On Thursday, April 9, Professor Victoria Shannon debated the merits of arbitrator disqualification due to “issue conflicts” during a session entitled “ASIL-ICCA Task Force on Issue Conflicts in International Arbitration: Briefing and Discussion” at the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The term “issue conflicts” refers to the increasing number of proposals to disqualify arbitrators in international arbitration disputes on the ground of bias arising from views expressed in prior decisions and scholarship. ASIL and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) created a joint task force to explore the question of “issue conflicts” with the aim of developing some form of guidance for the international arbitration community. The Task Force has finalized its draft report, which is now posted on the websites of ASIL and ICCA for comments. This session at ASIL featured a mock debate about the merits of “issue conflicts” in which Professor Shannon served as one of the debaters. The session also invited participants in the ASIL Annual Meeting to comment on and discuss the draft report.
