国际商事仲裁仲裁员中立国籍规则

A Review on the Neutral Nationality Rule of Arbitrator in International Commercial Arbitration

在国际商事仲裁制度的发展中,部分国际商事仲裁规则对指定仲裁员情形下的独任或首席仲裁员有中立(第三)国籍要求。对于该问题在各个仲裁规则中的认识并不一致。从国家一侧出发分析国籍问题的法律意义,则仲裁员国籍是其属人管辖的问题,我国适用于仲裁员的主管规则有修正的余地;从仲裁员一侧看,认为其影响仲裁员的独立公正性理由不足,在很多场合,对其独立公正行使职权甚至是有益的;从当事人和仲裁机构一侧出发,本国仲裁员有利于增加当事人信心,但仅应被视为仲裁员的一种中性条件。仲裁机构试图利用中立国籍来保障仲裁裁决的顺利执行,其没有正当理由且效果存疑。正确处理该问题的路径应当是认识到以实质国籍为代表的仲裁员属人联系,确保仲裁员的属人因素在选任过程中被当事人考虑,摈弃中立国籍,并灵活利用属人因素在仲裁中的积极效用。

In the development of the international commercial arbitration, when appointing arbi-trators, some of the arbitration rules have the requirement of neutral (third) nationality on the sole or presiding arbitrator’s nationality. The understanding of this issue is not consistent in various ar-bitration rules. By analyzing the legal significance of the nationality from view of the nation, it is the matter of ratione personae of the arbitrator, the rules applicable to arbitrators in China can be fur-ther consistent with international standards. From the point of the arbitrator, there is not enough ground for the arbitrator’s nationality affecting his/her independency and impartiality;from the view of the parties and the arbitration institution, the domestic arbitrator is conducive to the in-crease of the confidence of the parties, but it should only be regarded as a condition of the arbitrator in a neutral way, and the arbitration institution tries to use neutral nationality to ensure the en-forcement of the arbitral award being successfully, but there is no ground and its effect is doubtful. The correct way dealing with this issue is to recognize the personal connections of arbitrators by symbol of substantive nationality, to ensure that the legal personal factors of arbitrators are con-sidered by the parties during the selection, renounce the rule of neutral nationality and to make flexible use of the positive effects of personal factors.