A Drama in Two Acts: The Principle of Impartiality of Arbitrators on the Example of the Dispute between Ukraine and Russia over the Kerch Strait

Contemporary international justice is seeing a significant increase in the number of interstate disputes, both at the regional and universal levels. This is largely due to states’ changing attitudes toward international justice, which is increasingly viewed as an effective foreign policy tool capable of achieving a wide range of goals. In specific disputes, guided by the principle of competitive, states meticulously consider every detail and every issue, including the key issue of jurisdiction, which is crucial to questions of legitimacy. Respondent states strive to pay maximum attention to fulfilling the terms of their treaty-based consent to submit a dispute, such as the requirement for mandatory negotiations before filing a claim in court or arbitration. In our view, such jurisdictional requirements also include the consideration of the dispute by an independent and impartial panel of judges (arbitrators). In other words, the bias of arbitrators or judges affects not only the legitimacy of the decision rendered, that is, how it is perceived by the parties to the dispute, but also the jurisdiction of the court or tribunal. Through a doctrinal perspective, the author offers a legal analysis of a complex and intricate case submitted to ad hoc arbitration under Annex VII of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, in which the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea also played a significant role. A systematic analysis employing both inductive and deductive methods yields new conclusions that can be actively applied. As the consideration of issues of impartiality in this case shows, the election of a judge or arbitrator in international justice requires reasonable restraint and prudence from scientists and practicing international lawyers in expressing their position. The principle of impartiality and independence of judges of international courts has become a practically used mechanism for ensuring the fair administration of international justice. Consent to an arbitration procedure for dispute resolution presupposes the confidence of the parties to the dispute that they will be heard by the arbitral tribunal, as well as that the latter will adhere to the principles of fair dispute resolution, in particular, it will be independent and impartial.