Is an arbitration between two domestic companies arising from a contract for a shipment between two foreign countries an "international commercial arbitration" for the purposes of the UNCITRAL Model Rules, particularly if the arbitral agreement requires arbitration in a foreign location? And if it is, does the domestic court have any residual discretion to stay the arbitration and allow the court action to proceed?

Those are the important issues which the Superior Court of Ontario recently faced.

The facts in this case raised a conflict between the court's sense of fairness, and the rigidity and almost total absence of discretion in the Model Rules. How should a court resolve this conflict?