It's Been A Long Road, But Spanish Arbitration Is In Good Health

Judicial resistance to arbitration has subsided, and it is also a subject that is now popular with academics and students alike, says Bernardo M. Cremades

Given the Spanish state's jurisdictional monopoly under the old regime, the independent nature of arbitration meant there was much reticence when it was introduced. In the 1980s, the vice president and general counsel of the World Bank, Aron Broches, called me to say he wanted to visit Madrid. He was the father of investment protection arbitration and wanted to speak to the Spanish administration about the possible Spanish ratification of the investment protection arbitration treaty and the state's incorporation into the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).