I. INTRODUCTION

The role of the president1 of an arbitral tribunal has attracted limited interest on the part of commentators;2 this is surprising if one considers how fundamental in any arbitration the presiding arbitrator’s role really is.

This paper has above all a practical focus as it will consider the way in which presiding arbitrators carry out their function in each stage of the arbitration, from the time they have been appointed and confirmed to the time when the award is made and notified to the parties.