# Council Decision (EU) 2019/1954 of 18 November 2019 establishing the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, in the EPA Committee set up by the Interim Agreement with a view to an Economic Partnership Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, of the one part, and the Central Africa Party, of the other part, in connection with the adoption of the rules of procedure for mediation, the rules of procedure for arbitration and the code of conduct for arbitrators, Article 7: Working of the arbitration panels

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

1. The chairperson of the arbitration panel shall preside over all meetings. An arbitration panel may delegate to its chairperson the authority to make administrative and procedural decisions in the area concerned.
2. In accordance witih Article 9 of these rules of procedure, the arbitrators and the persons requested shall attend the hearing. Unless otherwise provided in the Agreement or these rules of procedure, the arbitration panel may conduct its other activities by any means, including by telephone, fax or any electronic means.
3. Only arbitrators may take part in the deliberations of the arbitration panel, but the arbitration panel may permit its assistants to be present at its deliberations.
4. The drafting of any ruling shall be the exclusive responsibility of the arbitration panel and shall not be delegated.
5. Where a procedural question arises that is not covered by the provisions of Title VI (Dispute avoidance and settlement) of the Agreement, the arbitration panel, after consulting the Parties, may adopt an appropriate procedure that is compatible with those provisions and that ensures equal treatment between the Parties.
6. If the arbitration panel considers that there is a need to change any of the time limits for its proceedings other than the time limits set out in Title VI (Dispute avoidance and settlement) of the Agreement, or to make any other procedural or administrative adjustment, it shall inform the Parties in writing of the reasons for which the change or adjustment has been made and of the time limit or adjustment needed. The arbitration panel may adopt such change or adjustment after having consulted the Parties.
7. At the request of one of the Parties, the arbitration panel may modify the time limits applicable to the proceeding, provided that equal treatment between the Parties is ensured.
8. At the request of both Parties, the arbitration panel may suspend the proceeding at any time for a period agreed by the Parties and not exceeding 12 consecutive months. The arbitration panel shall resume the proceeding at any time at the written request of both Parties, or at the end of the agreed suspension period at the written request of one of the Parties. The chairperson of the arbitration panel and, where necessary, the other Party shall be informed of the request. If the panel's proceeding has been suspended for over 12 consecutive months, the authority conferred for the setting up of the arbitration panel shall become invalid and the proceeding before the panel shall be terminated. The Parties may, at any time, agree to terminate the proceeding before the arbitration panel. The Parties shall jointly notify the chairperson of the arbitration panel of this agreement. In the event of suspension, the relevant time limits shall be extended by the same amount of time as the arbitration panel's proceeding was suspended.
9. The termination of the arbitration panel's work shall be without prejudice to the rights of the Parties in the framework of any other proceeding on the same matter under Title VI (Dispute avoidance and settlement) of the Agreement.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eudn/2019/1954/annex/II/article/7 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/eu-decision-2019-1954/annex-II/article-7
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.