Originally from Chamber of Arbitration of Milan Rules: A Commentary

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ARTICLE 18 – STATEMENT OF INDEPENDENCE AND CONFIRMATION OF ARBITRATORS

1. When giving notice of their acceptance, the arbitrators shall submit their statement of independence to the Secretariat.

2. In the statement of independence the arbitrator shall disclose, specifying the time and duration:
a. any relationship with the parties, their counsel or any other person or entity involved in the arbitration which may affect his/her impartiality or independence;
b. any personal or economic interest, either direct or indirect, in the subject matter of the dispute;
c. any bias or reservation as to the subject matter of the dispute.

3. The Secretariat shall forward a copy of the statement of independence to the parties. Within ten days from receipt of the statement, each party may file written comments with the Secretariat.

4. After the expiration of the time limit set in paragraph 3, the arbitrator shall be confirmed by the Secretariat if he/she has filed an unqualified statement of independence and none of the parties has filed any comments thereon. In any other case, the Arbitral Council shall decide whether or not the arbitrator shall be confirmed.

5. The statement of independence shall be re-submitted during the course of the arbitration, until its conclusion, in the event of supervening facts or at the request of the Secretariat.

1. Introductory remarks

1.1. Article 18 introduces the fundamental principle of arbitration, both domestic and international, whereby arbitrators must be independent and impartial throughout the arbitral proceedings.

Following the order of questions dealt with in the five sections of Article 18, this comment, after general and introductory remarks (1), will first examine the principles of independence (2) and impartiality (3) then the statement of independence and the duty of disclosure (4) with reference to the types and cases of statements submitted to the Chamber of Arbitration (5), the confirmation of the arbitrators (6), including the party-appointed arbitrator (7), the use of IBA Guidelines by the arbitral institution (8) and, finally, this comment will suggest why the arbitral institution should publish the decisions on independence (9).