Arbitrator Impartiality and Academic Expression: The Ukraine v. Russia Case in PCA
Journal: Journal of East Asia and International Law
Year: 2025

This article examines the 2024 decision in Ukraine v. Russia (PCA Case No. 2019-28), in which a United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea tribunal upheld challenges to two arbitrators -Donald McRae and Rdiger Wolfrum -due to their prior support for a 2022 L'Institut de Droit International's Declaration condemning Russian aggression.The tribunal found that the involvement of these arbitrators raised justifiable doubts as to impartiality, highlighting the expanding role of perceived bias in