Newsletter-21

208 NEWSLETTER 2016 disqualify the arbitral tribunal from continuing to serve as arbitrator. This could be through a separate a written waiver, the approval of CEDR Rules, or otherwise. To prevent any potential conflict under some jurisdictions, it is advised that such waiver/agreement be in writing. This agreement is nec- essary to protect the arbitrator from further challenges. • It may be advised that the arbitral tribunal discuss and agree with the parties the steps they will be taking to facilitate the settlement. However, the tribunal should refrain from meet- ing separately with either party, nor obtain information from one party that is not shared with the other. • The arbitral tribunal should have an open but not empty mind, having read and understood the parties’ pleadings, in order to be able to identify the relevant issues. • The arbitral tribunal should disregard substantive matters discussed in settlement meetings in making an award, unless it was already introduced in arbitration. • In protecting the integrity of the arbitration proceedings, the arbitrator may need to refrain from using certain alternative dispute resolution techniques. Techniques intended to obtain further information from the parties should, therefore, be used with caution. • It is advised that the tribunals not directly provide a detailed settlement proposal, but rather, either state their preliminary analysis, or provide the parties with general guidelines as to how they may reach settlement. • The timing of settlement discussions needs to be set on a case-by-case basis, bearing in mind the circumstances. A suggestion made pre-emptively may shed doubt on the dedi- cation of the tribunal, too late an attempt may be rendered useless if too much time and money has already been spent: It is up to the arbitrators to determine the appropriate timing. • The arbitrator shall resign if, as a consequence of involve- ment in the settlement process, the arbitrator doubts his or