In the relentless quest of man for justice and peace, by various means, Arbitration is among the oldest legal institutions of international law. There is evidence of arbitration procedures even in obscure Greek mythology, where on the top of Mount Ida the legendary Paris, the son of Priam and Hécula, was called to deliver an important arbitral award: it concerned the dispute of the golden apple, which was destined by the gods to the most beautiful women, being this apple disputed by the goddesses Athena, Hera and Aphrodite.

In this dispute, each party tried to influence the arbitrator in his own way; Hera promised that if she was the chosen she would give him power; Athena offered glory and success in war, and Aphrodite offered him the most beautiful women as his wife. Paris ruled in favor of Aphrodite, and was rewarded with the already married Helena of Troy The choice turned out to infuriate Hera and Athena which culminated in the war Troy and therefore the destruction of Troy.

If the path of arbitration, which presumably began at Mount Ida could be traced through the centuries, probably arbitration would be both found in more primitive societies as in modern civilization. Already at the time of Marco Polo commercial arbitration was known by the caravans of the desert and had become a common practice among Phoenician traders and Greeks.

The civil arbitration, also flourished during the Homeric period. In the half of the sixth century BC, Peisistratus the tyrant of Athens, moved ahead with its policy of keeping people out of cities by means of itinerant judges who visited the communities. They were authorized to make binding decisions if an amicable solution was not reached#.

Despite its existence since ancient times, it is in old Greece that the arbitration has really developed, more precisely in TAUBE# words, where the arbitration had its true cradle. The development of arbitration was only possible due to the strong similarity between the legal systems of the Greek city-states.

Afterwards, from mere conflicts between employer and employee to major industrial conflicts all begun to be arbitrated particularly in what concerned labor issues concerning the conditions of employment and wages. In England for example, arbitration itself is older than the common law system. England used arbitration as a way to resolve commercial disputes since 1224#.

Already in 1494, when Brazil was still ruled by the Tordesillas Treaty arbitration was used for the sharing of the lands discovered. The Brazilian lands were object of a dispute between Portugal and Spain, which was arbitrated by the Pope Alexander VI#.

For many years, many referrals were made and despite the Hague Peace Conference in 1907, which stood for arbitration as a necessary mean for the resolution of international disputes, and other 29 International Conventions held between 1909 and 1911 that included arbitration as a means of dispute settlement, an international convention that would establish the basic common parameters to give recognition to foreign arbitral awards did not exist. This regulation came only in 1923 with the Geneva Protocol, which was followed by the Bustamante Code of 1928, and finally by the New York Convention of June 10th, 1958.

Although much has been said that arbitration is a recent institute in Brazilian legal system, it can be said that arbitration follows the country since its existence. However, despite the long existence of arbitration in the country and its the recognition since the time of Portuguese colonization, Brazil is not a country with great tradition in arbitration. This is due to the fact that, although provided by law, the provisions relating to it were considered as useless, due to the archaic model adopted by the law at the time, and due to this matter, any real possibility of significant use arbitration was suffocated.

In addition to the arbitration provision contained in the Philippines ordinances in 1824, arbitration was also foreseen in the Imperial Constitution, in the Commercial Code of 1850,in the Regulation 737 also of 1850, and in the Civil Procedure Code.

With the enactment of Law 9307/1996 it was possible, within the plan of internal regulations, the effectiveness of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution. However, after the changes brought by the new law, there was a questioning of its constitutionality before the Brazilian Supreme Court , which after long five years, in 2001, by majority vote, has decided in favor of the constitutionality of the of Brazilian Arbitration Law.

Hence, only after this decision, arbitration started to be used in Brazil and yet, still faces a series of prejudices, as the culture of the Brazilian people is to refute what they don´t know and doubt on the seriousness and honesty of our arbitration system.

Finally, we conclude that despite the recent Brazilian experience with arbitration, the country has begun a long walk toward an environment legally secure and reliable, so that in future it might be considered as a place for international arbitrations.