1. Before accepting an appointment, the arbitrator should make general enquiries of the lawyer or other representative of the appointing party as to the nature of the dispute(s) and the names and affiliations of the parties. But great care must be taken to avoid any discussion of the substance of the dispute or of the appointing party’s position.
2. An appointment should not be accepted in any reference where the arbitrator, or the arbitrator’s family or employer or business associates or any other person or entity closely connected with the arbitrator has or may have any interest (financial or otherwise) or where any of them has or may have any association with either of the parties or their counsel which may give rise to any inference of bias or partiality except where such interest or association has been fully disclosed to all interested parties and their approval has been obtained. The arbitrator should understand that it is not enough to be completely impartial: it must also be evident to all of the parties concerned, and to any disinterested bystander, that the arbitrator has no personal or business interest in the outcome.

1. Beyond the preliminary inquiries mentioned above, an arbitrator should not hold any private discussion with the party appointing him or with its attorney about any aspect of the case other than strictly "housekeeping" matters such as possible dates for hearings.
2. Once an arbitrator has been appointed, he/she should have no contact whatever with any of the parties except in the presence of (or, in correspondence, with copies to) all of the other parties and the other members of the tribunal.
3. An arbitrator’s failure to act impartially and independently may be grounds for disqualification.

1. Where the tribunal consists of three arbitrators, the third arbitrator should act as the chairman of the proceedings and as the spokesman for the tribunal in dealing with the parties.
2. If appointed as an umpire, the third arbitrator should attend all hearings and should also receive copies of all correspondence. He should not participate in any discussions between the other members of the tribunal unless they have failed to agree and have unanimously and formally referred the undecided point to the umpire for his/her sole decision.
3. Where the decision in the reference is to be made by an umpire, the umpire shall also write the Award. Where there is no umpire, the drafting of the Award need not necessarily be done by the third arbitrator, but may be delegated to one of the other arbitrators as most convenient under the circumstances.

1. The tribunal should seek early confirmation from the parties (normally at a preliminary conference) as to the full issues between them if these are not clear from the materials submitted.
2. At the first oral hearing, if any, the tribunal should encourage the parties to give a brief opening statement to summarise the points in dispute, the evidence to be offered and the arguments to be made.
3. If a party raises an objection on any point (whether relating to jurisdiction, discovery, questions put to a witness or otherwise), the tribunal should not hesitate to require the party raising the objection to explain it, and the opposing party to respond. It is not unreasonable for the tribunal to require the parties to submit authority in support of their respective positions.
4. Where no stenographic record is being kept of the proceedings, the tribunal should ensure that a complete written record is kept of any objection made (whether upheld or not) unless such objection is subsequently withdrawn.
5. Where argument is to be presented orally without written submissions, the tribunal should not hesitate to require each party to submit in advance a written "skeleton" argument.

1. It is desirable that each of the members of a tribunal should charge his/her time at the same rate.
2. It is desirable that the Award should specify only the total fee payable to the tribunal, with allocation between the parties as appropriate. The division of such total fee between the members of the tribunal should normally be a confidential matter. (Similarly, it is desirable that any interim billing should be made by way of a single invoice.)
3. Where the dispute is settled before any significant amount of work has been done by an arbitrator, no charge should be made for his/her services. Where a significant amount of work has been done prior to settlement which is directly related to the issue(s) so settled (e.g. studying documents in preparation for hearings), it is regarded as reasonable to charge for this effort.

1. Article 28 of the AMAC Rules states that, unless stipulated to the contrary in advance, the parties agree that the Award should be remitted to AMAC for filing and publication. The tribunal should enquire as to the intentions/agreement of the parties in this regard at any early stage in the proceedings.
2. Article 31(2) of the Commercial Arbitration Code, which is incorporated in the AMAC Rules of Procedure, provides that a reasoned Award will be issued unless the parties agree otherwise. The tribunal should enquire as to the intention/agreement of the parties in this regard prior to the close of hearings.
3. The Award should state that, where one party has paid in the first instance that part of the tribunal’s fee which is properly payable by the other party, such payment is recoverable from that other party.
4. When an Interim Award is to be issued, it should state clearly which matters are finally decided and which matters remain outstanding.
5. In drafting the Award, it is desirable that the tribunal should expressly reserve jurisdiction to deal with any questions which may arise as to its meaning (for example, as to the precise calculation of interest) and to correct any clerical or arithmetical mistakes which it may contain.

1. If either party wishes to have the tribunal deal with liability separately from damages, or with a preliminary point of construction or interpretation of a contract, this should be accepted unless it is evident that the rights of the other party will be prejudiced by such a division.
2. Where two disputes which involve common questions of fact or law are referred to the same tribunal, the tribunal should normally agree to any request for consolidation or concurrent hearings unless it is evident that this may prejudice the rights of any of the parties.

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Montreal, 6,6,2001