On The Legal Liability System Of Arbitrators

This paper takes civil liability and criminal liability of arbitrators as objects of study and the basic theories of liability of arbitrators as the starting point to analyze various views of the responsibilities on the responsibility system of arbitrators at home and abroad and related theoretical foundation.The thesis consists of four chapters:Chapter one raises the origin of the question of arbitrators'liability. The author describes the historical development of arbitration, and through the analysis of the changes of the qualification to be an arbitrator and evolution of arbitration values that gradually seek the balance between efficiency and justice, obtained the view that arbitrators need to be disciplined. After weighing the pros and cons of three kinds of constraint mechanism, the paper points out the necessity to establish accountability of arbitrators.Chapter two summarizes basic theories of the responsibility system of arbitrators and discusses the definition of an arbitrator, new orientation under the market economy, the scope of arbitrators'liability and which responsibility the arbitrator should take under the new situation.Chapter three focuses on different theories of civil liability and criminal liability for the arbitrator. Currently, there are four kinds of theories about civil liability, namely'absolute immunity','limited immunity','limited liability', and'unlimited liability'. This paper analyzes the similarities and differences among them and their respective theoretical basis.This part finally cites and analyzes the United States, Britain, Spain, France, Saudi Arabia and other countries'arbitration law and judicial practice to give advice for China.Chapter four discusses China's responsibility system of arbitrators. Considering imperfect accountability of arbitrators and the vague law that leads to difficulties for the judicial practice in China, improving the responsibility system of arbitrators will be of great significance. "Limited immunity" model should be selected as the manner of civil liability for arbitrators to definite the tatbestand of arbitrators' civil liability and the form and scope of their responsibility. About criminal liability for the arbitrator, the author believes that the crime of bending the law in the arbitration is one of the features of arbitration, and tries to demonstrate its legitimacy.