An Arbitrator’s Duties: Due Process and Trust in Investor-State Arbitration
Carolyn B. Lamm, Eckhard R. Hellbeck & David P. Riesenberg
ABSTRACT
Most of the improvements being discussed for investor-State dispute settlement involve proposals of ever more lengthy and intricate rules.This article proposes a different, perhaps complementary approach by looking at the ability and duty of arbitrators to preserve trust in the investor-State arbitration system. Indeed, arbitrators are uniquely positioned to act as the principal guardians of the system by conducting each proceeding in accordance with fundamental rules of due process and procedural fairness based on the agreed procedures and the rule of law. In so doing, arbitrators alone have the inherent authority and the opportunity, but also the duty to the parties appearing before them, to build and preserve trust from the ground up.