Summary

Arbitrators' Conflict of Interest: Judgment by the Egyptian Court of Cassation (Challenge No. 10103 / Judicial Year 86 - Hearing Dated 23rd of April 2019), the Cassation Court has made the first reference to the IBA Guidelines on Conflict of Interest that we know of (November 2019). It is a very interesting judgment as it involves the question of whether the fact that Jan Paulsson has failed to disclose promptly that he acts as a Counsel for a sister company to the company appointing him as an arbitrator would be a conflict of interest under the Red List of the IBA Guidelines on Conflict of Interest. The Court of Cassation found as part of its extensive reasoning that the company was not truly a sister company in the first place and the fact that the Chairmans of both companies are brothers does not entail such a connection. Eventually, the Court dismissed the challenge to the arbitral award.

Note: Original Arabic Document, the English Translation, and English introduction provided by Ibrahim Shehata, Shehata & Partners, LL.M, New York University (NYU).