There is no shortage of reliable arbitral institutions suited to administer international arbitrations. Some, like the AAA's international arm ICDR, are international offshoots of institutions with an essentially domestic background. Others, like the ICC International Court of Arbitration, are international (even global) to the core. But in a competitive and changing world, parties must consider all arbitral institutions able to administer sophisticated disputes. Some may consider crossing the Atlantic or even pushing it to Asia. Understanding all options and benefits, including from nearby jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) is imperative.

The British Virgin Islands are a pro-arbitration jurisdiction. The BVI International Arbitration Centre (BVI IAC) provides an alternative option to administer international commercial disputes in a user-friendly time-zone for East Coast companies and practitioners.

A Non-Interventionist Framework

The BVI Arbitration Act, based on the UNCITRAL Model Law, is a modern non-interventionist and supportive framework for arbitration. The BVI Arbitration Act provides sufficient flexibility for virtual arbitrations. While the Act is a Model Law statute, Article 18 of the Model Law, which states that "each party shall be given a full opportunity of presenting his case," has been substituted in §44 (3) of the Act by the following provision: "the arbitral tribunal is required to act fairly and impartially as between the parties, giving them a reasonable opportunity to present their cases and to deal with the cases of their opponents; and to use procedures that are appropriate to the particular case, avoiding unnecessary delay or expense, so as to provide a fair means for resolving the dispute to which the arbitral proceedings relate."