In this study, an effort is made to comparatively assess the until now success of International Commercial Arbitration (hereinafter ICA), Litigation, and Mediation as proven mechanisms of transnational dispute settlement by comparatively analyzing the major instruments of International Commercial Arbitration vis-a-vis the instruments of International Commercial Litigation and Mediation. Accordingly, after detailed scrutiny of the relevant issues, the article argues that, although the ICA is not the only means of transnational commercial dispute resolution, by far, when compared to transnational litigation and mediation, ICA was and will continue to be the most successful (realistic) means of transnational commercial dispute resolution, which plays the dominant role of harmonizing the rules of transnational commercial dispute resolution. However, it is found out that, with time, the harmonization roles of the instruments of transnational commercial litigation and mediation are growing as a viable alternative to ICA.

The Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (Convention), which was developed by the Hague Convention on Private International Law (HCCH) is a transnational litigation instrument adopted in 2005 and brought into force in 2015. By providing the required methods and tools to disputants in a commercial relationship, the objective of the Convention is to create an internationally uniform legal framework of dispute resolution that promotes cross-border trade and encourages judicial cooperation by recognising and enforcing foreign judgments that are given based on a choice of court agreement. This article assesses the existing successes of the Convention in achieving its specific commercial objectives, and considers whether it has been generally successful in transnational commercial dispute resolution. The article argues that the Convention has the tools needed to achieve its specific commercial objectives, and its success in this regard depends on the parties who choose to apply the tools provided in the Convention to resolve their commercial disputes by signing a choice of court agreement to that effect. I argue that although the Convention remained generally unsuccessful until 2015, due to its late enforcement and low rate of ratifications, since 2015 it has gradually become a success story as more states are ratifying the Convention. The future therefore looks bright.

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