What, if any, are the legal requirements of an arbitration agreement under the laws of your jurisdiction?

There are no formal requirements for an arbitration agreement to be valid. However, the Arbitration Act 1996 (the “1996 Act”), which governs arbitration proceedings in England and Wales, only applies to arbitration agreements that are in writing (section 5(1)). The 1996 Act contains a number of mandatory and non-mandatory provisions intended to facilitate the arbitral process, and so it is highly recommended that arbitration agreements are recorded in writing.

Originally published in The International Comparative Legal Guide to: International Arbitration 2019, 16th Ed., A practical cross-border insight into international arbitration work.