UKRAINE Law and Practice Contributed by: Olena Perepelynska, Krystyna Khripkova, Nadiya Mykiyevych and Anna Kozyrieva, IMPACTA LAW
from the other party, or if the two arbitrators fail to agree on the third arbitrator within 30 days of their appointment, the arbitrator is appointed, upon request of either party, by the President of the UCCI for an ad hoc arbitration or the appropriate body designated within the rules of the respective arbitral institution for the institutional arbitration; and • in a sole arbitrator arbitration, if the parties cannot agree on the appointment, the arbitrator is appoint - ed, at the request of either party, by the President of the UCCI for an ad hoc arbitration, or by the appropriate body designated within the rules of the respective arbitral institution for an institutional arbitration. The ICA Law does not contain any specific provisions for multiparty arbitrations. 4.3 Court Intervention Ukrainian courts do not have the power to intervene in the selection of arbitrators. 4.4 Challenge and Removal of Arbitrators Under the ICA Law, an arbitrator may be challenged exclusively in cases where circumstances give rise to justifiable doubts as to their independence or impar - tiality, or where the arbitrator does not possess quali - fications agreed by the parties. A party may challenge the arbitrator it appointed or in whose appointment it has participated only on grounds that became known to it after the appoint - ment. The parties are free to determine their own pro - cedure for challenging an arbitrator. In the absence of agreement, a party willing to challenge an arbitrator shall, within 15 days of becoming aware of either the constitution of the arbitral tribunal or the circumstanc - es giving rise to the challenge, submit a written state - ment setting out the grounds for the challenge to the arbitrator. Unless the challenged arbitrator voluntarily steps down or the other party agrees to the challenge, the arbitral tribunal itself will decide on the matter. If the challenge is unsuccessful, the challenging party may, within 30 days of receiving the decision rejecting the challenge, request the President of the UCCI for an ad hoc arbitration or the appropriate body designated
within the rules of the respective arbitral institution for the institutional arbitration to rule on the matter. This decision is final and not subject to appeal. While such a request is pending, the arbitral proceedings may continue and the tribunal, including the challenged arbitrator, may proceed to render an award. If an arbitrator is unable, either de jure or de facto , to perform their duties, or fails to act without undue delay, their mandate terminates if they withdraw or if the parties agree to the termination. If the arbitrator does not withdraw or there is no agreement, either party may request a decision on termination from the President of the UCCI in an ad hoc arbitration, or from the body designated under the rules of the relevant arbitral institution in an institutional arbitration. That decision is final and not subject to appeal. 4.5 Arbitrator Requirements Under the ICA Law, arbitrators must be independent and impartial. Before accepting an appointment, an arbitrator must disclose any circumstances that may give rise to justifiable doubts as to their independence or impartiality. This obligation continues throughout the arbitral proceedings: if new relevant circumstanc - es arise, they must be disclosed to the parties without delay. Similarly, the ICAC Rules provide that, in the course of the arbitral proceedings, the arbitrators must be impartial and independent and carry out their func - tions fairly and conscientiously. None of them shall be a representative of either party to the dispute. An arbitrator shall not be entitled to advise either party on the dispute between the parties or the outcome of the arbitral proceeding. In practice, arbitrators and parties frequently rely on the IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in Interna - tional Arbitration as guidance on conflicts and disclo - sure requirements.
5. Jurisdiction 5.1 Challenges to Jurisdiction
Ukrainian law recognises the principle of competence- competence and Ukrainian courts regularly apply it.
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