The UK Supreme Court's decision in Halliburton Company v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd. (“Halliburton decision”), rendered at the end of 2020, involves few questions related to the independence and impartiality of arbitrators. The decision reiterated that the question of whether circumstances may incur reasonable doubts as to the arbitrator's independence and impartiality should be examined objectively from the perspective of an informed and impartial third party. The court should also take into account the nature of arbitration as a private dispute resolution method. The court also addressed the arbitrator's duty to disclose and its implications on arbitrator's impartiality.

In order to enhance the impartiality and independence of arbitrators, CAA incorporated the latest version of the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration into its standard Arbitrator's Statement in May 2017. The arbitrators are required to take into account the IBA Guidelines as well as Taiwan's Arbitration Law when considering any matters that might give rise to reasonable doubt to their impartiality.

To further illustrate the importance of the issues and provide concrete examples, CAA will host a workshop on arbitrator ethics on June 1, 2021. The seminar will be moderated by Professor Deng-Mei Ku, former member of Taiwan Control Yuan and President of the CAA Ethics Committee. Mr. Shilin Huang of K&L Gates and Ms. Marianne Chao of Jones Day will also present on “the implications of the Halliburton decision on the arbitrator's duty to disclose” and “critique of the ‘disclosure clause' in the CAA arbitrator statement”.
 
Other distinguished penalists include: Professor Huei-Huang Lin of Shih Hsin University, Ms. Helena Chen of iADR, Ms. Lilian Chu of Tsar & Tsai Law Firm, and Professor Shyh-Ming Chiang of the National Chengchi University College of Law.

Further information and registration are available via here.