Lisbon Court of Appeal | Independence and Impartiality of the Arbitrators | IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest | Multiple Appointments | Duty to Disclose | Case #108
Case nr. 1577/18.0YRLSB-1
11-02-2020
LINK DGSI
Summary:
I- Non-compliance or defective fulfilment of the duty to disclose shall not in itself constitute grounds for disqualification of the arbitrator, and it is necessary that circumstances be brought to light from which evidence may be extracted that, in objective terms, merits a judgement regarding independence and impartiality.
II- However, failure to comply with the duty to disclose may constitute grounds for disqualification in those extreme cases where failure to disclose refers to a circumstance so fundamental that, in itself, it justifies doubts about independence or impartiality.
III- If the number of times that an arbitrator is appointed by the same party or by a certain law firm representing different parties, within a period of three years, reaches several tens, there shall arise a legitimate suspicion that a relationship of loyalty has been created between this arbitrator and this party, or between this arbitrator and this law firm;
IV- Where all such cases are in respect to industry specific property rights arising from pharmaceutical patents, this is a strong indication that the arbitrator makes this type of arbitration a profession and that these proceedings constitute a very significant part of his income.
Summary and headlines kindly prepared by Avani Agarwal (final year law student at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, India; Avani Agarwal may be contacted by email: avaniagarwal28@gmail.com
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