Law applicable to the extension of an
arbitral clause: A snake biting its own
tail?

On first look, the ever-growing problem of extending arbitral agreements and, through such, the jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal, is the logical reflection of globalisation and, thus, the multiplication of cross-border disputes involving parties from different countries, and different parties involved in the dispute. Such constellations only highlight the importance of international commercial arbitration as an impartial and quick means of dispute resolution. Moreover, for tax, financial or practical reasons, an ever-increasing number of entities emerges, which sometimes renders the identification of parties in dispute quite uneasy. As a result, more and more often, arbitrators have to deal with the identification of parties at hand before entering on the merits and, where necessary and allowed, extend their jurisdiction to parties that have not actually signed the agreement.