Shows how 'dirty' challenge tactics are made viable primarily by the prevalence of a judicially derived test for bias which focuses on appearances, rather than facts and He argues that the most commonly used test of bias, the 'reasonable apprehension' test, makes it easy to allege a lack of impartiality and independence.

The system of international arbitration is built on private contractual relations, yet has been endorsed by governments around the world as a fair and reliable alternative to litigation in State courts. As a private process, however, its authority and legitimacy derive entirely from the views and actions of those involved in the arbitral process, whether arbitrators, counsel, or parties. It is, though increasingly clear that psychological factors complicate, and in some cases radically change, every arbitral proceeding. In this context, psychological insights are crucial for understanding how international arbitration genuinely operates, and whether the legal framework currently applied to it is well-suited to achieving the aims of ensuring a fair and reliable dispute resolution procedure. This is the first book to focus on this important issue: the insights into international arbitration that can be gained from contemporary psychology. With contributions from nineteen internationally known figures in their fields – arbitrators, mediators, lawyers, law professors, psychology professors, psychologists – and drawing from a longer term project on the role of psychology in arbitration, this ground-breaking volume addresses a range of topics, including the following: - the decision-making processes of arbitrators; - the ability of arbitration to serve as a genuine dispute resolution mechanism; - the impact of particular procedures on the arbitral process; - bias, self-deception and vested interests in judgment and decision-making; - the role of arbitrators in managing the arbitral process; - cultural differences in the evaluation of arguments; - psychological influences on witness testimony; - the impact of tribunal composition on arbitral decision-making; - the influence of arbitration’s professional context on arbitrators and legal counsel; and - methods for arbitrators and legal counsel to more effectively manage the arbitral process. Informed by the behavioural insights in these essays, counsel and arbitrators will be enabled to think critically about the underlying assumptions and the potential behavioural effects of a prospective arbitration, while individuals researching arbitration will gain a greater understanding of the psychological context in which every arbitration occurs. This book meets the increasingly recognized need for understanding the role of psychology in arbitral proceedings, and forms an indispensable foundation for subsequent work in this area. Its innovative and forward-thinking analysis will be of immeasurable value to the international arbitration community, as well as to institutions supporting arbitration and to academics in the field.

It is increasingly held that international commercial arbitration is becoming colonized by litigation. This book addresses, in a range of ways and from various locations and sites, those aspects of arbitration practice that are considered crucial for its integrity as an institution and its independence as a professional practice. The chapters offer multiple perspectives on the major issues in play, highlighting challenges facing the institution of arbitration, and identifying opportunities available for its development as an institution. The evidence of arbitration practice presented is set against the background of practitioner perceptions and experience from more than 20 countries. The volume will serve as a useful resource for all scholars and practitioners interested in the institution of arbitration and its professional practices.

International investment law is in a state of evolution. With the advent of investor-State arbitration in the latter part of the twentieth century - and its exponential growth over the last decade - new levels of complexity, uncertainty and substantive expansion are emerging. States continue to enter into investment treaties and the number of investor-State arbitration claims continues to rise. At the same time, the various participants in investment treaty arbitration are faced with increasingly difficult issues concerning the fundamental character of the investment treaty regime, the role of the actors in international investment law, the new significance of procedure in the settlement of disputes and the emergence of cross-cutting issues. Bringing together established scholars and practitioners, as well as members of a new generation of international investment lawyers, this volume examines these developments and provides a balanced assessment of the challenges being faced in the field.

Most books on international commercial arbitration approach the subject through legal theory supported by anecdotal evidence. This remarkable book is distinguished by its focus on the application of quantitative empirical research to the study of international arbitration. It collects, together with commentary, the existing empirical literature on the subject, and also presents several studies published here for the first time. Beginning with a basic overview of the methods of empirical research (surveys, observational studies, experimental studies), the book goes on to reprint the existing empirical studies under six headings: why parties agree to arbitrate; arbitration clauses; arbitral procedures; arbitrator selection; rules of decision and applicable law; and, arbitration awards. Written in an easily accessible, non-technical manner, Towards a Science of International Arbitration provides the starting point for future empirical research on international arbitration by collecting the existing empirical literature in one place and by suggesting possible topics for research. It will be of inestimable value to lawyers and others involved in international dispute resolution, whether as arbitrators, parties, party representatives, or in-house counsel, as well as to academics interested in methods of resolving disputes in international commerce.

The agreement of disputing parties to each make a unilateral appointment of an arbitrator is among the most distinctive features of arbitral practice. A detailed examination, long overdue, of how this feature affects the actual process of arbitration is presented in this book. The study includes a historical analysis of unilateral nominations, a critical assessment of how the unilateral appointments system currently works and an empirical study of challenges of arbitrators. The author's critical assessment addresses several issues including: - limits to the right of the parties to make unilateral appointments; - the principle of equality of the parties in the constitution of the arbitral tribunal; - arbitrators’ duty to be impartial and independent; - specific problems of bias in tribunals with party-appointed members; - the question of whether a different standard of impartiality and independence in party-appointed arbitrators makes any sense; - the presumption that party-appointed arbitrators can do things that presiding arbitrators cannot; and - the question of whether it is worth keeping the system of unilateral appointments as the default method for the constitution of multiple-member tribunals, or keeping it at all. The empirical study, in which the author offers a comparative analysis of challenges of arbitrators taking into account the method of appointment of the arbitrator, reveals interesting differences and coincidences between party-appointed and non-party-appointed arbitrators. The book ends with some suggestions on how the system of unilateral appointments could be improved, namely in order to increase the trust of each party in the arbitrator appointed by the other party and to allow an accurate match between what arbitration end-users may want from party-appointed arbitrators and what they ultimately get. For both its thorough and well-informed analysis and its sound recommendations, the book is sure to be welcomed by professionals in the arbitral community worldwide, as well as by arbitration law academics.