17.3 The Arbitrator

Meaning: the person appointed by the parties (or per their mechanism, or by the court's assistance where the mechanism fails) to adjudicate the referred dispute and render the award. Number: a sole arbitrator or a panel — where multiple, an odd number (avoiding the deadlock: the third/umpire arbitrator breaking the division; three the standard panel). Qualification: the parties' freedom governs — any person capable of contracting whom the parties trust (no statutory bar of the Act 2055's design beyond capacity; the expertise a matter of the parties' choice, not the law's requirement); impartiality and independence the substantive demand — the arbitrator's duty to disclose circumstances raising justifiable doubts about his neutrality. Appointment: per the parties' agreement (the named arbitrator or the agreed procedure — each party nominating one, the two choosing the third); failing the mechanism (a party's default or the nominees' disagreement), the court's assistance on application — the appointment supplied so the arbitration proceeds. Removal/challenge: for circumstances justifying doubts of impartiality or independence (the interest-and-bias grounds); for failure or impossibility to act (the procrastinating or incapacitated arbitrator); the challenge per the agreed procedure, or by the court on the removal's refusal; the replacement appointed per the original mechanism.