Regulations on Independence and Impartiality of Arbitrators of the Arbitration Centre at the RSPP

Article 1. General Provisions

1. These Regulations the Arbitration Centre at the RSPP (the “Arbitration Centre”) are adopted in accordance with provisions of the Federal Law “On Arbitration in the Federal Law “On Arbitration (Arbitral Tribunals) in the Russian Federation” and the Law of the Russian Federation “On International Commercial Arbitration”,  and set forth requirements of independence and impartiality of arbitrators in relation to arbitration administered by the Arbitration Centre.

2. These Regulations are devised subject to, and on the basis of, documents prepared by both international and national professional associations and leading permanent arbitration institutions.

3. The Regulations are applicable subject to agreement between parties, the Regulation on the Arbitration Centre, the Arbitrations Rules of the Arbitration Centre, other regulations of the Arbitration Centre and other applicable laws.

Article 2. Scope and Application

1. These Regulations provide for standards of ethical conduct for arbitrators, individuals offered to act as arbitrators and candidate arbitrators, including requirements to their independence and impartiality, disclosure of certain information and their contacts with parties to arbitrators and their representatives.

2. These Regulations shall apply to any arbitration administered by the Arbitration Centre.

Article 3. Basic Terms and Definitions

1. For the purposes of these Regulations, the following terms and definitions shall be used:

1) “arbitrator” means an individual selected by a party or duly appointed to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration, who has expressed his or her consent to act as arbitrator, including a presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator, standby presiding arbitrator, standby sole arbitrator and a standby arbitrator;

2) “individual offered to act as arbitrator” means an individual selected by a party or appointed to resolve a dispute by way of arbitration, who has not yet duly expressed his or her consent to act as arbitrator or who has not rejected such selection or appointment.

2. Any other concepts and terms used in these Regulations shall apply in their meanings used in the regulations of the Arbitration Centre and laws of the Russian Federation.

Article 4. General Requirements to Independence and Impartiality of Arbitrators

1. Since he or she has agreed to act as arbitrator and throughout the arbitration, an arbitrator must be independent and impartial in respect of parties to arbitration.

2. An arbitrator is not independent if, from the viewpoint of a reasonable informed person, there is reasonable doubt that such a relationship between the arbitrator and parties to arbitration, their representatives, experts, advisors, witnesses, who are able to influence the arbitrator’s opinion on the case, does not exist.

3. An arbitrator is not impartial if, from the viewpoint of a reasonable informed person, there is reasonable doubt that he or she is not directly or indirectly interested in the outcome of a case and does not have any preconceived preferences or other bias in respect of a particular party to arbitration, its representative, expert, advisor, witness who are able to influence the arbitrator’s opinion on the case.

Article 5. Facts Unconditionally Disqualifying Arbitrators

The following facts indicate that an arbitrator is not independent or impartial and debar him or her from acting as arbitrator:

1) an arbitrator, his spouse or close relative act or have acted before in the case in question as a party to arbitration, its representative, expert, advisor or witness;

2) an arbitrator, his spouse or close relative hold a material shareholding in the authorised (share) capital or serves as a member of an executive body, board of directors (supervisory board) or another body of the legal entity that acts as a party to arbitration or is a parent or a subsidiary in relation to a party to arbitration or its representative. Such a shareholding shall be in any case deemed material if such an arbitrator, his spouse or close relative individually or jointly hold a shareholding exceeding one percent of such an authorised (share) capital;

3) an arbitrator is a spouse or close relative of an arbitrator sitting on the same arbitral tribunal;

4) an arbitrator is employed by a party to arbitration (its parent or subsidiary) or its representative or receives remuneration from them under independent contractor agreements or represents a party to arbitration in other unrelated proceedings or acts as an expert or advisor therein;

5) an arbitrator has made public announcements in respect of the case in question and, in particular, has publicly given his legal evaluation of it.

Article 6. Facts Requiring Disclosure

1. An arbitrator must promptly disclose any facts that may raise doubts as to his impartiality and independence in the eyes of parties to arbitration.

