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Contract & Commercial Law vocabulary · Disputes & Arbitration

Dispute

Meaning in contract & commercial law, with examples

/dɪˈspjuːt/nounCore term

In contract & commercial law, dispute means: A disagreement between parties about their rights or obligations, for example over payment, quality or the meaning of a clause.

In Turkish: uyuşmazlık, ihtilaf, anlaşmazlık

How it is used

Contracts include dispute resolution clauses that say how disputes are handled: negotiation, mediation, arbitration or court. As a verb, you 'dispute' an invoice or a claim, meaning you say it is wrong. 'In dispute' means currently contested.

Example sentences

  1. Any dispute arising out of this contract shall be referred to arbitration.

  2. The customer disputes the last two invoices.

Common collocations

  • resolve a dispute
  • settle a dispute
  • dispute resolution
  • commercial dispute
  • a dispute arises
  • arbitrationA private way of resolving disputes in which the parties agree to let one or more independent arbitrators decide the case instead of a national court.
  • mediationA way of resolving a dispute in which a neutral person, the mediator, helps the parties reach their own settlement but does not impose a decision.
  • litigationThe process of taking a dispute to a national court and having a judge decide it, as opposed to resolving it through arbitration or mediation.
  • settlementAn agreement that ends a dispute or lawsuit, usually with one party paying an agreed amount and both sides dropping their claims.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Disputes & Arbitration

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.