Arbitration awards in the East and the West : a comparative analysis with a focus on domain name dispute resolution

This chapter focuses on domain name arbitration awards, and compares awards issued by two Asian institutions with those issued by two Western providers in order verify whether these two categories differ to any extent in terms of structure or textual and discursive traits. A further aim is to identify any distinctive peculiar features in domain name awards issued by Asian arbitrators. In pursuing these objectives, one has to keep in mind that the differences between awards issued in the East and in the West may be minor, given that many of the top arbitrators operating in Asian dispute resolution centres were educated in European universities and/or trained in European ADR institutions. However subtle the differences may be, this paper aims to ascertain if there actually is an ‘Asian style’ in domain name arbitration awards, and in which linguistic/discursive aspects such a style differs from that prevailing in “Western” arbitration awards.