Beijing Arbitration Commission Ethical Standards for Arbitrators

(Revised and adopted at the 5th Meeting of the 4th Beijing Arbitration Commission on August 14, 2006. Effective from September 1, 2006)

Article 1

This Ethical Standards is formulated to promote the development of arbitration and standardize the conduct of arbitrators.

This Ethical Standards is the ethical guidelines for arbitrators and shall not form part of the Arbitration Rules of the Beijing Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as Arbitration Rules).

Article 2

An arbitrator shall resolve the disputes of parties in a fair, impartial, diligent and efficient manner.

Article 3

An arbitrator shall act honestly and credibly, and shall accept an appointment by the parties or the Chairman of Beijing Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as BAC) (hereinafter referred to as Accepting an Appointment) only if he is fully satisfied that he meets the following requirement:

1. he is capable of discharging his duties without bias;

2. he has the requisite knowledge, experience and ability to resolve cases;

3. he is able to give the time and attention to hear the case within the time limit prescribed by the Arbitration Rules and Selected Provisions of the Beijing Arbitration Commission on Raising Arbitration Efficiency (hereinafter referred to as the Selected Provisions);

4. he is involved in hearing cases of which less than ten are pending.

Article 4

Where an arbitrator, in a bid to solicit appointment, contacts a party/the parties, such an act is a breach of the code of ethics.

Article 5

When accepting an appointment, an arbitrator shall be obliged to disclose in writing all facts or circumstances that may give rise to justifiable doubts as to his impartiality or independence, including but not limited to:

1. he is a party to the dispute or is its representative, or is a close relative of a party or its representative;

2. he has an interest in the outcome of the case;

3. he has previously provided advice for the case;

4. he has private discussions on the case with the party/parties or its/their representative/s or has accepted a treat or gift from a party or its representative or has been provided with other benefits;

5. he has recommended or introduced a representative to a party for this case;

6. he has acted as a witness, appraiser, investigator, defense counsel or representative for this case or related case(s);

7. he is a colleague, agent, employee/employer, consultant of a party or its representative;

8. he has joint rights, joint obligations or other joint interests with a party or its representative;

9. he is one of the co-arbitrators with a party or its representative constituting the tribunal for another contemporaneous arbitration case/s, or in the case of a presiding arbitrator, he has been appointed arbitrator by a party within the past two years for other arbitration cases;

10. he has a close friendly relationship with or bears a grudge against a party or its representative;

11. any other circumstance(s) that may affect the impartial conduct of the arbitration.

If, during the arbitration any new circumstances occurred that may give rise to such doubts, an arbitrator shall continue to fulfill his obligation on disclosure. For failure to do so, the said arbitrator shall deem to have breached this Ethical Standards notwithstanding the fact that the undisclosed fact does not constitute a case of unsuitability to act as arbitrator.

Article 6

In the course of arbitration, an arbitrator shall treat both parties equally and fairly and shall avoid any words or deeds that may create the impression of partiality or bias.

An arbitrator shall be patient and courteous to the parties, their representatives, the witnesses, the appraisers and the other participants in the proceedings and shall conduct himself with propriety.

Article 7

An arbitrator shall not accept a treat or gift from or provide other benefits directly or indirectly to a party or its representative.

Article 8

In the course of arbitration, an arbitrator shall not meet nor accept any evidence submitted by a party or its representative privately and shall not discuss the case directly or indirectly with any party or its representative in the absence of the other party (including but not limited to conversation, telephone, letter, facsimile, telex, or e-mail).

In the course of mediation, the arbitral tribunal shall consider carefully the decision to assign an arbitrator to meet one of the parties or its representative in the absence of the other party; where the arbitral tribunal has decided on assigning an arbitrator to meet one of the parties or its representatives in the absence of the other party, a secretary must be present and the other party must be notified.

Article 9

An arbitrator shall not act as a representative for any BACs arbitration cases (including an application to set aside or for non enforcement of an arbitral award rendered by the BAC), and shall also not make inquiries regarding a case on behalf of someone else nor lavish dinners and gifts or grant favours and benefits to member(s) of the arbitral tribunal or the secretary on behalf of someone else .

Article 10

An arbitrator shall perform all his duties conscientiously and diligently and shall as far as possible conclude the case promptly within the prescribed time limit.

Article 11

An arbitrator shall conduct the hearing independently and shall not allow any personal interest or outside pressure to affect the impartiality of the arbitral award.

Article 12

An arbitrator shall faithfully fulfill his obligation to maintain confidentiality and shall not disclose his views or the nature of the arbitration tribunal panel discussion to any party to the arbitration or any outsider. An arbitrator shall also maintain confidentiality on all relevant issues pertaining to the arbitration proceedings, awards and trade secret of the parties.

Article 13

Where an arbitrator has breached this Ethical Standards, the BAC shall, depending on the circumstances, not renew his appointment and may even dismiss him.

Article 14

This Ethical Standards shall come into effect from 1 September 2006.