§ 172.101.Equal Treatment of Parties

Two duties, and they are the ones the chapter does not let anyone contract around.

Equality of treatment comes first. The tribunal shall treat each party with equality.

A full opportunity to present the case comes second. Each party must be able to put its case before the tribunal.

Neither duty is qualified by agreement. Almost every other provision in this chapter begins with "except as agreed by the parties"; this one does not.

That silence is the point. The parties choose the procedure, the language, the place and the evidence rules — and cannot choose a proceeding in which one side is heard and the other is not.

The duties are stated broadly on purpose. International arbitration draws parties from different legal traditions, and a detailed procedural code would suit some and disadvantage others.

They shape the sections that follow. The tribunal’s wide procedural discretion under Section 172.103(b) is exercised subject to this section.

They also limit the default provisions. Proceeding against an absent party under Section 172.115 is permitted, but only where the party failed to appear without showing sufficient cause.

Section 172.006 cannot waive these duties away either, because that section reaches only provisions the parties may agree to vary.

Every international arbitration statute of this family opens here, because an award produced without them is not worth enforcing anywhere.