Overview

The long-awaited Supreme Court decision in Jivraj v Hashwani was handed down on 27 July. The Supreme Court unanimously held that arbitrators are not 'employees' as defined by the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 and therefore parties are free to use religion as a criteria when it comes to the selection and appointment of arbitrators.

This removes the cloud that has been sitting over London as a seat of arbitration since the decision of the Court of Appeal, and will be a relief to the arbitration institutions as it removes any doubt about the legality of institutional rules which provide that a sole arbitrator or chairman of a tribunal may not have the same nationality as any party unless all parties agree.

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