Arbitrator Challenges

Arbitration Reform, Arbitrator Challenges, Domestic arbitration, Latin America, Uruguay

(LL.M. Candidate in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS)) and (Bomchil)/ /Leave a comment

Law No. 20.257, enacted on April 25, 2024, amended the arbitration procedure in domestic arbitrations contained in the Uruguayan General Procedural Code (“GPC”).  Pursuant to Law No. 19.636–Act on International Commercial Arbitration (“AICA”), the amendment of the General Procedural Code enhanced the domestic arbitration framework by providing greater flexibility. The new law eliminated the mandatory…

Arbitrator Challenges, Brazil, Brazilian Arbitration Act, Brazilian Superior Court of Justice, Conflicts of interest, Duty to Disclose

(Demarest Advogados)/ /Leave a comment

On 18 June 2024, the Brazilian Superior Court of Justice issued an important decision, which it clearly established the distinction between the breach of the duty of disclosure and the loss of impartiality or independence of arbitrators. Among other arguments, there was the claim of a violation of the duty of disclosure, capable of generating…

Apparent bias, Arbitration, Arbitration Act 1996, Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, England, English courts, English Law, International arbitration, UK

(Peter Ashford Ltd)/ /1 Comment

In a recent judgement rendered in H1 and another v W and others [2024] EWHC 382, the English Commercial Court removed a sole arbitrator under section 24 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “EEA”).  This removal was based on statements made by the arbitrator regarding the way he would treat expert witness evidence that gave rise…

Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrator Challenges, Conflicts of interest, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Independence and Impartiality, Permanent Court of Arbitration

(Linklaters) and / /Leave a comment

On 10 October 2022, the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) accepted a challenge brought by Venezuela against the appointment of the Claimant’s appointee, Dr. Wolfgang Peter, in an investor state arbitration (PCA Case No. 2022-03) instituted by German Claimant, Lufthansa (“Challenge Decision”). The Challenge Decision is the latest in the series of…

Arbitrator Challenges, Costs, Due process, Efficiency, Expedited arbitration, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, KCAB, Korea, Multi-tiered clauses, Seoul ADR Festival, Virtual hearings

, (Kim & Chang)/ /Leave a comment

The Seoul ADR Festival (“SAF”) 2022, conducted by the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, was held between 7-11 November 2022. The 11th Asia-Pacific ADR Virtual Conference, the flagship conference of SAF 2022, took place on 9-10 November 2022 and was attended by more than 400 participants. It covered a broad range of topics over four sessions….

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrator Challenges, Brazil, CAM-CCBC Arbitration Congress IX Edition, Latin America

(Barbosa, Müssnich & Aragão Advogados – BMA) and (The CAM-CCBC)/ /Leave a comment

On 17 and 18 October 2022, the Center for Arbitration and Mediation of the Chamber of Commerce Brazil-Canada held its IXth Arbitration Congress (“IX CAM-CCBC Congress” or “Congress”) in São Paulo. The Congress is the opening event of what became the Sao Paulo Arbitration Week (“SPAW”): a collaborative calendar for law firms, universities, associations, and…

Arbitration Act, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrator Selection, Brazil, Brazilian Arbitration Act, Conflicts of interest, Debate, Disclosure, double hatting, Independence and Impartiality, judicial reform, regulation

(FCDG - Ferro, Castro Neves, Daltro & Gomide Advogados) and (University of Cambridge)/ /1 Comment

The 1996 Brazilian Arbitration Act (the “BAA”), which subjects domestic and international arbitrations to the same set of rules, has been modified only once through the 2015 amendment (the “2015 Amendment”). On July 6, 2022, Brazilian party leaders signed a Motion of Urgency to bypass the standard legislative process – which usually comprises public consultations…

Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrator Challenges, arbitrators’ conduct, Brazil, Latin America, Transparency

(FGV Law SP - Law School of São Paulo) and (Independent Arbitrator)/ /Leave a comment

The Center for Studies and Research in Arbitration from the University of São Paulo (“CEPArb-USP”) has recently made public the findings of its pioneer empirical research on challenges of arbitrators in domestic proceedings in Brazil. The initiative analyzed data from challenges in proceedings administered by the Câmara de Mediação e Arbitragem Empresarial – Brasil (CAMARB)….

