Taking Action On The Equal Representation In Arbitration Pledge

The Oxford English Dictionary defines a pledge as 'a solemn promise or undertaking'. It is not a 'wish' or a 'guideline' (of which we have plenty in arbitration) but a promise, and a solemn one at that. Thankfully, the making of the ERA Pledge was not a solemn affair as it was launched at the 6th Annual GAR Live last week in London. Attendees were encouraged to sign up to the Pledge and, most importantly, to act on it.

What is the ERA Pledge?

The ERA Pledge is a commitment to improving the profile and representation of women in arbitration. It focusses particularly on the appointment of women as arbitrators on an equal opportunity basis and encouraging equal participation in the arbitral process through:

a fair representation of women on committees, governing bodies and conference panels lists of potential arbitrators or tribunal chairs provided or considered by parties, counsel, in-house counsel or otherwise including a fair representation of female candidates states, arbitral institutions and national committees including a fair representation of female candidates on rosters and lists of potential arbitrator appointees where maintained by them counsel, arbitrators, representatives of corporates, states and arbitral institutions appointing a fair representation of female arbitrators where they have the power to do so publically available gender statistics for appointments (split by party and institution) senior and experienced arbitration practitioners support, mentor/sponsor and encourage women to pursue arbitrator appointments and otherwise enhance their profiles and practice Why is the Pledge needed?

Change is needed because change isn't happening (and cannot happen) fast enough.

Since 2013, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) have published statistics breaking down the appointments by gender (the first institution we believe to do so). The statistics showed that:

in 2013, 19.8% of the 162 appointees selected by the LCIA Court, and 6.9% of the 160 appointees selected by the parties, were female. in 2014, of the 162 appointees selected by the LCIA Court, 19.8% were women and of the 55 appointees selected by the parties, 4.4% were women in 2015, of the 195 appointees selected by the LCIA Court, 28.2% were women, of the 204 appointees selected by the parties, 6.9% were women. In 2016, the ICC also published statistics on gender diversity for the first time which showed that women arbitrators represented just over 10% of...