has now been clarified by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its decision in the matter of Allianz SpA and another v. West Tankers Inc³.