arbitration

American  

[ahr-bi-trey-shuhn] / ˌɑr bɪˈtreɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the hearing and determining of a dispute or the settling of differences between parties by a person or persons chosen or agreed to by them.

   Rather than risk a long strike, the union and management agreed to arbitration.

2. International Law. the application of judicial methods to the settlement of international disputes.

---

arbitration British  

/ ˌɑːbɪˈtreɪʃən /

noun

1. law the hearing and determination of a dispute, esp an industrial dispute, by an impartial referee selected or agreed upon by the parties concerned

2. international law the procedure laid down for the settlement of international disputes

---

arbitration Cultural  

1. The settling of disputes (especially labor disputes) between two parties by an impartial third party, whose decision the contending parties agree to accept. Arbitration is often used to resolve conflict diplomatically to prevent a more serious confrontation.

---

Usage

What does arbitration mean? Arbitration is a process in which two parties in a dispute use an independent, impartial third party to settle the dispute, often by making a decision that they both agree to.For a process to be considered arbitration, it must involve an impartial third party, which can be a single person or a team of people. This person or team is called an arbitrator. To act as this arbitrator is to arbitrate. Arbitrate can also mean to engage in arbitration, as in If we can’t come to an agreement, we may need to arbitrate.The term arbitration is especially used in the context of negotiations between businesses and labor unions. When the two sides can’t agree and negotiations are unproductive, they may seek to pursue arbitration by bringing in an arbitrator.An arbitration process in which the arbitrator’s decision must be accepted by both parties is sometimes called binding arbitration—meaning the arbitrator’s decision is final and legally binding.Example: After weeks of negotiations stalled and resulted in an impasse, the two sides agreed to enter arbitration.

Related Words

See mediation.

Other Word Forms

• arbitrational adjective
• arbitrationist noun
• proarbitration adjective
• proarbitrationist noun
• rearbitration noun

Etymology

Origin of arbitration

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin arbitrātiōn- (stem of arbitrātiō ), equivalent to arbitrāt(us) ( arbitrate ) + -iōn- noun suffix; -ion

Example Sentences

Valieva told an arbitration panel she tested positive because of "contamination" from her grandfather's heart medicine.

From Barron's

Following its victory in a prolonged arbitration case with Exxon, its $53 billion purchase of Hess helped the company add far more barrels to its books last year than it produced.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the country's ministry of foreign affairs pointed us towards an article about the arbitration proceedings in the New Times, a Rwandan newspaper.

From BBC

In the ruling against Repsol, the arbitration tribunal awarded fees to Venture, saying it had acted as a “reasonable and prudent operator.”

From Barron's

The arbitration tribunal ruled in Venture Global’s favor against Repsol, but Venture Global lost a separate case against BP in October.

From Barron's

Related Words

• adjudication
• compromise
• mediation