Arbitration
For an arbitration to take place, the disputing parties must agree to take their dispute to arbitration. In practice, this agreement is often made before the dispute arises and is included as a clause in their commercial contract. In signing a contract with an arbitration clause, the parties are agreeing that their dispute will not be heard by a court but by a private individual or a panel of several private individuals. If parties have agreed to arbitration, they will generally have to go to arbitration rather than court as the courts will normally refuse to hear their case by staying it to force the reluctant party to honour their agreement to arbitrate.
Arbitration is a legal process which results in an award being issued by the arbitrator or arbitrators. Arbitration awards are final and binding on the parties and can only be challenged in very exceptional circumstances. An award has a status very like a court judgment and is enforceable in a very similar manner. Arbitration awards made in Hong Kong are enforceable through the courts of most of the world's trading nations.
Read more about this topic: Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre