At the heart of any dispute resolution model is the requirement for the decision maker to be seen by the parties as impartial and independent. In arbitration, the arbitrator is the decision maker and is required to disclose any circumstance that might give rise to justifiable doubt as to his impartiality and independence. In simple terms, the arbitrator must not be influenced by any other factor other than the merits of the case (i.e., the arbitrator must not be conflicted). The requirement for the arbitrator to avoid conflict of interest is aimed at ensuring due process and vesting legitimacy and trust in the arbitral process. Accordingly, where a circumstance may raise justifiable doubts as to the impartiality of an arbitrator, he is required to disclose, refuse to accept an appointment, or resign (where he has accepted an appointment) where necessary.

The seemingly clear phrase “circumstance giving rise to justifiable doubts”, has over the years proven to be quite opaque in some instances. This has led to many conflicts of interest challenges in international arbitration. To guide arbitrators and parties in navigating uncertain circumstances (when they do occur), the International Bar Association (IBA), on May 22, 2004, issued its first-ever Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (“2004 Guidelines”). The 2004 Guidelines provided practical examples and hypothetical situations to define the situations that qualify or lead to a potential conflict of interest and categorised these situations in a traffic-light system (green, orange and red list).

Following the wide acceptance of the 2004 Guidelines, the IBA introduced the 10-year review system. Through this review system, the IBA ensures that the Guidelines are reviewed every 10 years to ensure they are updated with best practices. Further to this, on October 13, 2014, the IBA introduced the 2014 Guidelines (“2014 Guidelines”), which replaced the 2004 Guidelines, imposed stricter standards on an arbitrator’s independence and impartiality, and provided more disclosure instances not contemplated by the 2004 Guidelines. The 2014 Guidelines expanded the scope of application to all international arbitration, whether lawyers or non-lawyers arbitrate the proceedings, tribunal chairs, sole arbitrators, and co-arbitrators. Similarly, in February 2024, the IBA released its updated Guidelines to replace the 2014 Guidelines – the 2024 IBA Guidelines (“2024 Guidelines”).

This paper examines the notable provisions and changes introduced by the 2024 IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration and proffers recommendations for arbitration users.