Report No. 260

(ii) Suggested draft:

14.6(ii) Upon nomination and, if appointed, every arbitrator shall, on an ongoing basis, disclose in writing any circumstances that may, in the eyes of the Parties, give rise to doubts as to her/his independence, impartiality, or freedom from conflicts of interest.

This includes any grounds provided for in the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitrations, as applicable on the date of occurrence of the dispute, and any other relevant circumstances pertaining to the subject matter of the dispute, and to existing or past, direct or indirect, financial, personal, business, or professional relationships with any of the parties, legal counsel, representatives, witnesses, or co-arbitrators.

Such disclosure shall be made immediately upon the arbitrator acquiring knowledge of such circumstances, and shall be made to the co-arbitrators, the parties to the arbitration and the appointing authority, if any, making an appointment. Neither the ability of those individuals or entities to access this information independently, nor the availability of that information in the public domain, will relieve any arbitrator of his or her affirmative duty to make these disclosures. Doubts regarding whether disclosure is required shall be resolved in favour of such disclosure.