The Negative Effect of the Competence-Competence Principle in France: Twelve Years Later

Written by Laura Fadlallah

Published on Pro-Arbitration Revisited: A Tribute to Professor George Bermann From His Students Over the Years

Twelve years ago, France revised its arbitration law with Decree No. 2011-48 of 13 January 2011 (the “2011 Decree”) and included the (established) negative effect of the principle of competence-competence in its arbitration law. Twelve years ago, at my modest level, I assisted Professor Bermann with the preparation of an article on “The ‘Gateway’ Problem in International Commercial Arbitration.” At the time, as a French-educated student, my work focused on the French approach, with an emphasis on the negative effect of the competence-competence principle. It only seemed fitting to dedicate these few pages to this topic, which not only is a poster child of France’s pro-arbitration policy but also embodies the evolution of what it means to be pro-arbitration. Read more