Arbitration may be court-ordered, for example, under court rules which mandate that certain disputes be submitted to arbitration. Or, arbitration may be mandatory, under the terms of rules or agreements to which the parties have agreed in advance of any dispute. In contrast, arbitration may be voluntary. Voluntary arbitration refers to the arbitration of a dispute submitted to an arbitrator by agreement of the parties. Typically, parties to a dispute submit their dispute to arbitration in order to minimize the expense, delay, or publicity which they perceive will accompany litigation.
Voluntary arbitration is consensual.
Parties enter into an agreement to arbitrate or a submission agreement. The Agreement to arbitrate may be entered into in advance of any dispute, and may, for example, be included in a dispute resolution clause of a contract. Or parties may agree to arbitrate a dispute at the time a dispute arises, or at any time before a final judgment is entered in a court proceeding. Typically, parties privately agree to the selection of the arbitrator and the rules of arbitration. Often, parties agree to have their disputes arbitrated under the rules and procedures of a sponsoring tribunal.