Panelists:
Madalina Moraru | Centre for Judicial Cooperation
Karolina Podstawa | University of Maastricht
Barbara Warwas | The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS)
Thursday 18 February 2021
16.15 – 17.30 (CET) on Zoom
This webinar is organised within the framework of the project TRIIAL– TRust, Independence, Impartiality and Accountability of legal practitioners safeguarding the rule of law under the EU Charter. The TRIIAL project, which is funded by the European Union’s Justice Programme (2014-2020), under G.A. no 853832, is dedicated to discussing case law on trust, independence, impartiality and accountability of legal practitioners. The webinar is part of the series of 3 webinars, in which panels of experts share views, including in a comparative perspective, on recent European and national case law and arbitration awards relevant to the project.
This webinar will take the form of a discussion between two speakers aiming to elucidate the extent to which the standard of independence and impartiality applicable to judges which is embedded in the ordinary justice system is also applicable to arbitrators. Traditionally, the ordinary justice system and arbitration have been distinct and governed by different standards. However, the standard of independence and impartiality of arbitrators and the actual role of arbitration vis-à-vis the ordinary justice system are increasingly scrutinized by national and European judges. Hence, arbitration is also reviewed based on the institutional and procedural requirements of a right to a fair trial, hence based on the standard of independence and impartiality applicable to judges.
This webinar will consider the theoretical and practical responses to the question: does a common standard of independence and impartiality for judges and arbitrators exist under European law?
In order to address this question, speakers will compare the standard of independence and impartiality in the case of national judicial systems (Commission v Poland (619/18)) and sport arbitrations (Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland). This will be followed by a discussion that will aim to understand if and how both systems can learn from one another.
The ZOOM link to the Webinar will be provided following registration here.