a. The arbitration panel shall be formed by agreement of the parties, consisting of one or more arbitrators. If they do not agree on the number of arbitrators, the number shall be three.
b. If there are multiple arbitrators, their number must be odd; otherwise, the arbitration shall be invalid.
a) An arbitrator may not be a minor, legally incapacitated, or deprived of their civil rights due to a conviction for a felony or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or due to bankruptcy, even if subsequently rehabilitated.
b) An arbitrator is not required to be of a specific gender or nationality unless the parties to the arbitration agree otherwise or the law stipulates otherwise.
c) The arbitrator’s acceptance of the appointment must be in writing, and they must disclose, upon acceptance, any circumstances that might raise doubts about their impartiality and independence. This obligation remains in effect if such circumstances arise during the arbitration proceedings.
A. The parties to the arbitration shall agree on the selection of the arbitrators, the method of selection, and the date of the selection. If they fail to agree, the following two procedures shall apply:
1. If the arbitration panel consists of one arbitrator, the competent judge shall appoint the arbitrator upon the request of either party.
2. If the arbitration panel consists of three arbitrators, each party shall appoint one arbitrator, and the two appointed arbitrators shall agree on the appointment of the third arbitrator. If either party fails to appoint its arbitrator within fifteen days of receiving a request to do so from the other party, or if the two appointed arbitrators fail to agree on the selection of the third arbitrator within fifteen days of the date of appointment of the last of them, the competent judge shall appoint the third arbitrator upon the request of either party. The chairmanship of the arbitration panel shall be held by the arbitrator chosen by the two appointed arbitrators or by the competent judge.
B. If the number of parties to the arbitration is three or more, they may agree on the number of arbitrators, the method of their appointment, and the method of selecting the chairperson. If they do not agree on these matters, the following procedures shall be followed:
1. If they agree on the number of arbitrators and the method of their appointment but not on the method of selecting the chairperson, the chairperson shall be selected unanimously by the members of the arbitration panel. If it is not possible to select the chairperson in this case, the competent judge shall appoint the chairperson at the request of the parties to the arbitration.
2. If the number of arbitrators is agreed upon but the method of their appointment is not, the competent judge shall appoint the agreed-upon number and select the chairperson from among them.
3. If the parties to the arbitration do not agree on the number of arbitrators and the method of their appointment, the number of arbitrators shall be three, appointed by the competent judge, who shall select the chairperson from among them.
C. If either party violates the agreed-upon procedures for selecting arbitrators, or if they fail to agree on how to conduct those procedures, or if the two appointed arbitrators fail to agree on a matter that requires agreement, or if a third party fails to perform their assigned duties in this regard, the competent judge, upon the request of either party, shall undertake the required procedure or action after hearing the other party’s statements.
The competent judge shall consider, in selecting the arbitrator, the conditions stipulated by this law and those agreed upon by the parties, and shall issue their decision selecting the arbitrator expeditiously, after hearing the other party’s statements.
A. An arbitrator may only be challenged if serious circumstances arise that raise doubts about their impartiality and independence.
B. Neither party to the arbitration may challenge an arbitrator they appointed or participated in appointing except for a reason that becomes apparent to them after the appointment has been made.
A. A challenge request shall be submitted in writing to the arbitral tribunal, stating the grounds for challenge and including supporting evidence, within fifteen days of the date the challenger became aware of the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the circumstances justifying the challenge. If the challenged arbitrator does not recuse himself, he must submit his response to the challenge request and supporting evidence within fifteen days of the date the request was submitted. In this case, the arbitral tribunal, upon the challenger’s request, shall refer the request, along with the challenged arbitrator’s response (if any), to the competent court for a ruling.
B. The competent court shall review the challenge request unless it decides otherwise and shall issue its ruling within thirty days of its receipt. Its decision shall be final and not subject to appeal.
C. A challenge request shall not be accepted from anyone who has previously submitted a challenge to the same arbitrator in the same arbitration and for the same reasons.
D. Submitting a challenge request shall not suspend the arbitration proceedings. If the arbitrator is challenged, the arbitration proceedings in which he participated, including the final award, shall be considered null and void. The newly composed arbitral tribunal may adopt any previous proceedings, provided that the appointment of the presiding arbitrator, in whose selection the challenged arbitrator participated, remains valid.
Subject to the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of Article (5) of this Law, if the arbitrator is unable to perform his duties, fails to commence them, or discontinues their performance in a manner that leads to an unjustified delay in the arbitration proceedings, and he does not recuse himself and the parties do not agree to his removal, the competent court may, at the request of either party, order the termination of his duties by a decision that is not subject to appeal.
If an arbitrator’s term ends due to a ruling of recusal, dismissal, resignation, death, incapacity, or for any other reason, a replacement must be appointed in accordance with the procedures followed in selecting the arbitrator whose term has ended.
A. The arbitral tribunal shall rule on objections to its jurisdiction, including objections based on the absence, lapse, invalidity, or inadequacy of the arbitration agreement, or its failure to cover the subject matter of the dispute.
B. These objections must be raised within a period not exceeding the deadline for submitting the statement of defense, in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (B) of Article (29) of this Law. The appointment or participation of an arbitrator by either party to the arbitration does not preclude their right to raise any of these objections. However, the objection that the arbitration agreement does not cover matters raised by the other party during the proceedings must be raised immediately, otherwise the right to raise it is forfeited. In all cases, the arbitral tribunal may accept a late objection if it deems the delay to be due to a legitimate excuse or acceptable reason.
C. The arbitral tribunal may rule on the objections referred to in paragraph (A) of this Article before ruling on the merits of the case, or it may join them to the merits and rule on both together. If the tribunal rejects the objection, it may only be raised by filing an action to set aside the arbitral award that terminates the entire dispute, in accordance with the provisions for setting aside arbitral awards contained in this Law.
The arbitration clause is an agreement independent of the other terms of the contract, and the invalidity, rescission, or termination of the contract shall not affect the arbitration clause it contains if that clause is valid in itself.
A. Subject to the provisions of Article (13) of this Law, the parties to the arbitration may agree that the arbitral tribunal, either on its own initiative or at the request of either party, may order either party to take any provisional or protective measures it deems necessary in light of the nature of the dispute, and may require sufficient security to cover the expenses of such measures.
B. If the party to whom the order is issued fails to comply, the arbitral tribunal may, at the request of the other party, authorize that party to take the necessary measures to enforce it, including its right to request the competent judge to issue an enforcement order.