This article will explore the ethical standards applied in international commercial arbitration to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current practices. There is a clear lack of uniformity in ethical standards as applied in international commercial arbitration and will articulate the need for a universal system of ethical conduct, which is both enforceable and consistent, for counsel representing parties in international arbitral proceedings. To achieve this, the article will begin by establishing the lack of consistently applied ethical standards in international commercial arbitration. The article then looks to the growth of international arbitration, and transnational legal practice more broadly as a result of globalisation, to explain the current inconsistency in ethical standards in international commercial arbitration. Critical analysis is utilised to look at the current options for ethical standardisation available. Through evaluation and critique, this article recommends two instruments to work in tandem to achieve ethical uniformity in international commercial arbitration.