Despite its origins in providing a means of dispute resolution (DR) where no court is available, arbitration has during the past half century, and in virtually every jurisdiction, adopted as its basic procedure a system more or less based on local court procedures.
This has led, in some instances, to a belief that arbitration so conducted has no advantage over court action, particularly in terms of the saving of time and costs. However, those who believe that arbitration has more to offer have expended much time and effort in seeking to avoiding the supposed constrictions of court procedures through various liberalising and reform measures, which have been pursued through committees and conferences, reports and recommendations, all having the same broad objective of freeing arbitration from unnecessary restraints. Arbitrators, too, can rightly claim credit for introducing innovative techniques which can save time and cost for the parties