Annulment, Applicable Law, Arbitrator Challenges, Emergency Arbitrator, Taiwan, UNCITRAL Model Law

(The Arbitration Chambers and Bond University)/ /Leave a comment

Although Taiwan’s legislative and judicial practices already conform to the spirit of the New York Convention (“Convention”) and the Model Law, it appears that non-Taiwanese parties nevertheless remain hesitant to arbitrate in Taiwan. The necessity of becoming a Model Law jurisdiction arises from Taiwan’s inability to accede to the New York Convention. Hence an institutional…

Arbitrator Challenges, English courts, Equal Treatment, French Law, Reform, UNCITRAL Model Law

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Under Article 13(3) of the UNCITRAL Model Law, a party challenging an arbitrator may ‘appeal’ a decision of the tribunal or other body hearing that challenge to a court or other authority (the “Challenge Appeal Mechanism”). The purpose of the Challenge Appeal Mechanism is to make the arbitral process more efficient by permitting judicial review…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrator Challenges, MIAC, Spain

(King's College London)/ /Leave a comment

In a field as competitive as arbitration, international reputation is earned, not created overnight. In 2021, various judgments of the Spanish Constitutional Court (see here, here and here) have done away with some case law by inferior Madrid courts which favoured an expansive review of awards and compromised the finality of arbitration (see here and here). Spain is…

Arbitration, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrator Bias, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, Investment Arbitration

(McNair International )/ /1 Comment

In its decision of 11 June 2020, an ICSID Annulment Committee annulled an award in Eiser and Energia Solar Luxembourg v. Spain, ICSID Case No. ARB/13/36. It did so on the grounds that the arbitrator appointed by the investors, Stanimir Alexandrov, and his former law firm, Sidley Austin, had worked so closely and frequently with…

Arbitrator Challenges, Garcia Armas, Halliburton, Impartiality, Non-disclosure

(WilmerHale)/ /Leave a comment

The award in Serafín García Armas and others v. Venezuela (PCA Case No.2013-3) (administered under the 1976 UNCITRAL Rules) was released in April 2019. This post refers to two decisions by Mr. Hugo Siblesz on challenges brought by Venezuela to the claimants’ appointment of Prof. Guido Tawil as party-appointed arbitrator. Mr. Siblesz was acting in…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrator's Fees, Public Policy, Set aside an arbitral award, Thai Arbitration Act, Thai Arbitration Institute, Thailand, Thailand Arbitration Center

(University of Paris Descartes)/ /Leave a comment

There have been some false dawns but Thailand has become significantly more arbitration-friendly in recent years. This post briefly canvasses the recent developments and identifies potential areas for further development.   Amendments to the Thai Arbitration Act – Arbitrators and Representatives Allowed to Work in Thailand Previously, foreign arbitrators were required to undergo an onerous…

Arbitrator Challenges, Conflicts of interest, Egypt

(Shehata & Partners, Maastricht University)/ /1 Comment

Introduction An ongoing discussion in the world of international arbitration concerns the conflict of interest of arbitrators and how such issue should be addressed. In this regard, the Egyptian Court of Cassation has very recently enriched this discussion by evincing its perspective on this matter, particularly, with respect to the standard of impartiality and independence…

Arbitrator Challenges, ICSID Convention, Independence and Impartiality, Investor-State arbitration, UNCITRAL, Working Group III

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The ICSID Rules Amendment Project Marking the latest step in its procedural rules overhaul, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) Secretariat released the third Working Paper on Proposals for the ICSID Arbitration Rules Amendments in late August 2019 (“WP3”). It is safe to say that the revisions of the ICSID Rules arrive…

