Each year, the annual meeting of the Institute of World Business Law attracts a large number of participants and produces material of high quality which is published in the "Dossiers de l'Institut", a series that has gained international prestige. this success is explained by several factors: the choice of topics of practical interest; their treatment by eminent and experienced specialists from many parts of the world; the access to the exceptional think tank offered by the Institute Council. the annual meeting of the Institute is the place where practitioners are able to explore together issues which really impact their professional activities, either in the field of international arbitration or, more, generally, in the fields of international business law and practices.

The Institute's annual meeting held on 6 December 2010 was no exception to the rule, as reflected in this new Dossier prepared under the efficient supervision of Dr. Laurent Levy who was the main designer of the Conference. the Status, the powers and the role of the arbitrators central issues to the practice of international arbitration that international practitioners often approach with erroneous views, to the detriment of the whole arbitration process.

The contractual origin of arbitration is no longer seriously disputed. But, what is the arbitrator's contract? Is it a contract with the parties or in the case of institutional arbitration with the institution? On the contrary, is the institution only representing the parties? Is there a profession of arbitrator? those questions must be answered in ordered to assess the arbitrator's responsibility towards the parties and his or her social responsibility. the latter may not be ignored.

The arbitrator enjoys a very large freedom as to the law applicable to the merits of the dispute and, unless there is a breach of international public policy, no recourse is available against an arbitral award which is substantially wrong, even if it condemns a party to huge amounts of money! moreover, although the arbitrator has been given a mission by the parties, its implementation may affect third parties, public authorities and the public at large. the existence or non-existence of a duty of confidentiality in arbitration, the relations of the arbitrators with the press, the question whether they may have a reporting obligation, e.g. in case of laundering, corruption or other offences, are issues at the heart of the problem.

But it is obviously in his or her relations with the parties and their counsel that the arbitrator's status and powers play the more significant role. the arbitrator's contract includes the obligations to conduct the proceedings. When fulfilling such obligations, he or she has often to decide between opposing views of the parties. Sometimes, the arbitrators are also confronted with common agreements of the parties on the proceedings that they feel unable to accept because they are unreasonably costly or delay the arbitration unnecessarily. What are the arbitrators' duties in this respect? and what happens when the behavior of counsel is incompatible with the ethics of the legal profession or, more, simply, with elementary rules of politeness. Should the arbitrator play the role of a police officer to maintain order and substitute the various bars to enforce deontological rules? has an arbitrator the power to do so? the answer to those questions and many others may be found in this Dossier and allows the reader to decide whether arbitration is only good as the arbitrator.

In his introduction to last year's Dossier, Serge Lazareff stressed that "to write the foreword of our recurrent Dossier" is "one of the most pleasant yearly tasks of the Chairman of the Institute." I understand the feeling, in particular when my first foreword is devoted to the result of the works of an annual meeting which was dedicated to him.