De la subjetivación: Modulaciones de la subjetividad y prácticas de vida

An aim of this study is to establish whether or not fairness and justice for award recipients has been impeded by the refusal to recognise awards on public policy grounds. Therefore, it is important to obtain the views of all those who are involved in thesecases. Specifically, this includes legal professionals who represent the recipients of arbitral awards or at least have experience related to this situation, in order to understand their views on the use of the convention to refuse an award on public policy grounds and how they think this has an impact on the fairness and justice afforded to recipients. Moreover, in order to ensure a fair balance, interviews were conducted with professionals who have experience as part of their position in the

60_{Abdulaziz Mohammed Bin Zaid, The Recognition And Enforcement Of Foreign}

Commercial Arbitral Awards In Saudi Arabia: Comparative Study With Australia (PhD Thesis, University of Wollongong, 2014).

61_{Massoud, Mark Fathi, "International Arbitration And Judicial Politics In} Authoritarian States" (2014) 39(01) Law & Social Inquiry pp. 1 - 30

62_{Daniel Peat Matthew Windsor, "Playing The Game Of Interpretation - On Meaning} And Metaphor In International Law" in Interpretation In International Law (Oxford University Press, 1st ed, 2015).

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ministryin the refusal of the recognition of arbitral awards based on public policy, or at least they have experience of relevant situations. This balance will allow the researcher to a gain a complete view of the situation in order to determine the reasons for and the extent of the refusal of awards, the public policy on which they are based and the extent of fairness and justice for the recipients.

The research made use of different arbitration cases which are of Saudi Arabia origin and some which are of foreign origin in nature. This helps in gaining a thorough perspective into the way the cases have been handled in the past as relates to public policy and its use in the refusal of foreign arbitral awards. More focus were placed on cases that have sought recognition and enforcement in Saudi Arabia and were exempt from the New York Convention due to public policy.63 _{These different cases therefore} are used in evaluating whether justice prevailed and if it also seemed to prevail. Examples of these cases are those that are related to the oil industry because the situation in this industry has had a significant effect on the development of arbitration law in Saudi Arabia and in Arab countries in the gulf region more generally.

Because the researcher wanted to focus on the aforementioned areas, in line with the aims of the research, it is important to conduct semi-structured interviews because they allow the research to maintain this focus while at the same time allowing the researcher to probe areas further as they arise and also to allow the interviewees to speak more freely about the issues under discussion. This approach to interviewing

63_{M.B. Hooker, ‘Concise Legal History of South East Asia’ (Oxford: Clarendon Press,} 2008)

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allowed the researcher to have a guide or a schedule that does not have to be followed strictly and can be used to set a loose agenda.64

The questions in the semi-structured interviews are based on the research questions and the questions are organized around these ideas but at the same time allow depth as well as flexibility in the scope of the interview.65_{This is particularly important} because it allows the researcher to investigate new ideas as they arise.

Overall, the researcher has chosen this approach to interviewing because it is necessary to understand opinions, which are subjective, on the fairness and justice, or otherwise, of the refusal to recognise foreign arbitral awards. The researcher felt that a qualitative semi-structured approach will give the participants the opportunity to express their opinions in a more detailed manner, unlike a more structured approach where it is difficult to understand the reasons behind opinions. This is as opposed to the other types of interview, such as structured interviews that do not allow flexibility in responses, or unstructured interviews where the focus of the topic may deviate.

Semi-structured interviews are used in a wide variety of fields for collecting qualitative data, especially where the researcher is interested in people’s experiences and opinions and this approach also considers how they express themselves.66 In light of the fact that one of the aims of the research is to elicit the opinions of those who should be in receipt of arbitral awards and whether or not they feel there is fairness in

64_{Jonathan A Smith, Michael Larkin and Paul Flowers, Interpretative}

Phenomenological Analysis (SAGE, 2008).

65_{Kathryn May, "Interview Techniques In Qualitative Research: Concerns And} Challenges" [1991] Qualitative nursing research: A contemporary dialogue.

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the process, semi-structured interviews will reveal the opinions and potential concerns that they have about the fairness and justice of arbitral awards. It is important to note at this point that semi-structured interviews, as a primary research method, complement secondary research methods in relation to the issue of whether there is fairness in giving arbitral awards.Whereas secondary research will reveal fairness and justice in relation to certain accepted international standards and a certain understanding of fairness and justice, the interviews, as primary research will reveal feelings and opinions about fairness and justice from the perspective of those who should be in receipt of awards.

With consideration of these ideas, semi-structured interviews can be used to evaluate what people think about a particular issue of which they already have knowledge.67 Moreover, semi-structured interviews allow the researcher to explore different aspects of a phenomenon and also allow those being interviewed to elaborate on their opinions as they arise during the conversation,68 in this case the fairness or otherwise of the refusal of international arbitral awards on the grounds of public policy.

The interview guide, or schedule, is designed to help the researcher conduct the semi- structured interviews. The interview guide is not merely a list of questions, but instead provides an agenda to aid the researcher in asking questions to achieve the aims of the study.

67_{Mathhews and Ross (2010)} 68_Ibid

37 1.7.2 Data Analysis

The interviews were audio recorded and then transcribed. Interviews were conducted in English, so no translation was required. The research looked at the data to identify any recurring ideas before carrying out a full analysis using coding. The researcher identifiedthe themes and organize them to identify the ideas and opinions that emerge. It is important that the researcher acknowledges that there will be an element of bias in the interpretation of the findings.

All data that is collected is for analysis purposes only for the present study and the data will not be made available to any third party as it is for the purposes of thisthesis. The data will be stored on a password protected computer which is kept under lock and key and no other persons, such as research assistants, are involved in the study which means only the researcher will have access.