ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

127 ARBITRATION LAW acceptable to all stakeholders 9 has been adopted, which is based on the standard of equal opportunity, which provides that arbitral appoint- ments should be based on equal qualifications. This standard of fair representation requires fact-specific determination, which depends on the context of the opportunity. Geographical Diversity This type of diversity may be ensured through the appointment of arbitrators from various geographical areas, with different legal back- grounds. However, it should also be considered that the appointment of a certain arbitrator from a certain country has to do with the educa- tion and legal background of the arbitrator. For instance, in accordance with the ICC statistics, cases filed in 2017 involved 2.316 parties, and 784 of these parties were from North and West Europe. Accordingly, the nationalities with the most arbitrators taking a role in ICC proceed- ings are British and French arbitrators, followed by Swiss, US and German arbitrators 10 , which probably has to do with the specifics of the cases filed. Diversity and Quality of the Arbitrators’ Decision-making The efforts to ensure diversity, especially coming from the users of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism, depend largely on whether they see diversity as a factor contributing to the quality of de- cisions. A recent study reveals that there are different views concerning the causal relationship between the diversity in a panel of arbitrators and the quality of its decision-making 11 . More specifically, one quar- ter of the users taking part in this study stated that this issue depended on the particularities of the dispute in question; whereas, 40% of the users stated that there was some, or even significant, improvement in quality with diversity. Again, approximately one-fifth of the users see this effect as irrelevant, since diversity is inherently valuable, and 13% believe that there is no appreciable difference in quality. 9 Commentary to Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge. 10 ICC Figures – 2017. 11 Arbitration Survey, p. 16-17.