The
various types of arbitrators’ practice, which in principle is an occasional activity,
vary by reference to different criteria, in particular the professional status
of the arbitrator (lawyer, professor or other), the type and size of structure
in which he practices his principal activity and the nature and frequency of
his ancillary activities, in the doctrinal sphere or associations. The purpose
of this “non-rigorous sociological” study is to measure the influence of the
manner in which an arbitrator practices as such on the frequency of conflicts
of interest, and the relevance thereof in the light of the duties of
independence and impartiality, as well as the obligation of disclosure. In
symmetrical manner, conflicts of interest and their increasingly stringent judicial
treatment influence the manner in which arbitrators perform their activity.