"(1)'Arbitration agreement' isanagreement bytheparties tosubmitto arbitration, whether ornotadministered by apermanent arbitral institution, allorcertain disputes whichhavearisenorwhichmayarisebetween themin -17-respect ofadefined legalrelationship, whether contractual ornot.An arbitration agreement may beintheformofanarbitration clauseina contract orintheformofaseparate agreement. "l2)Thearbitration agreement shallbeinwriting. Anagreement isin writing ifitiscontained inadocument signed bytheparties orinan exchange ofletters, telex,telegrams orothermeansoftelecommunication whichprovide arecordoftheagreement. Thereference inacontract toa document containing anarbitration clauseconstitutes anarbitration agreement provided thatthecontract isinwriting andthereference issuchastomake thatclausepartofthecontract." Paragraph (1) 83.TheCommission adopted theparagraph; itreferred toitsDrafting Groupa suggestion toreplace thewords"allorcertain disputes whichhavearisenorwhich mayarise" bythewords"anyexisting orfuturedispute". Paragraph (2) 84.TheCommission notedthatparagraph (2)didnotcovercases,encountered in practice, whereoneoftheparties didnotdeclare inwriting hisconsent to arbitration. Practical examples, whichwererecognized by some national lawsas constituting validarbitration agreements, included thearbitration clauseina billoflading, incertain commodity contracts andreinsurance contracts which customarily becomebinding on apartybyoralacceptance, andinothercontracts whichwereconcluded by awritten offerandanoralacceptance orby anoraloffer andawritten confirmation. 85.Various suggestions weremadewithaviewtoexpanding thescopeof paragraph (2)inordertoaccommodate alloratleastsomesuchcases. One suggestion wastoadoptthesolution foundinthe1978version ofarticle 17ofthe 1968Brussels COnvention onJurisdiction andtheEnforcement ofJudgments inCivil andCOmmercial Matters, whichreferred toagreements "inwriting or,in international tradeorcommerce, inaformwhichaccords withpractices inthat tradeorcommerce ofwhichtheparties areorOughttohavebeenaware". While therewasconsiderable support forthatsuggestion, whichwassaidtoreflect the current trendtowards a moreliberal approach tothequestion ofform,the Commission, afterdeliberation, didnotacceptit.Itwasfeltthatamoremodest approach wasappropriate inthedifferent context ofvalidity astoformof arbitration agreements, because thereference totradeusages wastoovagueto ensure uniform interpretation andentailed thepossible riskthataconsent to arbitration wouldbeimposed upon apartyunfamiliar withthecustoms prevailing in certain tradesorregions. 86.Another suggestion wastoaddattheendofparagraph (2)thefollowing sentence: "Ifabillofladingoranother document, signed byonlyoneofthe parties, givessufficient evidence ofacontract, anarbitration clauseinthe document, orareference inthedocument toanother document containing an arbitration clause, shallbeconsidered tobeanagreement inwriting." While considerable support wasexpressed forthesuggestion, theCOmmission, after deliberation, didnotadopttheadditional wording becauseitappeared unlikely thatmanyStates wouldbeprepared toaccepttheconcept ofanarbitration agreement which,although contained inadocument, wasnotsignedoratleast consented toinwriting bybothoftheparties. Itwasalsopointed outthatthere -18-mightbedifficulties withregardtotherecognition andenforcement underthe 1958NewYorkConvention ofawardsbasedonsuchagreements. 87.A morelimited suggestion wastoinclude thosecaseswhereparties whohadnot concluded anarbitration agreement intheformrequired underparagraph ,(~lnone thelessparticipated inarbitralproceedings andwherethatfact,whether viewed asasubmission orastheconclusion ofanoralagreement, wasrecorded ~Qthe minutes ofthearbitral tribunal, eventhoughthesignatures oftheparties might belacking. Itwaspointed outinsupport ofthesuggested extension that, although awards madepursuant toarbitration agreements evidenced inthatmanner
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the legal aspects of arbitration agreements, specifically the form and validity of such agreements. The language used is formal and technical, indicating a focus on legal or regulatory issues. The text also references international conventions and national laws, suggesting a connection to international trade and commerce.

**Category**
International trade, Industry