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参考答案:  Arbitration is the procedure whereby parties in dispute refer the issue to a third party for resolution, rather than take the case to the ordinary law courts. Studies have shown reluctance on the part of commercial undertakings to have recourse to the law to resolve their disputes and it is common for commercial contracts to have arbitration clauses included in them. As with contractual terms generally, such clauses are binding and the courts will not allow the parties to ignore them and pursue a court case rather than go through with the agreed arbitration procedure. There are numerous advantages to be gained from using arbitration rather than the court system:– Privacy. Arbitration tends to be a private procedure. This has the twofold advantage that outsiders do not get access to any potentially sensitive information and the parties to the arbitration do not run the risk of any damaging publicity arising out of reports of the proceedings.– Informality. The proceedings are less formal than a court case and they can be scheduled more flexibly than court proceedings.– Speed. Arbitration is generally much quicker than taking a case through the courts. Where, however, one of the parties makes use of the available grounds to challenge an arbitration award the prior costs of the arbiration will have been largely wasted.– Cost. Arbitration is generally a much cheaper procedure than taking a case to normal courts. Nonetheless, the costs of arbitration and the use of specialist arbitrators should not be underestimated.– Expertise. The use of a specialist arbitrator ensures that the person deciding the case has expert knowledge of the actual practice within the area under consideration and can form their conclusion in line with accepted practice.– Finality. Appeals on arbitration decisions are limited and once the arbitrator has reached a decision the parties are bound by it and any award can be enforced through court action.