Scholars from leading institutions worldwide have contributed to the special issue carefully compiled by faculty members Gralf-Peter Calliess and Nicholas Mouttotos, which explores fundamental questions about consent to dispute resolution agreements. The collection takes stock of recent legal developments while examining whether consent to such agreements should be subject to heightened requirements.
With contributions from Symeon C. Symeonides, Nancy S. Kim, Gralf-Peter Calliess, Frederick Riel?nder, Peter McColgan, Laura E. Little, Kermit Roosevelt III, S?ren Segger-Piening, John F. Coyle, Hannah L. Buxbaum, Marta Pertegás Sender, Stephen Ware, Stefan F. Th?nissen, and Nicholas Mouttotos, the special issue brings together diverse expertise in private international law, international civil procedure, and arbitration.
At its core lies a pressing contemporary problem: standard-form contracts routinely contain provisions dictating where and under what law disputes will be resolved, yet adhering parties often have little meaningful choice in accepting these terms. The contributions examine this paradox from multiple angles, tracing how the principle of party autonomy developed historically, questioning whether current disclosure mechanisms truly inform consent, and comparing how the legal systems in the United States and the European Union attempt to protect weaker contracting parties.
Volume 26, Special Issue 5 of the German Law Journal is freely accessible online. Readers can access the editorial here. As a Gold open-access journal operating since 1999, the German Law Journal provides unrestricted access to peer-reviewed research on comparative, European, and international law.