The arbitrability of competition claims has been the subject of debate for many years. Traditionally, the focus of such debate has always been related to the issue of public policy, imposed as a barrier to the arbitrability of this type of dispute. The first part of the present article has the purpose of analyzing the evolution of the referred debate and the consequent overcoming of the obstacle initially set by public policy. Moreover, the practical considerations generated as a result of the confirmation of said arbitrability, such as the scope of the arbitrator’s performance and the extension of judicial review, shall also be analyzed.

The second part of the work aims at analyzing the issue of arbitrability of antitrust claims from a new standpoint, different from the public policy one: that of interparty relations and the existence of consent, similarly to what happens in Consumer Law. The main object of analysis for this part shall be the Arbitration Fairness Act of 2013, a bill still pending in the United States Congress, which purpose is to amend the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act in order to invalidate predispute arbitration agreements that establish resolution through arbitration of labor, consumer, antitrust, and civil rights disputes.