If parties included in a business contract an arbitration agreement which contains a broad wording and stipultes that the arbitration agreement covers all of the parties’ disputes arising out of the contract or connected thereto, then disputes stemming under Polish law out of acts of unfair competition do not fall within the arbitration agreement. That is because acts of unfair competition under Polish law are torts and thus claims originating therefrom are not “arising ouf of contract or connected thereto”. That is also true even if a given act of unfair competition was commited alongside performance of the contract.

An arbitration agreement constitutes an exception to the right to be heard by a state court. As such it should be interpreted narrowly. In case of doubts as to the scope of the arbitration agreement, it should be interpreted to favor the right to be heard by a state court.