Since its establishment in 1986, the annual "Freshfields Arbitration Lecture" (as it has come to be known) has given both practitioners and academics a unique and extraordinary opportunity to explore new insights and frontiers in the theory and practice of international arbitration. Hosted by the School of International Arbitration, Queen Mary University of London, each lecture provides an eminent figure in international arbitration a platform on which to investigate problems of interest on aspects and trends in the field.

Bringing together all the published (and some unpublished) lectures in this important series, this valuable book confirms the interaction between theory and practice that the School has pursued since its inauguration, and provides in addition a remarkable testament of the School's policy of ensuring a comparative and international approach to international arbitration research and study.

Twenty-one leading academics and practitioners explore the issues of States and state enterprises in arbitration, including the following topics:

The book also includes substantial coverage of such fundamental and more recent themes as default procedural rules, autonomy of the arbitration process, regulation of arbitration in national laws, validity of arbitral awards, and dissenting opinions. Several of the lectures have been augmented with updates and endnotes, and an in-depth introduction supplies a welcome overview.

With contributions by some of today's leading academics and practitioners in the field, this book will be of great interest to arbitration lawyers, international lawyers, and business people, as well as to academics, law libraries, and students of dispute resolution.