Major Arbitration Institutions Issue Joint Statement on COVID-19
The institutions call on the parties and arbitrators to “use the full extent of our respective institutional rules and any case management techniques that may permit arbitrations to substantially progress without undue delay despite such impediments.”
The “call to arms” thus seeks to unleash the creativity, practicality, and good-will of parties and arbitrators to address the challenges of today’s “at-home” world. The institutions do not offer any concrete steps that might be taken in this regard; as arbitration is a system based on the consent of the parties, the parties must be the drivers of innovation that can, at the same time, ensure due process.