§ 1297.284.Decision Ex Aequo Et Bono Or Amiable Compositeur

Every other rule in this article assumes the tribunal is applying some body of law, whether chosen by the parties or picked by the tribunal itself. This section describes the one real exception: deciding based on what the tribunal considers fair and equitable rather than strict legal rules, sometimes called deciding ex aequo et bono or acting as amiable compositeur.

That kind of equity-based decisionmaking is available only if the parties have expressly authorized it. Silence isn't enough, and an ordinary choice-of-law clause doesn't get there either -- the parties have to specifically empower the tribunal to depart from strict legal rules in favor of its own sense of fairness. Absent that express authorization, the tribunal stays within the choice-of-law framework the earlier sections in this article set out.