Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

I. INTRODUCTION

The liability of arbitrators and arbitral institutions in international commercial arbitration is a topic that has evolved tremendously in the last 30 years, particularly in terms of the development of arbitration laws and rules of arbitral institutions. The issue has always been a contentious subject and remains one today, as reflected by the revisions to the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules (2010).1 We are not dealing in this short essay neither with the arguments in favor or against a particular system of liability, nor with the different theories in regard to arbitration. This essay instead considers the development of the concept of arbitrator and arbitral institution liability during the past 30 years and attempts to identify trends in that development.

An analysis of the various arbitral regimes demonstrates that the most common approach to arbitrator liability is one of partial liability; a system that does not hold arbitrators and institutions liable for negligent acts or omissions during the arbitration, but rather, only in more severe cases of bad faith or gross negligence.2