The Status of Logic in Contract Interpretation in International Commercial Arbitration

Certain substantial issues including interpretation of contracts have not been sufficiently touched upon in international commercial arbitration debates. Compatibility of the outcome of interpretation with logic is a very important issue. In fact, the main question is “could an illogical outcome of an interpretation be considered legally valid?” In this article, an attempt has been made to show some illogical outcomes resulting from interpretations and to examine the international arbitrator's approach to this subject. Finally, in view of the fact that international arbitrators enjoy more freedom than domestic judges, and in light of arbitral practices, it has been concluded that arbitrators always avoid irrational outcomes resulting from an interpretation. Therefore, it is argued that “logic” might be used as an original criterion in international commercial arbitration to rule out irrational outcomes.