EXTENSION OF AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT TO NON-SIGNATORIES: SOME REFLECTIONS ON SWISS JUDICIAL PRACTICE
EXTENSION OF AN ARBITRATION AGREEMENT TO NON-SIGNATORIES: SOME REFLECTIONS ON SWISS JUDICIAL PRACTICE

Summary/Abstract: The Article deals with the question whether a party that has not signed an arbitral agreement may nevertheless be bound to arbitrate. The author analyzes Swiss legal doctrine and, in particular, the recent practice of the Swiss Federal Tribunal which has repeatedly dealt with this issue. According to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, an arbitral agreement may be extended to a non-signatory party where such party, through statements or behavior, has created a fair and reasonable expectation with another party that it considered itself bound by such arbitral agreement. The criteria to determine such ‘fair and reasonable expectations’ are identical to the ordinary criteria of (Swiss) contract law for the interpretation of statements or behavior of a party to a contract.

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