§ 172.061.Failure or Impossibility to Act

What happens when an arbitrator stops functioning.

Two conditions must both be met for automatic termination.

The first is inability or inaction — the arbitrator is unable to perform the functions of the office, or for another reason fails to act without undue delay.

The second is agreement or withdrawal. The arbitrator withdraws from office, or each party agrees to the termination.

Without the second condition nothing happens automatically. An arbitrator who is failing to act but will not step aside, where the parties do not agree, leaves a controversy.

That controversy goes to court. A party may request the district court or business court division of the county of the place of arbitration to decide the termination.

The decision is not subject to appeal, matching the finality of the other court interventions in this subchapter.

Delay is treated as a form of incapacity. An arbitrator who does not move the case is dealt with by the same provision as one who cannot.

Withdrawal concedes nothing. Section 172.064 says withdrawal or agreement does not imply acceptance of a ground under this section.

A replacement follows under Section 172.063, appointed by the rules that applied to the arbitrator being replaced.