ERDEM-NEWSLETTER-2018-metin

176 NEWSLETTER 2018 The LCIA Court may revoke an appointment upon its own initia- tive, or when either all other members of the Arbitral Tribunal, or one of the parties, make a written request to the Court. The Rules provide for a 14-day time limit. This time limit starts following the formation of the Arbitral Tribunal, or when the request- ing party becomes aware of any of the above-mentioned grounds. The challenged arbitrator and the other party are given an opportunity to comment on the challenge. Where the parties do not agree on the chal- lenge, or the challenged arbitrator does not resign, the Court decides the challenge. Main Grounds for Challenge The main ground for challenge relates to the arbitrator’s indepen- dence and impartiality. In most cases, the requesting party makes ref- erence to a procedural decision that was contrary to its interest. Such procedural decisions are used as evidence of bias. Another ground the parties have relied on is alleged conflict of interest. Notes from Decisions Where the Challenge is Upheld Not surprisingly, in one of its decisions, the LCIA Court has concluded that arbitration practitioners who act as both arbitrator and counsel should be aware of potential conflicts 1 . It is generally accepted that the mere fact that an arbitrator who has acted as counsel against one of the parties in a previous case does not give rise to a justifiable doubt as to that arbitrator’s independence or impartiality. This has been acknowledged by the LCIACourt. How- ever, in the previous case where the arbitrator was acting as counsel against one of the parties, he/she had alleged that party’s fraud, albeit the issue remained undecided. The Court concluded that since there was such an allegation, there was a real possibility or danger that, the arbitrator would consciously or unconsciously be influenced by the evidence submitted in the present case when determining the issue involving that party 2 . 1 LCIA , 22 June 2012, No. 101689 and 101691. 2 LCIA , 31 July 2012, No. 122053.