Imparzialità, terzietà, neutralità e indipendenza degli arbitri

It is a fundamental principle in arbitration that every arbitrator must be and must remain independent and impartial towards the parties and the dispute. However, there is a lot of confusion and uncertainty regarding the topic. The arbitrator is a judge (a private judge); after the last arbitrators’ subscription, the award produces the effects of a judgement delivered by the judicial authority (art. 824 bis Italian Code of Civil Procedure). This involves the application of due process standards to arbitration. The A. analyzes the different concepts of impartiality, independence and neutrality. The cornerstone of these principles is the arbitrators’ disclosure obligation, which begins with their nomination and lasts throughout the arbitral proceedings. The IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (the IBA Guidelines) contains helpful guidance on best practice. After the above, the comparison between iudex suspectus and arbiter suspectus is taken into consideration. The paper argues that the mere fact that the judge appears partial is not allowed, since that is one of the cases referred to in Article 51 of the Italian Code of Civil Procedure, which justifies its challenge, regardless of the verification of its actual partiality. For the arbitrator, the reasoning must be reversed: what really matters is that he/she is effectively impartial.