Disagreeing on Parties’ Disagreement: The Arbitral Award and the Dissenting Opinion

Abstract

Whenever an arbitral tribunal is composed of more than one arbitrator, the solving of a difficult and complex litigation may be preceded by the burdensome task of harmonizing the opinions of the members of the arbitral tribunal. Each time the arbitrators fail to do so, the arbitral award will be accompanied by a dissenting opinion. This paper addresses the issue of the legal fate of such a dissenting opinion (in terms of usefulness, effects and procedural aspects), as provided for in various arbitration regulations, focusing on a comparison between solutions adopted by prominent arbitration institutions and the rules applied by the Court of International Commercial Arbitration of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and aiming to outline the necessity of better tailored rules