Facts
The parties are involved in several companies, the legal relationships of which are governed by a framework agreement and a X. agreement. The defendants terminated these agreements, whereupon the plaintiffs initiated arbitration proceedings to have the effectiveness of the terminations determined.
In the arbitration proceedings, an arbitrator designated by the plaintiffs was rejected, whereupon he withdrew. The arbitral tribunal in its new composition decided to continue the proceedings without repeating the procedural acts. The defendants filed a complaint against this decision.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court dismisses the complaint. It states that the defendants' allegation that the withdrawn arbitrator was biased is not covered by Art. 190 para. 2 lit. a PILA. The question of the repetition of procedural steps is rather to be examined from the perspective of the right to be heard (Art. 190 para. 2 lit. d PILA) and the procedural public policy (Art. 190 para. 2 lit. e PILA).
The Federal Supreme Court notes that the arbitral tribunal has the authority under the applicable Swiss Rules to decide on any possible repetition of procedural steps after the withdrawal of an arbitrator. In doing so, it must preserve the parties'…