Appointment of arbitrators, Arbitrator Challenges, Counsel, Counsel conduct, Disclosure, Dubai, ICC, International arbitration, International Arbitration Procedures, MENA, Middle East, UAE, UAE Federal Arbitration Law, UNCITRAL Model Law, United Arab Emirates

(Dentons & Co, Dubai)/ /Leave a comment

Participants at this year’s Dubai Arbitration Week gathered for the ICC conference hosted by Al Tamimi & Co on 14 November 2018. The conference featured a lively roundtable discussion on the subject of “Arbitrator Disclosure – Local Flavour or International Standards?” chaired by Nadia Darwazeh. The panel comprised practitioners from across the MENA region and…

Arbitration institution, Arbitrator Challenges, Conflicts of interest

(ILS Law College)/ /2 Comments

Arbitrator neutrality remains an imperative prerequisite in international commercial arbitration. After all, the primary advantage of arbitration is that parties have the ability to choose their own decision-makers.  The issue of advance waivers typically arises at the time of appointment, when the arbitrator reserves the right to continue as an arbitrator despite the occurrence of…

Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrator's mandate, Ethiopia, Jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal

(Aman Assefa & Associates Law Office)/ /Leave a comment

Arbitration is one of the preferred modes of private dispute settlement. Off its several traits, the cornerstone is the fact that it is based primarily on party autonomy and enables the parties to control almost all aspect of it. On the other hand, States put in place a different review and/or control mechanism on the…

Arbitrator Challenges, arbitrators’ conduct, Deliberations, Disclosure, English courts, Secretary of the Arbitral Tribunal, Tribunal Secretary, Tribunal's assistant

(Herbert Smith Freehills LLP)/ /1 Comment
Herbert Smith Freehills

The English High Court has reinforced its pro-arbitration stance in two recent judgments in the case of P v Q [2017] EWHC 148 (Comm.) and [2017] EWHC 194 (Comm.). Much attention has been devoted to the failed application under section 24 of the English Arbitration Act 1996 (the “Act”) to remove the arbitral tribunal on…

Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, Code of Ethics, IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest, Portugal

(BCH Advogados)/ /1 Comment

In many ways, Portugal is a remarkable arbitration-friendly jurisdiction. Not only a new UNICTRAL Model based law has been enacted a few years back now, but also its courts have proved to be very supportive of arbitration. The deference that they have been showing to the validity of the arbitration clause inserted in derivatives master…

Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, arbitrators’ conduct

, , (Bullard Falla Ezcurra +)/ /12 Comments

A group of lawyers has been coveted in recent years by the most prestigious law firms. They are supposed to predict results more accurately than Gary Born, create more persuasive stories than Stanimir Alexandrov and even issue better awards than Gabrielle Kauffman-Kohler. Their names are Watson, Ross, Lex Machina and Compas – they are Machine…

Arbitration Institutions and Rules, Arbitration Proceedings, Arbitrator Challenges, Arbitrators, Expedited arbitration, Multiple parties, Russia

(Karimullin Law Firm)/ /Leave a comment

Arbitration has become a preferred method for the resolution of international commercial disputes in Russia, mostly thanks to the activities of the Moscow-based International Commercial Arbitration Court (“ICAC“, the Russian acronym “MKAS“) at the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Established in 1932 as the Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission placed under the USSR National Chamber…

Annulment, Arbitral Tribunal, Arbitrator Challenges, Peru

(Universidad del Pacifico, Faculty of Law (Peru))/ /Leave a comment

and Jose Luis Repetto Deville, Miranda & Amado Recently, the First Commercial Chamber of the Superior Court of Lima issued an annulment decision in the case MDIS v. CORAL. The court had to deal with an arbitral award rendered by two arbitrators that had been challenged (without the participation of the other arbitrator) and while…