shutterstock_265178588_rawpixel-com
17 August 2020Influential Women in IPMuireann Bolger

Number of female arbitrators nearly doubles in four years

The proportion of women appointed as arbitrators almost doubled between 2015 and 2019, a new report from the  International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) has revealed.

The  Report of the ICCA Cross-Institutional Task Force on Gender Diversity in Arbitral Appointments and Proceedings showed that in 2015, an average of 12.2% of overall arbitrator appointees was female, which rose to 16.3% in 2017 and again to 21.3% in 2019.

The report, published in July, noted that this increase is largely the result of arbitral institutions’ commitment to gender diversity. But it pointed out that more work needed to be done as only a fifth of newly appointed arbitrators in 2019 were female.

Over the past four years, approximately a third of all institutional appointees have been  female, rising from 32.5% of appointments made by institutions in 2015 to 34% in 2019.

During this same period, some institutions have seen a marked increase in the proportion of female institutional appointees. In 2015, 28.2% of appointees by the  London Court of International Arbitration were female, increasing to 48% in 2019. Similarly, in 2015, only 5.9% of appointees at the  International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute were female, whereas 25.8% were female four years later.

Elsewhere, 21.5% of co-arbitrator appointees were female in 2019, up from 9.6% in 2015. However, the proportion of female party-appointments has increased more slowly during this period, from 8.5% in 2015 to 13.9% in 2019.

The ICCA’s cross-institutional task force, assembled in 2019, brings together representatives of 18 leading international arbitration institutions, law firms and gender diversity initiatives to publish and analyse statistics on the appointment of female arbitrators, as well as to identify opportunities and best practices to promote gender diversity in international arbitration.

Gender ‘barriers’

According to the report, there are a number of barriers to gender diversity in arbitral appointments and proceedings. These issues include the poor retention of women in the legal profession, the impact of unconscious bias on female professional development, the difficulties that female lawyers face as a result of a lack of flexible working arrangements, and problems relating to gender-based and sexual harassment and bullying in the workplace.

The report also identified that the most selected source of information about arbitrator candidates is through word-of-mouth. This can mean that arbitration users do not have access information about new, more diverse arbitrator candidates who may be qualified for the role of an arbitrator.

It noted that unconscious bias “may influence the notion of the best candidate in favour of male candidates, because of an implicit association between ‘male’ qualities with those of a successful arbitrator, such as ‘gravitas,’ [or] ‘assertiveness.’” The report outlined the tools that arbitration users can use to tackle unconscious bias and promote gender diversity in arbitral tribunals, including training, databases of qualified female candidates and opportunities for qualified women to showcase their credentials.

ICCA president Lucy Reed said: “The work of the task force—including this report—reflects progress in the representation and inclusion of women in our international arbitration community. Diversity is, of course, a multifaceted and intersectional issue, and there is much still to be done.”

Mohammed Talib, international arbitration expert at  Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind  Out-Law, said: “There has been sustained effort by the arbitration community through the  Equal Representation in Arbitration pledge and other work by arbitral institutions to improve diversity. The work and report of the cross-institutional task force show progress in gender inclusiveness. That does not hide that there is still much work to be done, in particular by law firms, to promote all types of diversity and inclusion within the arbitration community.”

He added: “The 2019  Pinsent Masons QMUL International Arbitration Survey, which focused particularly on construction arbitration, identified that only 17% of respondents considered the diversity of the resulting tribunal when making arbitral appointments—including diversity of age, gender, country of origin, and legal or educational background. This is an area where the arbitration community can do better.”

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.

Already registered?

Login to your account

To request a FREE 2-week trial subscription, please signup.
NOTE - this can take up to 48hrs to be approved.

Two Weeks Free Trial

For multi-user price options, or to check if your company has an existing subscription that we can add you to for FREE, please email Adrian Tapping at atapping@newtonmedia.co.uk


More on this story

Influential Women in IP
5 August 2020   Diversity, equality and inclusion are firmly on companies’ agendas in 2020, but how can you make a difference? Eldora Ellison and Gaby Longsworth of Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox offer their advice.
Influential Women in IP
5 August 2020   Sarah Burstein, professor of law at the University of Oklahoma, tells WIPR about her unconventional route into IP, her proudest achievement and the ongoing challenges facing women in law.