Once you realize that bringing your dispute to court is an unnecessary waste of time and money, choosing an arbitration clause is very simple. All you need to do is use the following arbitration clause in any contract you enter into.
You can copy the following clause or click here for a Word version of the clause:
"Any dispute, controversy or claim arising out of or relating to the conclusion, interpretation or performance of the present Agreement, or the breach, termination or invalidity thereof, shall be definitively settled by arbitration.
The Parties shall have the arbitration conducted in accordance to the Procedural Rules of CEDIRES, by an arbitral tribunal appointed in accordance to the Procedural Rules of CEDIRES (www.cedires.com).
The arbitral tribunal shall be composed of three arbitrators.
The place of arbitration shall be Brussels, Belgium [***you may change this to any other location you would prefer***].
The language of the arbitration shall be the language of the present Agreement, i.e. English.
The applicable legal rules shall be those of Belgian law [***you may change this to any other applicable law you would prefer***].
The parties hereby waive their right to any form of recourse against an award to any court or other competent authority, insofar as such waiver can validly be made under the applicable law."
The above-mentioned clause can, of course, be amended.
Typical amendments would be:
"The arbitral tribunal shall be composed of one arbitrator."
Make sure not to state "two arbitrators", since that is not possible under Belgian law and a number of other legal systems.
"The place of arbitration shall be ________________."
The parties can choose whichever place is convenient to them.
