Originally from International Arbitration Law and Practice, Third Edition

16.1. The Role of Public Policy

We will examine the issue of public policy in arbitral proceedings within the framework of a brief summary of public policy in general, a topic that has already been widely touched on in the relevant literature.1

First a distinction must be made between statutory provisions that cannot be derogated from, because they protect private interests against a stronger contracting party, and those that may not be derogated from, because they protect the public interest. The latter only form part of public policy.

When a legal relationship contains elements foreign to a particular legal system, one must establish the law applicable to it.

If a foreign law happens to be applicable to it, it is generally accepted although subject to some specified limits.