On 13 May 2026, the Rio Course on Regional and International Dispute Settlement (Rio CRIDS) was honored to welcome Prof. Diego Fernández Arroyo, Professor at Sciences Po Law School in Paris. The course is held by the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme and directed by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida.

In the lecture “How Do Arbitrators Decide?”, moderated by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, Prof. Fernández Arroyo discussed the significance of arbitral decisions and how they are developed. He began by highlighting the particular role of arbitrators: while judges are assumed to have an intrinsic legitimacy to render decisions because they are part of the state apparatus, the power of arbitrators to adjudicate is not evident. Treaties like the New York Convention bind contracting states to recognize and enforce arbitral awards. Arbitration laws and institutional or soft law instruments also establish certain features of the arbitral award, such as formal requirements.

Prof. Fernández Arroyo also presented how an award is conceived and drafted. There are normally multiple hearings, with the presence of experts and witnesses, to advance all possible issues. Once all the parties have been heard and all the evidence has been produced and evaluated, the chairperson is expected to draft the award and to then share it with the other members of the arbitral tribunal. The deliberation must be always confidential, as the independence of arbitrators can be jeopardized for future cases if their views are disclosed afterwards. There might be express provisions on confidentiality, but it is considered a universal rule in arbitration.

We sincerely thank Prof. Fernández Arroyo for sharing his time and expertise with us. We look forward to further collaboration.