Arbitration and court litigation are, obviously, options that practitioners should and do consider as they think about how to deal with international business disputes. But it need not be an either/or choice.
Parties who agree to arbitration under the rules of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI) may designate the Netherlands Commercial Court (NCC District Court or NCC Court of Appeal, as the case may be) as the appropriate chamber for any post-award - and sometimes even pre-award - court litigation. This would enable the parties, e.g., to file a setting-aside claim with the NCC Court of Appeal in English. Such legal actions no longer need to be dealt with in Dutch, saving the parties time and costs.
