Arbitrator Accreditation flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Separability doctrine

The arbitration clause is treated as an agreement separate from the main contract, so it survives termination or invalidity of that contract and allows the tribunal to rule on its own jurisdiction.

Competence-competence

The principle that an arbitral tribunal may decide on its own jurisdiction, including objections to the existence or validity of the arbitration agreement, without waiting for a court ruling.

Seat of arbitration

The legal place of the arbitration, which fixes the lex arbitri and the supervisory courts. It is distinct from where hearings are held and from the contract's governing law.

Lex arbitri

The national procedural law governing the arbitration, usually the law of the seat. It regulates tribunal powers, court assistance, challenge of awards, and mandatory due-process guarantees.

Article V New York Convention

The exhaustive list of grounds on which recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award may be refused, including incapacity, lack of notice, excess of jurisdiction, and public policy.

Article II referral

The New York Convention rule requiring a court seized of an action covered by an arbitration agreement to refer the parties to arbitration unless the agreement is null and void, inoperative, or incapable of performance.

Public policy exception

A narrow ground allowing a court to refuse enforcement of an award that violates fundamental notions of justice or morality in the forum state; mere legal error is insufficient.

UNCITRAL Model Law

A non-binding template statute for national arbitration laws, widely adopted. Its 2006 revision added provisions on interim measures and revised the written-form requirement for arbitration agreements.

Provisional timetable

The procedural calendar set at the first session, covering pleadings, document production, witness statements, expert reports, the hearing, and post-hearing briefs, subject to revision.

Terms of reference

A document sometimes required at the outset, summarising the parties, claims, relief sought, and issues in dispute; under some institutional rules it must be signed and transmitted to the institution.

Document production

The exchange of documents on request, limited to documents relevant and material to the case. Requests must identify specific documents or narrow categories, not broad fishing expeditions.

Redfern Schedule

A tabular document-production tool with columns for the requested document, its relevance, the objecting party's reasons, and the tribunal's decision, used to organise and decide requests efficiently.

Procedural order number one

The tribunal's first procedural order, typically recording the constitution, the applicable rules, the timetable, the language, and the rules on evidence and document production.

Bifurcation

Splitting the proceedings into separate phases, commonly jurisdiction or liability first and quantum later, to save time and cost when a preliminary issue may dispose of the case.

Interim measures

Provisional relief preserving the status quo or preventing harm pending the final award, granted by the tribunal where empowered or by a national court, and typically subject to security.

Adverse inference

A conclusion a tribunal may draw against a party that fails to produce ordered documents, refuses to explain a witness's absence, or otherwise withholds relevant evidence within its control.

Majority decision rule

Where arbitrators disagree, the award is made by the majority; if no majority exists, many institutional rules provide that the presiding arbitrator's vote decides the matter.

Joinder of third party

Adding a party to a pending arbitration, permitted only with consent of all parties, an applicable rule allowing it, or a common arbitration agreement covering that party.

Award formalities

A valid award must be in writing, dated, and signed. Majority signatures suffice if the reason for any omitted signature is stated, and the seat must be identified.

Reasons requirement

The tribunal must state the reasons for its decision, addressing the parties' essential submissions and dispositive issues; failure to deal with a key argument may ground a challenge.

Operative part of award

The dispositive section stating exactly what each party must pay or do, drafted so that an enforcing court can execute it without needing to interpret conditions or ambiguities.

Ex aequo et bono

Deciding by what is fair and equitable rather than by strict law, permitted only where the parties have expressly authorised the tribunal to act as amiable compositeur.

Award interpretation request

A party request, usually filed within 30 days of receiving the award, asking the tribunal to clarify a specific point or part of the award without altering its substance.

Additional award

A request to the tribunal to decide claims presented in the arbitration but omitted from the award, typically filed within 30 days of receipt and decided within a short further period.

Costs allocation

The tribunal's reasoned decision on who bears arbitration costs and legal fees, often following the event but subject to apportionment based on relative success and conduct.

Res judicata effect

The binding effect of the award's dispositive part and the findings essential to it, preventing the same claims between the same parties from being re-litigated.

Dissenting opinion

A separate statement by an arbitrator who disagrees with the majority, optional and not affecting the award's validity, but it must not breach deliberation secrecy or undermine the majority.

Independence and impartiality

Arbitrators must be free of links to the parties and free of bias, actual or apparent. Both duties are continuing, and doubts must be disclosed as soon as they arise.

IBA conflict guidelines

Non-binding guidelines categorising conflict situations into Red, Orange, and Green lists to help arbitrators, parties, and institutions assess disclosure and challenge questions consistently.

Continuing disclosure duty

The obligation to disclose circumstances likely to create doubts about independence or impartiality not only before appointment but throughout the arbitration as new facts emerge.

Ex parte communication ban

A prohibition on private contact between a party and an arbitrator about the merits; administrative contact must be disclosed to the other parties and the tribunal.

Third-party funding disclosure

The requirement, under some rules and laws, to reveal the existence and identity of a funder so that arbitrators can check for conflicts and the tribunal can manage the proceedings.