Yi Tang on Charting a New Legal Order: ASEAN’s Arbitration Reform in Taming the “Unruly Horse” of Public Policy Exception (Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs)

"Charting a New Legal Order: ASEAN’s Arbitration Reform in Taming the “Unruly Horse” of Public Policy Exception"
Yi Tang (PhD Candidate)
Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs, Volume 41, 2023, pp. 112-156
Published online: December 2024

Abstract: In light of the critical role of arbitration in resolving international commercial disputes within the rapidly developing and integrating ASEAN economies, this study investigates the interpretation and application of the public policy exception, a major factor in the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, across ASEAN’s diverse legal jurisdictions. It critically assesses how different ASEAN countries, each at varying stages of arbitration development, approach this exception. It highlights the differences in interpretation, with more developed jurisdictions adopting a narrower approach, contrasting with broader interpretations in less developed ones, thus revealing a correlation between a jurisdiction’s level of arbitration development and its approach to the public policy exception. This study also observes a possible trend towards greater coherence and uniformity in recent arbitration reforms across the region. Despite the challenges in harmonizing the public policy exception regionally, it argues for a uniform and narrow interpretation, aligning with international standards to enhance ASEAN’s attractiveness for cross-border business and investment.