Asymmetric Appointment of Arbitrators - Chapter Summary in English

1. Asymmetry is defined in the Concise Oxford English dictionary as "lack of symmetry," and symmetry as "the quality of being made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis." In arbitration, the appointment of arbitrators is asymmetric where the parties to the arbitration are placed in different positions for appointing the arbitrators. This is the case where one party alone may constitute the arbitral tribunal or take part in its appointment.

2. Held up by the DUTCO judgment as a requirement of international public policy, the principle of equality of the parties does not permeate all the different methods of forming an arbitral tribunal with the same degree of force. Comparative law shows that foreign legal systems do not treat it as having the same mandatory character. This diversity of approach makes it necessary to reconsider both the place and the force of the principle when it comes into play in the constitution of an arbitral tribunal.