The CMS Guide to Arbitration explores the national arbitration laws applicable in 30 countries, including the leading European arbitration centres, China, the Middle East and South America. It was launched in book format on 6 April 2009.

Arbitration is based on the consent of the parties involved to submit their dispute to arbitration. Therefore, it has been described as "privatised court proceedings". Whereas a number of basic features are essentially similar between state court proceedings and arbitration proceedings, a significant advantage of the latter over the former is its flexibility, which is particularly useful in international disputes with parties coming from different legal backgrounds and with differing expectations.

Because of its flexibility, arbitration offers the opportunity to resolve disputes in a time and cost efficient manner. At the same time the legal framework for arbitration ensures that the fundamental principles of equal treatment and the right to be heard are protected throughout the proceedings. A further advantage of arbitration is that international arbitral awards in a large number of countries can be enforced more easily than awards rendered by State courts.

It is our pleasure to be able to present this comprehensive Guide to Arbitration covering a large variety of jurisdictions not only from Europe but also from other important business centres around the world where CMS enjoys a presence as market leader providing a full range of legal services and a reputation for strong and established dispute resolution practices. This book is an example of CMS expertise in the area of international commercial arbitration and of our ability to provide our clients with integrated cross-border advice in an increasingly integrated and fast moving international business environment.

We are very grateful to each of the contributors who have written the country chapters, without whom this work would not have been possible. You will find contact names at the end of each country chapter and in the contact section. Particular thanks go to Zannis Mavrogordato of CMS Cameron McKenna, Bucharest, for his considerable assistance in producing this third edition and to all those others who have made their valuable contributions to the production of the Guide.

CMS Guide to Arbitration