The Legitimacy and Ethics of International Commercial Court Judges

Abstract

This Chapter examines the link between the legitimacy of international commercial courts and the ethics of its judges. It starts from the premise that professional ethics are not only a matter of the personal and professional integrity of judges. Instead, the Chapter argues, different functional roles may affect what is considered appropriate for a judge. To demonstrate this argument, the Chapter analyzes the example of ex parte communication between judges and parties or their lawyers, and the cultural differences among legal systems. It concludes by calling on the host States to commit energy and resources to develop separate codes of conduct for the international commercial courts that they have created.