Legal, Linguistic, and Cultural Aspects in International Commercial Arbitration Discourse: A Corpus-Based Study of Arbitral Awards

In today's globalized landscape, disputes between parties from different countries are on the rise (Bhatia et al. 2018, 1), leading to a growing reliance on international arbitration as the primary method for resolving such issues (Born 2001, 1; Gotti 2008, 221; Bhatia et al. 2008, 2018). Arbitral awards, the outcomes of such procedures, are crucial in understanding the evolution of international arbitration practices (Bhatia et al. 2012, 1).A decade ago, arbitral awards were considered a "relatively unexplored genre" (Bhatia et al. 2012, 1) due to the historical perception of arbitration as a highly protected practice. However, over the past decade, there has been a shift towards transparency in arbitration, with a growing commitment to publishing arbitral awards. This trend, supported by scholars and professionals (e.g., Bhatia 2010, 468; Resnik et al. 2020, 612; Mourre and Vagenheim 2023, 265), aims to contribute to legal development. In 2019, Jus Mundi, an Al-powered legal search engine, was launched, facilitating access to a vast array of legal information through partnerships with arbitral institutions worldwide. This cultural shift marks significant progress in democratizing access to legal knowledge through technology, enhancing accessibility to discoursal data (e.g., Swales 1990; Bhatia 1993).Drawing on previous analyses conducted by prominent scholars on arbitration discourse (e.g., Bhatia et al. 2003; Bhatia et al. 2008; Bhatia et al. 2010; Bhatia et al. 2012; Bhatia et Bhatia et al. 2018), in this research project, a selection of arbitral awards in English is collected via Jus Mundi for linguistic analysis. The assertion posited is that, even in the era of globalization, cultural differences continue to manifest as cultural variations in the form of reasoning. The study recognizes the influence of legal traditions on linguistic choices in arbitration texts (Gotti 2008, 232). Thus, this approach aligns with the understanding that texts and genres are inseparable from their institutional and professional contexts (Bhatia et al. 2012, 1). In particular, legal discourse, shaped by its environment (Fairclough and Wodak 1997, 276), varies across different legal systems. Specifically, this study operates within the field of corpus linguistics and conducts a syntactic-lexical analysis on the genre of arbitral awards from various arbitration seats, using both quantitative and qualitative methods.