By: Jeff Dasteel
In 2010, an English appellate court rocked the world of international arbitration when it declared that a provision in an arbitration agreement restricting the selection of arbitrators to members of a particular religious group violated European Union laws banning discrimination in employment.2 While the case of Jivraj v. Hashwani was on appeal to the United Kingdom Supreme Court, there was concern in the international arbitration community that more common restrictions on the qualifications of arbitrators related to national origin might also be subject to challenge. In that regard, two major international arbitration rule sets give preference to the appointment of arbitrators who are not of the same national origin as any of the parties.3 These international rule sets may have needed to change, at least when used in England, if Jivraj v. Hashwani had withstood appeal to the Supreme Court.