Conflicts of Interests

The Kluwer Research comprises over 1,000 cases in the period 2010-2020. These cases do not include challenges in particular, but include vacatur and enforcement actions. Out of a total of 504 vacatur cases, in approximately eighty cases arguments related to the composition of the arbitral authority have been made. As regards enforcement, out of a total of 589 enforcement actions, in sixty-one cases these arguments have been made. The effectiveness of arbitrators’ impartiality and independence is ensured by an ex ante positive obligation of transparency, i.e., the duty to disclose any circumstances that may give rise to independence and impartiality, and an ex post sanctioning mechanism, which enables the parties to challenge an arbitrator who doesn’t comply with those requirements. Disclosure allows parties to verify the arbitrators’ compliance with the requirements of independence and impartiality. The challenge, however, remains the necessary procedure to establish the lack of such requirements. In most countries, the test of the arbitrators’ impartiality and independence is based on the criterion of justifiable doubts. Raising arguments related to conflicts of interest after the award is rendered, either in vacatur or enforcement actions, is only successful in order to block the enforcement/vacating the award in very few instances. Thus, parties should timely raise all of their objections at an early stage, rather than after the award is rendered. impartiality, independence, arbitrators, challenge, conflict of interests, disclosure, duty to disclose, justifiable doubts, party-appointed arbitrator, standards