The Tribunal Secretary In International Arbitration From The Perspective Of Arbitral Proceeding Administration

Tribunal secretaries are moving towards as a prominent role in in large and complex international arbitrations and play a crucial role by providing administrative and other assistance to the arbitral tribunal.Their role includes communications with the parties,organizing and attending meetings and hearings,taking notes or minutes of meetings,keeping time,drafting procedural orders,and so on.Such is the importance of tribunal secretaries in large arbitrations that they are regarded as the “fourth arbitrator”.There is a good reason for this role as the need for tribunal secretaries from the parties',the tribunals' and a systemic perspective.This need has been recognized by an increasing number of arbitral institutions which provide specific legal bases for the appointment of tribunal secretaries.As the participation of tribunal secretaries increases in frequency,so do the practical and theoretical questions that arise in regard to their position.It is an irrefutable fact,that secretaries are used and needed during the arbitration proceedings and that they do have great value.Additionally,the use of secretaries will most likely not only continue but grow,since arbitration proceedings become more and more common and increase in complexity.The present article hopes to have shed light on questions often discussed but thus far unresolved.First of all,the conceptual foundations for the tribunal secretaries should have been addressed.The tribunal secretary,also known as the secretary to the tribunal,administrative secretary,management secretary,or research assistant.However,in arbitration practice in Chinese mainland,there is no relevant concept.Instead,case managers employed by arbitral institutions are the one who takes charge of arbitration administration and correspondence.The concept of the arbitral tribunal secretary is much broader than the case manager of the arbitral institution: providing administrative support to the tribunal,although of the nature of case management,may also be enjoyed to some extent due to the work assigned by the arbitral tribunal.Certain arbitration rights.Therefore,the use of the secretary of the arbitral tribunal can no longer be explained by the distinction between arbitration power and case management power.In recent years,arbitration practice represented by P v.Q once again aroused the attention and discussion on improper use of the arbitral tribunal secretary,which may set aside the awards or made arbitral awards refused to be recognized or enforced.It is necessary to regulate tribunal secretaries.Considering that,this article summarizes the guidelines or notes regarding to tribunal secretaries in different international arbitral institutions and discusses the potential overlap between the tribunal secretary and the case manager participating in the arbitral proceeding.The issue of boundaries and the analysis of how tribunal secretary impact on arbitral proceeding will be addressed.In conclusion,this article argues it is necessary to have tribunal secretary in Chinese mainland and proposes the way to regulate such roles.