ABSTRACT: The present text is the transcription of the author’s inaugural speech at the XII International Arbitration Conference of Rio de Janeiro, on May 10th, 2016. The author’s goal is to illustrate how international arbitration has progressively incorporated a self-legitimacy sourced in the needs of a societas mercatorum who runs quicker than any State normativity. It is from that international arbitration selflegitimation image that the autor proposes to debate the different soft law instruments as being part of this non-State normativity, strengthening the international arbitration procedure as a tool of international commerce, and not a result of central authorities. Based on this analysis, the author addresses – and answer – the most recent criticism towards the IBA Guidelines, maybe one of the most important – and true metaphor – of international arbitration soft law.
Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem