Table of Contents
Foreword ix
Preface xi
Table of Abbreviations xiii
Chapter 1 Bias in International Commercial Arbitration 1
1 Introduction 1
2 International Commercial Arbitration 2
3 Variation in National Court Approaches to Arbitrator Bias 7
4 Sourcing Procedural Fairness in ICA 8
5 The Role of the Lex Arbitri 11
6 The New York Convention and 'Public Policy' 12
7 Defining 'Bias' in ICA 14
7.1 Party Preference 16
7.2 Outcome Preference 18
8 The Question of 'Independence' 19
9 The Difference between 'Impartiality' and 'Independence' 21
10 The Meaning and Place of 'Neutrality' in ICA 24
11 Method 25
12 State Selection 26
13 Language 28
Chapter 2 Lord Hewart's Ghost 29
1 Introduction 29
2 The Law of Bias in England 30
2.1 The Rule in Dimes 32
2.2 De Minimis Non Curat Lex 34
2.3 Apparent Bias 35
2.4 Real Differences 37
3 English Arbitration Law 39
3.1 Statutory Obligation of Impartiality 40
3.2 ECHR Obligation of Independence 42
3.3 Common Law Obligation of Independence 42
3.4 No Disclosure Requirement in the Arbitration Act 43
4 English Decisions on Arbitrator Bias 45
5 Human Rights Law in England 54
6 London Court of International Arbitration 56
7 Conclusions 60
Chapter 3 Varying Approaches in Europe 63
1 Introduction 63
2 Sources of the Rules of Bias in Europe 64
2.1 Customary Law 64
2.2 Roman Law 65
2.3 Becoming an 'Absolute Rule' 67
3 European Human Rights Law 68
3.1 The ECHR and Arbitral Proceedings 69
3.2 Fair Trial Under the ECHR 71
3.3 EHR Court Principles of Arbitrator Impartiality 72
3.4 Could Sussex Justices Be Waived? 73
3.5 Conclusions on the ECHR 75
4 Municipal Laws 77
4.1 France 78
4.2International Chamber of Commerce 88
4.3 Belgium 91
4.4 The Netherlands 93
4.5 Permanent Court of Arbitration 94
4.6 Iran-United States Claims Tribunal 98
4.7 Germany 103
4.8 Austria 108
4.9 Switzerland 109
4.10 Court of Arbitration for Sport 115
4.11 Sweden 119
4.12 Stockholm Chamber of Commerce 122
5 Conclusions 126
Chapter 4 The American Way 129
1 Introduction 129
2 State Arbitration Law 130
2.1 Texas 131
2.2 California 133
2.3 The 'Sunkist Distinction' 136
3 Federal Arbitration Law 140
3.1 The 'Vacatur Only' Rule 141
3.2 Struggling with the Ratio in Commonwealth Coatings 143
3.3 US Public Policy 146
4 Proposed Changes to the FAA 160
5 Conclusion 162
Chapter 5 Competing Tests in the Asia Pacific Region 163
1 Introduction 163
2 Summary of the English Position 164
3 Approaches to Bias in the Asia Pacific Region 165
3.1 Australia 167
3.2 Hong Kong 174
3.3 Singapore 178
3.4 Malaysia 180
3.5 New Zealand 181
3.6 Canada 181
4 Conclusions 184
Chapter 6 Rules of Bias in the Lex Mercatoria 187
1 Introduction 187
2 Procedural Lex Mercatoria 188
3 Becoming a Rule of Customary Law 190
4 Sourcing a Challenge Rule in Lex Mercatoria 192
5 Are the IBA Guidelines Lex Mercatoria? 194
6 The Lists 201
7 Conclusions 208
Chapter 7 Bias Challenges in Investor-State Arbitration 211
1 Introduction 211
2 The Washington Convention 215
3 ICSID 216
4 The ICSID Lex Arbitri 218
4.1 The Washington Convention 219
4.2 ICSID Arbitration Rules 221
4.3 ICSID Jurisprudence 223
5 ICSID Challenge Decisions 224
6 Role/Issue Conflict and the Problem of Precedent 239
7 Reasons for the Trend Towards Sussex Justices 242
7.1 ICSID and the World Bank: North v. South 242
7.2 Cross Pollination with ICA Jurisprudence 245
8 Conclusion 246
Chapter 8 Causes and Cures 249
1 Introduction 249
1.1 Expert Hunters: The Arrival of the ICA Technocrat 251
1.2 Easy Targets: The Grand Old Men 252
1.3 Competition as a Cause 254
1.4 The Problem of Demand 255
1.5 Arguments for the Cure 256
2 The First Arm of Gough 258
2.1 Specialist Review 258
2.2 Confidentiality 260
2.3 Waiver 261
3 The Second Arm of Gough 263
3.1 Arbitrators Are Not Judges 263
3.2 The Presumption of Competence 267
3.3 Consistency with the Civil Standard of Proof 267
3.4 A Sunkist Compromise? 270
4 General Arguments for a Higher Threshold 271
4.1 In Favor Contractus and the Mitsubishi Doctrine 271
4.2 Manifest Breach of Procedural Public Policy 273
4.3 'Narrow' International Public Policy 273
4.4 Finality 274
4.5 Adopting Gough Has No Effect on the Rule in Dimes 275
5 Adopting the Gough Test Would Reduce the Rate of Challenge 276
6 Conclusion 278
Bibliography 281
Index 289
