Since the health crisis forced us to cancel all of our 2020 workshops, the French Arbitration Committee will hold its first 2021 workshop via videoconference on the following topic:

Updates on the Referee Contract

Tuesday, March 9, 2021, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The discussions will be moderated by Mr. Jacques Pellerin, Chair of the group; Ms. Claire Debourg, Ms. Priscille Pédone, and Ms. Laura Weiller; Mr. Vincent Chantebout and Mr. Raphaël Kaminsky; as well as Ms. Léonor Jandard, Associate Professor at the University of Paris Nanterre and author of a dissertation that won the 2019 Philippe Fouchard Prize on the topic “
” “The Relationship Between the Arbitrator and the Parties: A Critique of the Arbitrator’s Contract.”

Although not expressly provided for by law or regulation, the arbitrator’s contract has become established in case law and in the minds of legal practitioners as the embodiment of the relationship between the arbitrator and the parties to the arbitration. Its legal framework has been significantly clarified since the decree of January 13, 2011. In addition to the fact that this text expressly set forth a number of the rights and obligations of the arbitrator and the parties, since its entry into force, the arbitrator’s contract has given rise to litigation that offers valuable insights: the enforcement of arbitrators’ liability, the joint and several liability of the parties for the payment of their fees, and the court with subject-matter and international jurisdiction to rule on this contract…
These recent judicial decisions warrant further exploration.

First, with regard to the questions that certain decisions immediately raise: What breaches of the arbitrator’s contract are likely to give rise to the arbitrator’s liability? In the case of a collegial arbitral tribunal, is liability individual or collective?

More generally, the question of which law applies to this contract remains. We already know that, in the context of international arbitration, the Court of Cassation has ruled out any reference to state law in order to hold the parties jointly and severally liable for the payment of fees, but what about all the other issues?

Finally, disputes concerning the arbitrator’s contract fall within the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. Here again, this raises a great many questions: the question of which court has international jurisdiction, but also, beyond that, the question of whether it is appropriate for the ordinary courts to intervene in disputes related to the conduct of the arbitration proceedings. This raises a fundamental question regarding the risks posed by such interference by state courts in the operation of arbitration.

It is around these questions that the French Arbitration Committee’s arbitration practice group invites practitioners and academics to engage in an open online discussion.

Participation is open to all, provided that participants register in advance with the French Arbitration Committee.

Registration is done by email by contacting Ms. Aline Cambon: secretariat@cfa-arbitrage.com (mailto:secretariat@cfa-arbitrage.com)
Please provide, clearly and completely, your last name, first name, title(s), mailing address, phone number, and email address.

The Refereeing Workshop begins at 6:00 p.m. sharp.

Participation in this seminar counts toward mandatory continuing education (2 hours) upon request via email to the CFA.