France's Ministry of Justice Initiates Task Force to Reform French Arbitration Law

On 12 November 2024, Didier Migaud, the then French Minister of Justice, created a task force dedicated to reforming French arbitration law. Four months later, on Thursday 20 March 2025, the working group on the reform of French arbitration law submitted its report. The report was shared and debated with the arbitration community in April 2025 during Paris arbitration week. 

This initiative aims to finetune the French legal framework, gather the legal provision relating to arbitration in a dedicated code and enhance France's attractiveness as a leading hub for international arbitration. The propositions of the working group are still to be debated with practitioners before any reform will take place so it is unlikely that we will see any new provisions in force before the end of the year. 

Task Force leadership and composition

The task force was co-chaired by François Ancel, a renowned judge at the Cour de Cassation, and Thomas Clay, a professor at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and a prominent arbitration practitioner. The group comprised a diverse array of experts, including magistrates, academics, lawyers, and representatives from arbitration institutions.

Objectives, scope of the reform and next steps

The primary objective of the task force was to evaluate current arbitration law and identify areas for improvement.  

This initiative underscores France's commitment to maintaining its status as a premier destination for arbitration. By finetuning its pioneering arbitration law, in an unstable international context, France aims to enhance its legal framework's clarity, efficiency, and international competitiveness.

Following the presentation of the report, a review process has been initiated and will include consultations with stakeholders in the arbitration community to ensure a comprehensive and inclusive approach to reform.

Two main steps will follow: 

• a first set of amendments on the consensual topics by way of decree, ideally by summer 2025;
• a second phase to address non-consensual topics and topics which require a bill of law. 

Previous groundbreaking reforms

Fench arbitration law has undergone significant reforms over the years to maintain its competitiveness and attractiveness. This has included the introduction of groundbreaking concepts such as the independence of the arbitration clause from the main contract and establishing the "competence-competence" principle. 

Additional reforms have enhanced the readability of French arbitration law for foreigners, either by implementing caselaw into the Code of civil procedure or, as with the advent of the autonomy principle, emanating from the rulings of the French Court of Cassation and the Paris Court of Appeal.

The purpose of the upcoming reform is not merely to codify pre-existing and uncontested rules, but rather to directly tackle controversial issues, such as those relating to European law, and other external factors which have complicated arbitration law as it arose since the start of the current century. Nevertheless, while the French government has large powers to reform arbitration law alone, some substantial issues will require the involvement of the Parliament.

Main suggestions of the working group

The report suggests various improvements that will be heavily debated/challenged in the coming…