Ethical Rules Applicable to Party Representatives in International Commercial Arbitration and Difficulties Encountered in Practice

Parties in international commercial arbitration are represented either by one or more party representatives registered with multiple bars or not registered with a bar at all or by a layperson. The seat of arbitration is usually where neither party’s representative is licensed. This diversity arising out of the very nature of international arbitration gives rise to the application of multiple ethical rules to party’s representatives and brings up the question of which ethical rules shall be applicable to parties’ representatives, who shall be the competent authority in case of breach and whether the arbitral tribunals have legitimate power to sanction the parties’ representatives. In this article, we first examine existing ethical rules regulating the conduct of party representatives in international arbitration. Then we explain the content and difficulties encountered in the application of the said rules. Finally, we discuss the gaps of the current regulations and the enforcement issue