§ 172.053.Appointment of Arbitration Tribunal

Appointment begins with the parties and falls back on a familiar formula.

The parties may agree on a procedure for appointing the arbitration tribunal, subject to the court’s backstop powers and the appointment factors that follow.

Agreement is the norm. Most international clauses either set out a procedure or adopt institutional rules that do.

The fallback covers one configuration. An arbitration with three arbitrators and two parties.

Each party appoints one arbitrator, and those two appoint the third.

The two-plus-one structure is the standard international model. Each side has a hand in constituting the tribunal, and the presiding arbitrator is chosen by the appointees rather than by either party.

Nothing here fills a sole-arbitrator gap. Where the arbitration has one arbitrator and the parties cannot agree, Section 172.054(a)(1) sends the appointment to court.

The fallback assumes two parties. Multi-party arbitrations need an agreed procedure or an institution, since the formula breaks down when three or more sides must each appoint.

Court assistance is available when the procedure stalls — a party who will not appoint, appointees who cannot agree, or an institution that does not act.