§ 172.081.Decision of Arbitration Tribunal

The decision rule for a tribunal of more than one.

A majority decides. In an arbitration with more than one arbitrator, a decision of the tribunal must be made by a majority of its members.

The parties may provide otherwise, which is how unanimity requirements and other variations take effect.

The exception for procedure is the practical one. A presiding arbitrator may decide a procedural question if authorized by the parties or by all the members of the tribunal.

Procedural questions are constant in an international case — scheduling, page limits, the order of witnesses — and convening the full tribunal for each of them wastes time and fees.

Authorization can come from either source. The parties may grant it in their agreement, or the tribunal may grant it among themselves.

The majority rule still governs substance. The exception is confined to procedural questions.

Section 172.141(a) carries the rule into the award document, where a majority of signatures suffices if the reason for an omitted signature is stated.

Chapter 171 states the same default in Section 171.042, without the express procedural-question exception.

A tribunal that cannot reach a majority has a problem the section does not solve. Institutional rules often let the presiding arbitrator decide alone in that situation, and Section 172.033 brings those rules in.

The authorization for procedural questions can be given at any time. Nothing requires it to appear in the arbitration agreement.