2. Any doubts must be interpreted in favour of disclosure of relevant facts.

3. In particular, the following facts are to be disclosed:

1) an arbitrator has been employed by a party to arbitration (or such a party’s parent or subsidiary) or its representative or received remuneration from them under independent contractor agreements for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration;

2) an arbitrator has represented any of the parties to arbitration in any other unrelated proceedings or acted in another case involving one of the parties to arbitration as a representative, expert or advisor for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration;

3) over the course of arbitration (or for three years preceding its commencement) an arbitrator is employed by, or receives remuneration under independent contractor agreements from, an entity or is a member of a bar association provided that such an entity or bar association (members of such an entity or bar association) provide or have provided for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration legal services to one of the parties to arbitration or its parent or subsidiary in the dispute in question or in another unrelated proceeding;

4) an arbitrator and a representative or an expert or an advisor of one of the parties to arbitration are or have been for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration employed by one and the same entity;

5) an arbitrator is or has been for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration dependent on another arbitrator from the same arbitral tribunal ex officio;

6) an arbitrator, his spouse or close relative hold an equity interest in the authorised (share) capital of a party to arbitration or its parent or subsidiary while such equity interest is not material;

7) an arbitrator has not been earlier selected by a party to arbitration (its parent or subsidiary) as an arbitrator in another proceeding or otherwise selected (appointed) as an arbitrator in another proceeding involving a party to arbitration provided that such other proceeding is by the nature of its claims related to the dispute in question and such other proceeding was not commenced concurrently with this arbitration;

8) an arbitrator held discussions with a party to arbitration or its representative of any matter pertaining to this arbitration in breach of the provisions contemplated by Articles 9 - 10 of these Regulations;

9) an arbitrator acts or has acted for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration as a research supervisor or a research advisor in respect of a PhD thesis to a representative of a party to proceedings or a representative of a party to proceedings acts or has acted for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration as a research supervisor or a research advisor in respect of a PhD thesis to an arbitrator;

10) close friendship exists between an arbitrator and a representative of one of the parties to the same arbitration, in particular, an arbitrator and a representative of a party regularly meet outside their professional activities and apart from their involvement with professional associations or non-governmental organisations;

11) an arbitrator and a representative of one of the parties to the same arbitration have been or are now representatives of opposing litigants in any other judicial proceedings or arbitration;

12) two arbitrators in an arbitral tribunal or an arbitrator and a representative of one of the parties have acted as co-representatives during three years preceding disclosure.

4. The disclosure of the facts specified in this Article in itself does not mean that there are reasonable doubts as to his independence or impartiality, will not prevent him from assuming the role of, or acting as, arbitrator and will not make satisfaction of a request for the arbitrator’s disqualification mandatory.

Article 7. Disclosure Procedure

1. The facts contemplated by Article 6 of these Regulations are to be disclosed before an individual assumes the role of an arbitrator, and, if such facts emerge or become known to an arbitrator at a later stage of arbitration, immediately after the arbitrator becomes aware of such facts.

2. In order to perform his disclosure obligations contemplated by Article 6 of these Regulations, an arbitrator must take into account all information available to him and conduct a reasonable verification of such available information.

3. If certain facts falling under information with restricted access (state secrets, commercial, official, professional and other secrets protected under applicable law) are to be disclosed, an individual offered to act as arbitrator or an arbitrator must seek prior consent to such disclosure from an authority or individual authorised to give such consent and, unless such consent is obtained in reasonable time, to decline to assume the role of an arbitrator or, if he has already accepted such a role, to discontinue to act as arbitrator and recuse himself.

Article 8. Facts Not Requiring Disclosure

1. An arbitrator is not under obligation to disclose any facts that cannot raise reasonable doubts as to his impartiality or independence in the eyes of parties to arbitration.

2. In particular, the following facts do not prevent an arbitrator from exercising his powers and are not subject to disclosure:

1) an arbitrator has presented a general opinion on a legal matter discussed in the case irrespective of the dispute in question in print media or over the course of a public lecture;

2) a representative of a party to a case is or was a student at an educational institution at which an arbitrator teaches or taught in the past;

3) an arbitrator is or was a member of a bar association, another professional association or non-governmental organisation together with a representative of a party to a case, expert, advisor, witness or other arbitrators from the same arbitral tribunal;

4) several arbitrators from the same arbitral tribunal work or worked in the past at the same organisation provided that the arbitrators are not and have not been for three years preceding the commencement of arbitration dependent on each other ex officio;

5) several arbitrators from the same arbitral tribunal or an arbitrator and a representative of a party, expert, advisor, witness are independent co-authors of one collective publication or have acted as editors or reviewers of the same publication;

