Originally from The MENA Leading Arbitrators’ Guide to International Arbitration

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The Virtuous Arbitrator is a greatly respected former judge, who grew up in a peaceful and prosperous small northern European country. He received an austere education which later, at law school and at the Bar, molded his vision of the law in a country where rigorous values of honesty, frugality and service to the community have since centuries permeated every aspect of social life, from politics to the civil service and commerce. He had always fulfilled his judicial duties with fairness and equanimity, and refrained from entertaining those social and worldly contacts with advocates and businessmen that, he heard, were unfortunately not uncommon in many Latin countries. Shortly after his retirement, his former court had appointed him to preside on an arbitral tribunal, in a dispute relating to the delivery of damaged potatoes. The interests at stake were modest, but the matter had significantly affected the spirits of the purchaser, the honest owner of a restaurant whose ability to offer some of his signature dishes had been impaired for several days. The Virtuous Arbitrator had taken his duties in resolving this matter with the utmost seriousness, as he had always done on the bench. He had read the submissions meticulously, listened to the witnesses and the parties with a completely open mind, and drafted in a matter of weeks a balanced and just decision where each piece of evidence was discussed thoroughly. The outcome was fair, and both parties had accepted it graciously. His fees were modest, but he saw his role as an arbitrator as a service to the community; and, of course, he would never have raised an issue about that.