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[2016] EWHC 422 (Comm), Queen's Bench Division, Commercial Court, Mr Justice Knowles, 2 March 2016

Arbitration - Apparent bias of arbitrator - Arbitrator a partner in a law firm deriving substantial income from advising an affiliate of the defendant - Common law test of bias - IBA Guidelines 2014

The claimant, a company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands, entered into a contract with the defendant, a Malaysian company, regarding a project in Iraq. The contract provided for arbitration in London under the auspices of the London Court of International Arbitration. Disputes arose and an arbitration was commenced in April 2012. A Canadian lawyer was appointed sole arbitrator. Two awards were made, and they were challenged on the ground of serious irregularity under section 68(2) of the 1996 Act, in that the arbitrator had a conflict of interest. The evidence showed that the law firm in which the arbitrator was a partner regularly advised an affiliate of the defendant (although not the defendant itself) and the firm (although not the arbitrator) derived substantial financial income from such advice. The arbitrator had acted as a full-time international commercial arbitrator for most of the previous six years. The case was one that fell squarely within para 1.4 of the Non-Waivable Red List within the 2014 IBA Guidelines.