Originally from Arbitration Law of Turkey: Practice and Procedure

CHAPTER 17

MAKING THE AWARD

If there is a sole arbitrator, all the decisions are to be taken by the sole arbitrator. When there is more than one arbitrator the decision of the arbitral tribunal shall be made by the majority of its members unless otherwise agreed by the parties.

The parties may agree in the arbitration agreement that the award is to be rendered unanimously. In such circumstances the award will not be valid unless it is rendered under the unanimous decision of all members of the tribunal and the arbitration will terminate due to the lack of a valid award if it is not thus rendered1.

The parties’ agreement to accept an award only if rendered unanimously may be made after the arbitration has started and may also be set aside at any point by the parties’ mutual agreement. The amendment to the arbitration agreement needs to be executed by the authorized representatives of each party to the arbitration.

In practice, a unanimous decision is not usually required. In fact, Article 7/A of TIAC specifically require that the number of arbitrators is to be odd to enable the arbitral tribunal to make a majority award in case no unanimous opinion can be found on the dispute.

If the tribunal cannot come to a unanimous decision, the majority opinion will become the award. The minority arbitrator(s) can render a dissenting opinion. In practice, the dissenting opinion is attached to the award. The arbitrators may also indicate the dissenting opinion in the award instead of attaching a separate dissenting opinion. Although it is not common in practice, such an award is valid. Sometimes the dissenting arbitrator may refuse to sign the award or even to participate in the deliberation meeting.