The Quarterly Journal of Judicial Law Views

The Quarterly Journal of Judicial Law Views

Challenges of Class Action Arbitration in International Commercial Arbitration

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular Article

Author
University of Judicial Sciences and Administrative Services
10.22034/jlvi.2026.2074890.1473
Abstract
Although class actions originated in U.S. courts, the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court have not entirely opened the way for claimants to bring such claims before arbitral tribunals. Generally, whether a contract containing an arbitration clause permits group arbitration and whether the applicable law allows for such a class action depends first on the decision of the arbitrators. While some states in the US have tried to prevent class action arbitration, arbitrators have accepted the filing of such clams by interpreting the arbitration clauses. Despite the fact that companies usually seek to prevent the initiation of class action arbitration against themselves by including a clause prohibiting it in the arbitrations terms, some US states refrain from enforcing such a right-waving clause in class action arbitrations arguing that preventing a class action is against conscience. The enforcement of international class action arbitration also faces obstacles such as non-notification, violation of due process, the right to a fair hearing, non-arbitrability, and conflict with public policy within the frame work of the New York convention. This article seeks to analyze the challenges of this claim in international commercial arbitration based on the concept of class action arbitration.
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Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 26 July 2026

  • Receive Date 16 October 2025
  • Revise Date 19 May 2026
  • Accept Date 19 April 2026