In 2025, the DIS is once again organising a side event during the Paris Arbitration Week, this time together with the AFA/DIS Arbitration Group. Everyone seems to like sandwiches, but hardly anyone likes to be sandwiched in the midst of a dispute. Still, there are many situations in which being sandwiched this way is the ill fate of a contractual party.
Think of a contractor who faces claims from a property owner while simultaneously pressing a separate claim against a subcontractor relating to the same work. The contractor in this case will be involved in two separate arbitration proceedings and run a risk of losing both. The owner may establish claims against the contractor in the first arbitration for defective work but the arbitrators in the second case may not view the work done by the subcontractor as defective. Effectively, the contractor is sandwiched.
In litigation, a third-party notice, an impleader or a vouching-in could help to bind the subcontractor to the outcome of the dispute between the owner and the contractor without making the subcontractor a party to these proceedings. But things are not that straightforward in arbitration and parties seeking to mirror the litigation rules in their arbitration agreement face an uphill battle. Owners, contractors and subcontractors often do not sit at the same negotiation table. Spending time on drafting a complex arbitration agreement may likewise not be such a brilliant idea when other commercial issues are more pressing. To help parties in such a situation, the DIS has conceived a set of new rules, the DIS Supplementary Rules for Third-Party Notices, which entered into force on 15 March 2024 (the “DIS Supplementary Rules”).
We will discuss how these new rules can help parties prevent being sandwiched in arbitration, in what situations being sandwiched is a real risk and what, in your experiences, are ways to handle such situations. Can arbitration institutions remedy the field’s perceived disadvantage when compared to litigation? Are the new DIS Supplementary Rules a model suitable for international arbitration?
This event takes place in the framework of Paris Arbtration Week. Participation is free of charge.
For further information and registration please refer to the programme.
Your DIS Team