Internationalising Adjudication: Towards an Incremental and Polycentric Harmonisation

Professor Renato Nazzini KC (Hon) and Aleksander Godhe

April 2025

Winner of the SCL Hudson Prize 2024, published in the SCL Journal: Spring 2025

The paper focuses on internationalising adjudication, a fast ADR mechanism using a third-party adjudicator to make a decision, a timely issue in light of the recent UNCITRAL model clause on adjudication, and the ISAF draft model adjudication law. This authors discuss how harmonisation can be achieved, arguing that, given the discrepancies in adjudication across jurisdictions, harmonisation should be progressively incremental, and should build shared principles and standards rather than imposing a straitjacket on diverse legal systems. Harmonisation should be polycentric, working at different levels to achieve the intended purpose. The paper examines three ways to achieve it – model clauses, a model law and an international convention.

Introduction – I. Statutory adjudication and its various iterations – (i) Types of disputes that can be adjudicated – (ii) Nomination of adjudicators – (iii) Enforcement mechanisms – (iv) Judicial review – II. Contractual adjudication – III. Internationalisation of adjudication – Solution 1: Model contract adjudication – Solution 2: Model law – Solution 3: International convention on the recognition and enforcement of adjudication decisions – Conclusion

The authors: Professor Renato Nazzini KC (Hon) is Professor of Law and Director of the Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution, King’s College London. He is a partner at LMS Legal LLP and an independent arbitrator
Aleksander Godhe is a Research Associate in Dispute Resolution at the Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution, King’s College London and a Visiting Fellow at the Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law, Stockholm University

Text: 18 pages