Power of arbitrators to make pro-futuro orders

Specific performance is the order of a court by which the breaching party to a contract is compelled to perform the activity contemplated in the contract. In civil law countries, specific performance is considered as a normal remedy. Common law countries, on the other hand, have developed a very particular system of protection of rights, which has traditionally condemned specific performance to a sort of ostracism among the remedies for breach of contract. How will specific performance be considered in an arbitration context? The chapter addresses this question, first, by comparing the approaches to specific performance in the different legal systems, and from the perspective of whether it constitutes a substantive or procedural issue. Then, it proceeds to analyze the sources, and limits of arbitrators' power to order specific performance, concluding that the different sources clearly back those powers, and that this does not constitute an obstacle for enforcement. Then, it analyzes the instances where arbitrators issue more difficult orders that organize the parties' relationship for the future, which is where the complexity of the case arises.