The Case for the Technical Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal

Technical disputes in international arbitration often involve and rely on party-appointed experts, but this practice raises concerns about partisanship, inefficiency, and high costs. Alternative approaches, such as tribunal-appointed experts and expert conferencing, have yet to fully address these challenges. In response, the Association for Innovative Practices in Arbitration (‘AIPA’), a Geneva-based group of arbitration practitioners, issued the Rules on Technical Assistance in International Arbitration (2022) (The Rules on Technical Assistance in International Arbitration are appended to this article.), which introduce the Technical Assistant, a neutral specialist who aids tribunals in understanding complex technical matters and streamlining disputed issues, without offering expert opinions or influencing decisions. This article explores the limitations of traditional expert evidence, the development of the AIPA Rules, and how the Technical Assistant model may enhance efficiency, due process, and decision-making, in complex, technically intensive disputes.