The French Government has issued a long-awaited decree updating French arbitration law.  Decree n° 2011-48 of 13 January 2011 has just been published in the Official Journal of the French Republic and will take effect on 1 May 2011.

France has had amongst the most arbitration-friendly legal regimes since 1981, when French arbitration law was modernized.  Since that time, the French courts have demonstrated unfailing support for arbitration.

The new decree codifies many jurisprudential developments, thus making existing French law more user-friendly and accessible.  But the decree also takes into account international best practices in arbitration, introducing changes to French arbitration law that will make France an even more effective jurisdiction as a seat for arbitrations and with respect to the enforcement of arbitral awards.

The text of the decree, which creates new articles 1442 – 1527 of the French Civil Procedure Code, can be downloaded from the Documentation section of the website of Paris, the Home of International Arbitration.