Res judicata in international commercial arbitration

The presentation focuses on the application of the principle of res judicata within international commercial arbitration proceedings. Despite its fundamental importance in ensuring procedural efficiency and legal cer-tainty, the principle’s practical implementation in arbitration is fraught with complexities. Both arbitral tri-bunal practice and legal scholarship have struggled to provide coherent and satisfactory solutions to the challenges involved in determining the effects of prior decisions invoked during arbitration. Drawing on a critical analysis of the different approaches adopted by arbitral practice or suggested by legal scholarship (in particular, the conflict-of-laws approach and the so-called “autonomous” approach), this presentation aims to propose a structured approach to resolving the intricate issues surrounding the recognition and deter-mination of the conclusive and preclusive effects of prior national judgments or arbitral awards invoked in the arbitral proceedings.