The Ongoing Duty to Disclose and the Taciturn Chairwoman. Case Note on Swiss Federal Supreme Court Decision 4A_462/2021

Abstract

In a recent decision the Swiss Federal Supreme Court tied the duration of the arbitrator’s duty to disclose circumstances which might raise doubts as to the arbitrator’s independence or impartiality to the date of completion of the deliberations rather than to end of the arbitration proceedings − as per Art. 179(6) PILA. This case note analyses whether such individualized interpretation is still in line with the meaning of Art. 179(6) PILA. In addition, the case note recalls the practice of the Supreme Court for anonymizing (or not) the identity of the parties.