6) several arbitrators from the same arbitral tribunal are or have earlier been members of the same arbitral tribunal in another case;

7) an arbitrator, representative of a party, expert, advisor, witness are or have earlier been members of the same arbitral tribunal in another case unrelated to this dispute;

8) an arbitrator has been selected as arbitrator by the same party to arbitration or its parent or subsidiary in another proceeding (proceedings) or otherwise selected (appointed) as arbitrator in another proceeding (proceedings) involving a party to arbitration provided that such other proceeding (proceedings) is not by the nature of its claims related to the dispute in question and such other proceeding (proceedings), which is by the nature of its claims related to the dispute in question, was commenced concurrently with this arbitration;

9) an arbitrator has participated in any public events (conferences, seminars, presentations, etc.) financed or organised by a party to arbitration or its representative provided that such an arbitrator has not received any honorarium from such a party to arbitration or its representative;

10) an arbitrator and a representative of a party to arbitration, expert, advisor, witness are or have earlier been placed on the same list of arbitrators or mediators used by a permanent arbitration institution or another alternative dispute resolution body;

11) an arbitrator is not and was not in the past a consumer of any goods (work, services) of a party to arbitration or its parent or subsidiary while terms of purchase by such an arbitrator of such goods (work, services) are similar to the terms on which other consumers purchase such goods (work, services);

12) an arbitrator and a manager, director or member of a supervisory council or another person exerting influence on one of the parties to arbitration have acted jointly as experts or arbitrators;

13) an arbitrator is connected with a party to arbitration or its representative or an affiliate through social media;

14) a party to arbitration or its representative has conducted an interview with an arbitrator candidate in accordance with the requirements contemplated by these Regulations prior to appointment or selection of an arbitrator.

Article 9. Contacts of a Potential Candidate Arbitrator with a Party to Arbitration or Its Representative

1. If pursuant to arbitration Regulations a party to arbitration has the right to select an arbitrator, before taking a decision to select the individual who will be offered to act as arbitrator, the party to arbitration or its representative may offer to a potential candidate arbitrator (the “candidate”) to hold an interview with him subject to the procedures contemplated by this article.

2. An interview is conducted solely to confirm that there is no reasonable doubt as to the candidate’s independence and impartiality, to determine the candidate's compliance with requirements to professional qualification and experience as required to act as arbitrator and to determine that the candidate has sufficient time to participate in arbitration.

3. If a candidate has agreed to be interviewed, the candidate may only discuss the following matters during such an interview conducted by a party to arbitration or its representative:

1) names of parties to arbitration, names of parents and subsidiaries in relation to parties to arbitration and their representatives, names of third parties that are or may be involved in arbitration, names of other selected or appointed members of an arbitral tribunal and names of experts, advisors and witnesses to be engaged;

2) the general nature of a dispute, relief sought, language of arbitration, applicable law, seat of arbitration and applicable arbitration Regulations;

3) expected duration of arbitration;

4) candidate’s professional qualifications and experience.

4. A candidate must refrain from discussing with a party to arbitration or its representative any matters falling outside the scope referred to in this clause.

5. A candidate may decline to participate in an interview with a party to arbitration or its representative without giving reasons or discontinue it at any time. Such refusal to participate in an interview or its discontinuation shall not be seen as circumstances that may raise reasonable doubts as to the arbitrator’s independence or impartiality and does not require disclosure if the relevant individual is subsequently appointed as arbitrator or selected as arbitrator by any party to arbitration.

6. A candidate may request a party to arbitration or its representative seeking to retain him to provide the information referred to in subparagraphs 2 – 3 of paragraph 3 of this Article.

7. A candidate may provide to a party to arbitration or its representative his brief biographical details, including his educational background, past and present professional activities.

8. Provisions of this clause shall apply to any contacts of a candidate with a party to arbitration or its representative in any form and through any means of communication.

Article 10. Prohibition for Individuals Offered to Act As Arbitrators and Arbitrators to Discuss Arbitration Matters

An arbitrator and an individual offered to act as arbitrator may not discuss any matters of such arbitration with any parties to arbitration, their representatives, experts, advisors, witnesses outside such proceedings.

Article 11. Effect of the Regulations

These Regulations shall take effect from the date of their approval and shall apply to any arbitration commenced after their approval.

* In case of inconsistency between the Russian language text and the English language text, the Russian version shall prevail, and the interpretation must be carried out primarily on the basis of the Russian version of the text.