§ 172.031.Arbitration Agreements Valid

The enforceability rule for international agreements, worded to match its domestic counterpart.

A written arbitration agreement is valid and enforceable. The same two situations are covered — a controversy existing at the time of the agreement, and one arising afterward.

Revocation is limited to contract grounds existing at law or in equity.

The parallel with Section 171.001 is deliberate, and it means an international agreement starts from the same footing as a domestic one.

What differs is everything around it. Section 172.032 spells out what "in writing" means for parties on different continents, and Section 172.033 folds in the arbitration rules the agreement refers to.

The unconscionability bar still applies. Section 172.001(d) preserves Section 171.022 for international matters.

The scope exclusions in Section 171.002 do not carry over in the same way, because this chapter supersedes Chapter 171’s Subchapters B and C and has its own gateway in Sections 172.003 and 172.004.

Enforcement machinery comes from Chapter 171’s Subchapter D, which Section 172.001(d) preserves.

The result is a hybrid. International substance under this chapter; familiar Texas court procedure for anything requiring a judge.

The writing requirement is the one that differs most in practice. Section 172.032 recognises exchanges of telecommunications and pleadings, which suits parties who never sit at one table.

Gateway questions come first in any dispute. Before this section matters, the agreement has to be international under Section 172.003 and commercial under Section 172.004.