NEWSLETTER-2019-metin

172 NEWSLETTER 2019 As per the Checklist, witness conferencing is efficient if there is conflicting opinion evidence on a topic requiring testing. If the tribu- nal has experience or expertise on the issue covered by the witnesses, the CIArb Guidelines suggests tribunal-led conferencing 10 . Although fact witnesses may also be subject to witness confer- encing, it is less common to examine them via conferencing in com- parison to expert witnesses, since experts may ground their diverging approaches on the issue at hand to professional reasoning, whereas fact-based witnesses often struggle to do so with the facts 11 . Hence, the CIArb Guidelines underline possible drawbacks of using witness conferencing for fact-based witnesses 12 . The Checklist provides a noteworthy assessment on the relation- ship between the witnesses 13 . Accordingly, the CIArb Guidelines in- vite the practitioners to consider pre-existing relationships and cultural backgrounds of the witnesses. Most notably, it is illustrated that in some cultures, seniority (of age and/or profession) affects interaction amongst witnesses. Accordingly, while junior witnesses face cultural difficulties in rebutting the seniors, the seniors may not even deem it necessary to justify his/her views due to seniority which, in the end, reduces the quality of evidence. In addition, the Checklist provides an illustrative joint report format showing issues agreed and disagreed upon. The Standard and Specific Directions The Standard Directions of the CIArb Guidelines offer a proce- dural framework focusing on the tribunal’s initial, or an early proce- dural order, on the conduct of the arbitration 14 . Accordingly, it suggests 10 The CIArb Guidelines, p. 26. 11 For further information on witness conferencing of fact-based witnesses, please see: Hendel, Clifford J .: “Witness Conferencing Involving Witnesses of Fact: A Good Idea Whose Time Has Not Yet Come?” International Bar Association Arbitration News, Vol. 16, No.1, March 2011, for access: https://www.hendel -idr. com/wp-content/uploads/arbitration-witness-conferencing-iba-arbitration-news- march11.pdf. 12 The CIArb Guidelines, p. 28. 13 The CIArb Guidelines, p.16 and 30-33. 14 The CIArb Guidelines, p.18-19 and 45-51.