Applications for the removal of arbitrators1 are rare, but in recent times the jurisdiction has been stirred from its slumber and the awakening should be a matter of concern to all who represent themselves as arbitrators and also to those institutions which assume a responsibility for the administration and advancement of commercial arbitration as an increasingly important facet of the administration of justice. The development has served as a salutory reminder of the duties of arbitrators and also to emphasise the responsibilities of the training and nominating organisations to ensure that arbitrators have at least an adequate awareness of the judicious character of their office and possess the necessary skills to conduct an arbitral proceeding.

The appointment of an arbitrator is primarily a matter of contract to be agreed between the parties.2 Following from this it is the general approach of the law that a party to a reference takes an arbitrator for better or for worse. Any jurisdiction to remove an arbitrator is not therefore likely to be one readily assumed by the court.3 There are also other considerations; a removal by the court is likely to damage the reputation and standing of the arbitrator concerned; to be of inconvenience to the parties; delay the proceedings and increase the cost. These considerations, however, have their limitations and circumstances may arise when in the interests of justice the court has no reasonable alternative but to remove the arbitrator from his office.

The power to remove an arbitrator is wholly statutory in source and is now contained in various provisions of the Arbitration Act 1950.4 No corresponding power existed at common law. The reason for this is probably accounted for by the readiness with which at common law the authority of an arbitrator could be revoked. The common law considered an arbitrator to have no more than a revocable mandate. A dissatisfied party to a reference could readily put matters to right by unilaterally revoking the authority of the arbitrator and terminating the arbitration. A judicial power to remove was therefore unnecessary. A principal effect of the development of a statutory code of arbitral law was to render, in the absence of a contrary intention, the authority of an arbitrator irrevocable except with leave of the court.5 The statutory power to