Chapter 3 - § 3.1 • INTRODUCTION

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 3.1 • INTRODUCTION

Arbitration as considered herein is a consensual process for the resolution of disputes: it is applicable to a dispute only when the parties to the dispute agree that it is applicable and, generally, only on the terms to which the parties agree.¹ Therefore, in some instances, the law of contracts may be more important than the arbitration statutes and common law in regard to governance of arbitration, except as to statutory provisions that cannot be overridden by agreement. However, most arbitration issues arise with respect to the law, and less frequently with respect to the contract terms.

Because arbitration is a consensual process, the statutes and common law usually govern only in those areas of the process where contract terms do not or cannot provide a result: enforcement of the contract and the award through judicial power, determination of when the dispute is with the contract, and default terms when the contract is silent.

"Thus, the purpose of the [Uniform Arbitration Act] is to provide ground rules and procedures for enforcement of awards through the courts, but not to supersede the agreement entered [into] by...