NEWSLETTER-2020-metin

205 ARBITRATION LAW efficient and expeditious means for the final resolution of the parties’ dispute. The arbitral tribunal’s power has also been expressly recognized in respect of early dismissal of claims. Pursuant to Article 22.1(viii), the tribunal may issue an order or award determining that any claim, defence, counterclaim, cross-claim, defence to counterclaim or de- fence to cross-claim is manifestly outside its jurisdiction, or is inad- missible or manifestly without merit. This is another tool that shall allow arbitrators to expedite proceedings. The LCIARules 2020 allow the submission of composite Request for Arbitration and Response, thus multiple arbitrations against one or more respondents and under one or more arbitration agreement may be commenced. The tribunal’s and the LCIACourt’s power to order consolidation of arbitrations has also been updated. The newArticle 22A, deals with the LCIA Court’s and the tribunal’s power to order consolidation or concurrent conduct of arbitrations, and sets out the tribunals power to order consolidated or concurrent proceedings where the disputes arise under compatible arbitration agreements, and relate to the same or a series of transactions. This is, thus, an expansion of the situations in which consolidation is available. Another important issue the rules now deal with relates to tri- bunal secretaries, and a new article has been incorporated as Article 14.A. Tribunals may require assistance from a tribunal secretary that may positively impact the effectiveness of the proceedings. However, there has been much debate as to the role of tribunal secretaries. The provision clearly expresses that under no circumstances may a tribunal delegate its decision-making function to a tribunal secretary. Addition- ally, Article 14.8 states that “ All tasks carried out by a tribunal secre- tary shall be carried out on behalf of, and under the supervision of, the Arbitral Tribunal, which shall retain its responsibility to ensure that all tasks are performed to the standard required by the LCIA Rules .” This emphasizes the control the arbitrators shall maintain over the tri- bunal secretary. It should be noted that the use of a tribunal secretary is subject to the approval of the parties.